Vladimir Putin turns his hand to painting
Vladimir Putin, Russia's macho prime minister, has given his people a glimpse of his sensitive side by painting a delicate water colour.

By Adrian Blomfield in Moscow | Last Updated: 4:59PM GMT 14 Jan 2009

Photo - Vladimir Putin has given his people a glimpse of his sensitive side (REUTERS)

Over the years, the Russian people have seen many aspects of their leader's character, most of them testosterone fuelled. Keen to burnish his legend of virility, Russia's political mandarins have released images of Mr Putin pursuing a range of manly interests. He has been shown as a consummate horseman, a bare-chested hunter and fisherman (acquiring gay icon status in the process), a skillful skier and, when pictured at the helm of a fighter jet, a noble warrior leader.

Now, following in the steps of Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler, Mr Putin has reinvented himself as an amateur artist.

His debut painting, which pays tribute to Ukrainian folklore and will be auctioned for charity at the weekend, is surprisingly homely for a man whose last publicity stunt saw him allegedly save a camera crew from certain death by felling a rogue tiger with a tranquilizer gun. Painted with pastels, it depicts a wintery night sky seen through a peasant's window framed by traditional lace curtains embroidered with beads and red stitching. The word "pattern" is daubed underneath the bottom lattice, while Mr Putin has signed his name over the pelmet.

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