
Chilling pictures of the notorious Rasputin have been colourised to vividly bring to life the so-called 'Mad Monk' - 99 years after he was poisoned, shot, beaten and drowned by Russian nobles fearful of his growing influence.

Just a week after DNA evidence confirmed the discovery of the bones of Tsar Nicholas II and the Tsarina Alexandra Feodorovna, colour pictures of the man whose sinister influence led to their downfall have been released.

The unsettling pictures show the hypnotic gaze of Grigori Rasputin, whose intensely cold blue eyes won over the impressionable Tsarina.

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Rasputin is infamous for the hold he had over the early century leadership of Russia and is believed to be part of their downfall in 1916

New colour photographs of the Russian 'faith healer' Rasputin have brought his chilling gaze and persona to life

So concerned was she over the health of her haemophiliac son, she would do almost anything the mystic healer Rasputin demanded. Other pictures show the Tsar Nicholas II with his son, Tsarevich Alexei Nicolaevich with Rasputin and two Russian soldiers.

Mads Dahl Madsen, 21, from Denmark, is the artist behind these amazing colourisations, taking up to six hours to perfect each image.

He said: 'They are beautiful shots that help to show Rasputin's personality and some of his mythical character. It brings you closer to him, and allows you to connect with him better, and with the timeline he was so embedded in.

'To me, it's a window into the past that seems so alien and foreign, which is all of a sudden brought to life.'

Tsar Nicholas II was the last tsar of Russia under Romanov rule. Following a series of political blunders and lack of regard for the working classes the tsar was forced to abdicate, but given the resentment that had built up for him among his people it was already too late for the Russian monarchy.

Experts believe it was Rasputin who convinced the Tsar to personally lead the Russian military in the First World War, which left him vulnerable to the Communist uprising which eventually overthrew him.

Rasputin met a grisly end in 1916 when he was poisoned, shot, beaten and thrown into a river under the orders of Russian nobles fearful of his influence over the Tsar.

But it was too late. On 17 July 1918 Nicholas II and his family were murdered by the Bolsheviks, forever ending more than three centuries of the Romanov dynasty's rule.

Rasputin met a grisly end in 1916 when he was poisoned, shot, beaten and thrown into a river under the orders of Russian nobles fearful of his influence over the Tsar

Here he is pictured left with two Russian nobles. Right is Tsar Nicholas II with his son, Tsarevich Alexei Nicolaevich

Mr Madsen explained how he was able to bring the images of the family back to life.

'Human skin is built up in layers, much like a colourisation. Any little thing will affect the colour of the skin, because skin is highly reflective and absorbs light. I build it up bit-by-bit with a different method for males and females.

'I do reds for the blood, yellows and oranges for the primary parts of the skin, blue for the muzzle of the face and a light blue colour for the atmospheric light affecting his skin.

'It's basically an exercise in anatomy, trying to perfectly re-create the colours naturally present in the face with a lot of references being used.

'I'm really intrigued by the Romanov history, it's the spark that ignited the First World War. The assassinations, the murders, and the outcome of that tragedy is something that still interests me.

'When people see these images their reaction is usually amazement and disbelief seeing the old images brought back to life.