(http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/banknotes/russia/russia5001912dtl.jpg)
One of the great secrets of Russia is the beauty of the women there, though often characterized in the west as large, and not attractive, the truth is quite the opposite. This lovely vignette epitomizes much of what is Russia, mysterious, beautiful, somehow distant and introspective. Except for this note and a very few issued during the Russian Revolution of 1917-1922, very few women have ever appeared on Russian banknotes. The banknotes tended to feature either past Tsars, or after the Revolution, they often featured Lenin or allegorical male workers.
(http://www.geocities.com/scottishmoney/banknotes/russia/russia500.jpg)
In many ways illustrating this note as such does not do it justice as it is a very large size 272mm x 126mm note, however the constraints of fitting it in a page dictate having to actually reduce the size of the image. In many ways this lovely and large size note represents much of the grandeur of imperial Russia, the magnificent splendour, the history, the culture, and the artistic talent of a great nation. Tsar Petr I(1689-1725) is prominently portrayed on this note, in recognition of his amazing talents and leadership, which even during Soviet times could not be passed over.