The only existing image of Tolstoy's mother, Maria Nikolaevna Tolstaia (Volkonskaia)
Unknown artist, silhouette, early 1800s (at the age of nine or 10)

"When I try to remember my mother as she was at that time, I can only see her brown eyes, expressing always constant tenderness and love, that mole on her neck … her embroidered white collar, and the delicate dry hand … but the general picture escapes me."
— from Childhood