Religious themes were considered very desirable for the matryushkas until the Romanov royal court was overthrown and the country fell to communism. After that, in addition to the peasant mother dolls, and to replace the 'missing' religious icon dolls, political leaders, literary giants and sylvan scenes were usually incorporated into the designs. Of course, today golden haloed religious icons are again created upon nesting dolls. Most have three to ten pieces, but some unique examples have as many as forty nesting dolls, one within the other. Modern day nesting dolls come in a great variety.
Art dolls are the typical, traditional floral matryushkas, each a work of an individual artist.
They seem to boast an endless variety of colors and patterns, some more complicated than others. Caricature dolls make light of an often dark world and include communist leaders, KGB agents, sports figures, even US presidents. Each nesting doll illustrates a different scene, telling the whole story of a single Russian fairy tale. Today they even create dolls about Sleeping Beauty, Cinderella, Alice in Wonderland or Mary Poppins. The scenic dolls carry beautiful landscapes of Russian parks or landmarks like palaces, official buildings, historic sites and museums.