Cyrillic Script, Anyone?

Cyrillic script is beyond me, but perhaps someone will transliterate

the inscription so we might know who the model was.

 

Zhilinsky

Here we have an example of the Soviet era genre of Socialist Realism.  

It is a study for The Builders of a Bridge by Dmitri Zhilinsky.

I plan to post the complete and final version in a future series.

 

Russia Day, Part 1 - Nude Photos

Today is Russia Day on the blog.  (I have a number of Russian viewers who sometimes send me private notes, and appreciate both their input and their difficult situation as gay men in the Russia of Putin.)  We will start with some early 20th C. nudes, and our first post is a question mark to me in some ways.  I have seen it and several others in a nice series of six labeled as Russian on more than one reputable blog and as French on one other.  Anyone have documentation?

Here we see a very early Soviet military induction medical exam.

This 1910 image (with two details) was made at the Egorov Bathhouse in St. Petersburg.

Most of you have probably seen the main image before, but the details could add interest.

As noted in today's previous post from this impressive series, 

I have seen it listed as both Russian and French at various time.

These men are all nice and slippery in their banya.