his writing desk, where he wrote letters every morning after breakfast, is at the end of the room. over the desk, in the place of honor, is a picture of anton rubenstein, the founder of the st. petersburg conservatory of music and his first teacher of instrumentation and composing. just below the picture of rubenstein is a picture of beethoven. on the other walls are many photographs of his family, in particular of his father, ilya petrovich tchaikovsky, and his mother, alexandra andreyevna. nearby are two bookcases containing his musical library and his library of russian and foreign literature, and the bound sets of magazines to which he subscribed. the other cabinets in the room are filled with gifts to tchaikovsky, including an ink-pot in the form of the statue of liberty given to him during his visit to the united states.