![dek](https://content.time.com/time/daily/2007/0712/putin_cover_3.jpg)
Photo-illustration incorporating a painting of Peter the Great by Hippolyte Delaroche and a photograph of Vladimir Putin
Artists: Painting by Hippolyte Delaroche; photo by Sergei Guneyev
This cover displays Putin in the same manner as one of his greatest heroes — Peter the Great. The haughty mood of the design reflects the pride that Putin sees both in himself and in his country and, like Peter the Great, the Russian president's image is somewhat contradictory — he is at once an autocrat and a liberator.