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“The regnal family be blessed”. Two cases of interpretation of the idea the God’s chosenness of the ruling house of Romanovs in Russian artistic culture of the second half of the 17th – early 18th centuries
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2020-3-115-131
Abstract
The article analyzes two works of art. Its iconographic compositions are the original versions of the interpretation versions for the idea of God’s chosenness of the royal Romanov dynasty. This is an engraving from the book “Spiritual Sword” by Lazar Baranovich (1666) and a fresco of the Church of Elijah the Prophet in Yaroslavl (1716 [?]). The basis of the compositional scheme in both works is the spiritual tree of tsarist genealogy, justifying the spiritual kinship of the Romanovs with the Rurikovich dynasty. To that end Vladimir, the Prince of Kiev and the baptizer of Rus’ is presented in the role of their common “ancestor”. This publication explores the historical circumstances contributing to the creation of those images, identifies elements of the similarity and differences in their iconography and establishes literary sources of plots. Both works contain the apology of the Romanov clan which is under the Dominion of God, that allows them to successfully rule the country in an era of challenges and changes. The apology is combined with eschatological overtones which can be seen as a form for expression of hope that the “righteous” kings of that dynasty would be able to overcome the crisis situations that arising at turning points in the history of the country every half a century.
About the Author
L. B. SukinaRussian Federation
Liudmila B. Sukina, Dr. of Sci. (History), associate professor
bld. 4a, Petra Pervogo Str., Veskovo, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Yaroslavl region, 152021
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Supplementary files
For citation: Sukina L.B. “The regnal family be blessed”. Two cases of interpretation of the idea the God’s chosenness of the ruling house of Romanovs in Russian artistic culture of the second half of the 17th – early 18th centuries RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2020;(3):115-131. https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2020-3-115-131
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