The august pair were captured by an artist who most probably never saw them and had not the faintest notion of their appearance, so that the realism of the portraits rests solely on pale skin and fair hair.
I do not know whether there exists a reality in which the Russian imperial couple would look more epic.
At the close of the Strugatskys' "Roadside Picnic" the Golden Sphere is asked for this: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to leave no one aggrieved, but the digest really does come free. So, here is the
Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least
