A fact from Yakov Kolokolnikov-Voronin appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 6 July 2006. The text of the entry was as follows:
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Good question. It was an Estates of the realm in Russian empire (Svobodniy khudozhnik or Volniy Khudozhnik or Vneklassnij khudozhnik). Everybody in the Empire was assigned to a one of tens of different estate. The amount of taxes, e.g. was fixed but strongly dependant upon the estate the person was in (a Merchant of the First Guild payed hundreds times of a Serf Peasant and an Estate Owner (pomeschik) did not payed at all for himself, but had to ensure his serfs payed or pay for them). It also determined the clothes someone could wear, voting rights, etc., etc.
The visual artists could be Artist of the First Class, Artist of the Second Class and Artist of the Third Class and a Free Artist. The decision was apparently by the Imperial Academy of Arts. Free Artist apparently was the least regulated estate of all without an obligation to pay taxes, specific dress code for the official events, etc.
