"Pyotr"

This drawing is my interpretation of Emperor Peter The Great.

Peter’s wife, Empress Catherine I of Russia, was rumored to have a lover named Willem Mons. Peter ordered Willem to be beheaded and had his head preserved in alcohol and supposedly kept it in the Kunstkamera (Museum in Saint Petersburg). Peter forced his wife to look at her lover’s head in the jar for hours at a time.

Three months after Mons’ death, the emperor died at age 52, he had battled a bladder illness and cirrhosis. Peter is credited as the inventor of the vodka “penalty shot”, anyone who arrived late to one of his feasts had to take a shot.

The second photo is the back of the drawing and are the lyrics from a song by Bad Books called “Pyotr.” The lyrics are from the viewpoint of Peter. 

“Bare breasted, you make love in the turret
I feel each single thrust that you take
And in silence I watch on from the bastion
Entranced, I make myself look away”

“And I know I am not the man you desire
I know you think that I am some kind of fool
And I know you would gaze in his eyes forever
I’ve figured out just how to give that to you”

“And you know Catherine how you run me my fever
Oh Catherine, tell me was it worth it for him?
These gallows are no place for the stubborn Just you and your lover as a dark souvenir”

Original Drawing On Paper Using Graphite, Charcoal and Ink

Size: 27 x 27.25 centimeters

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