Vasily Perov - Caretaker Letting an Apartment to a Lady #ArtHistory #RussianArt #SatiricalArt

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]Look at this man, barefoot in the snow.

[00:00:02]His shirt hangs shamelessly open. His trousers are ripped and his face burns with fury. He is shouting and pointing his finger like an emperor passing judgement. But wait, who is he shouting at? Two aristocratic women. And herein lies the tragedy. These women are not visitors. They are seeking shelter. Look at the young girl. [music] She covers her nose with a handkerchief. Is it because of the cold? No, it is because the stench of vodka and poverty emanating from this drunken doorman is unbearable. She is devastated because she realizes that her life as an aristocrat is over and that her fate now rests in the hands of this drunken gatekeeper. We are in Russia, 1865.

[00:00:42]After the abolition of serfdom, a system disturbingly close to slavery, many nobles fell into ruin while former peasants flooded into the cities.