This impromptu group portrait was likely taken at a medical facility not far from the front lines during the First World War. The man seated next to the colonel is wearing a tailored suit with a Red Cross pin on the lapel, suggesting he may be a visitor rather than a patient.
Tokens of Companionship 
Why is it that old Russian photographs always look so exotic and elegant? The nurse on the right is particularly beautiful, I think. She has the look of a Madonna in an icon.
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She does! She has a nice expression, almost a smile. I also like how the colonel has his arm on the back of the chair of the man with crutches, and how that man’s expression and posture communicate dignity, even defiance.
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If Leonardo Da Vinci saw this woman, he would paint her portrait, I suppose)
Women presented on the photo above might be a sister of mercy.
At that time women needed to take the veil to get access to work as a nurse (a sister of mercy) in a hospital.
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I was hoping you’d see this one and comment on it. I didn’t know about the requirement that women take vows before becoming nurses. That must have caused problems when the need for nursing staff was very great. I like how the woman on the left is showing her pretty braid for the portrait.
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thank you for so many fascinated pictures!
About the woman on the left side- her braid looks wonderful! She was not blonde and her eyes were dark. I assume she was not actually slavic woman. Anyway, I could be wrong)
Lots of people with different religions and national traditions live in Russia now and the same was in the past…
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Thank you! This photo is one of my all-time favorites.
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Looking forward to seen new interesting photos)
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It is a wonderful photo!
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Thanks, PJ! 🙂
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