The sword, helmet, and grey military cloak
are where he laid them. Here lies a historic tragedy which remains
to be painted; one of the most dramatic pictorial scenes in Europe,
the death of Wallenstein in Schiller's drama, painted by Professor
Piloty and now in the new Pinakothek, Munich, might in the death
of the great Nicholas find a parallel. The emperor lies buried
with all the sovereigns of Russia since the foundation of St.
Petersburg, in the cathedral fortress of St. Peter and St. Paul.
Nothing in Europe is grander in the simplicity and silence which
befit a sepulchre--not even the imperial tombs in Vienna--than
this stately mausoleum of the Tsars. The Emperor Nicholas lies
opposite to Peter the Great. In the Hermitage, or rather in the
Winter Palace, is a gallery illustrative of the life and labours of
Peter the Great. The collection, besides turning-lathes and other
instruments with which the monarch worked, contains curiosities,
knickknacks, as well as some works of real art value: the connecting
point of the whole collection is in Peter himself.
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