Faith · Art · Ethnography

Vita icon of the Prophet Elijah's fiery ascent, late 16th century

The Fiery Ascent of the Prophet Elijah, the very man who slew the priests of the god Baal and prophesied before King Ahab, a hagiographic icon of the late sixteenth century. Saint Elijah was taken into the kingdom of heaven alive, ascending on a fiery chariot drawn by blazing horses

Sculptural group of three wooden angels, the central one with a halo, displayed under glass in a museum gallery.

NB! · Faith · Art · Ethnography

Wooden angels of the late 18th century from the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in Kargopol

Late 18th century, angels from the Cathedral of the Nativity of Christ in the town of Kargopol. PS: note the amusing halo in the shape of a little plate on the head

Faith · Books · Observations

The word petoglasheniye in Church Slavonic texts and midnight prayers

There is a lovely and rare word in Church Slavonic texts: petoglashenie (“cockcrow”). It denotes the time between midnight and morning and corresponds to the first crowing of the cock, when special prayers are said, the midnight offices, otherwise known as the “cock-crowing” prayers. Anyway, I make you a

Faith · The East · Observations · Science

Irina Vasilyevna Pozdeyeva used to say that Saint Nicholas of Japan taught the Japanese language to Academician Huber, but only 12 years passed between the birth of the latter and the death of the former

Irina Vasilyevna Pozdeyeva used to say that Saint Nicholas of Japan taught the Japanese language to Academician Huber, but only 12 years passed between the birth of the latter and the death of the former. That leaves the possibility that Huber studied Japanese as a child, given his noble origins;

Archive · Faith · Museums · Mores

The 17th-century Kirillo-Novoezersky Synodikon lists dozens of forms of death

What Did the Common People of Ancient Rus' Die Of? Of wild beasts, the elements, disease and clumsy cookery. The synodikon, a handwritten church book listing names for commemoration, is recorded in Rus' quite early. In theory, a synodikon ought to name every Orthodox Christian who had ever

NB! · Faith · Art · Ethnography

Saint Nicholas in a Shrine with Folding Wings, Seventeenth Century, from the Church of Saints Florus and Laurus in the Village of Astafyevo, Kargopol District, Arkhangelsk Region

Saint Nicholas in a shrine with folding wings, seventeenth century, from the Church of Saints Florus and Laurus in the village of Astafyevo, Kargopol District, Arkhangelsk Region. In the upper part of the wings: the Nicene miracle, the sun and the moon, painted in the eighteenth century; on the right,

NB! · Faith · Art · Ethnography

A Seventeenth-Century Nicholas of Mozhaisk Holding a Church in His Left Hand, from a Private House in the Village of Lugi, Plesetsk District, Arkhangelsk Region

Faith · Art · Ethnography

Sculpture of Nikola Mozhaysky from Nikolskaya village in Arkhangelsk Region, 17th century

St Nicholas the Wonderworker (the image of Nikola of Mozhaysk, who, according to legend, defended the town of Mozhaysk from the enemy by appearing above it with a sword), seventeenth-century sculpture from the village of Nikolskaya, Kargopol District, Arkhangelsk Region. The traditional Nikola of Mozhaysk from the Arkhangelsk North

Coming Up · Faith · Art · Moscow · Ethnography

Carved wooden figures of the Russian North and an exhibition at the Tsereteli Gallery in Moscow

In the Russian North, special 'icons' were venerated: three-dimensional wooden figures of saints set in icon cases, sometimes carved at full length and reaching two metres in height. The oldest such icons in Arkhangelsk date from the 16th century. These original sculptural images were known as carved

Architecture · Faith · Museums · People

Russian hermit Timofey Prokhorov built a church on a Munich dump from war rubble

A temple to the union of East and West, built by the Russian hermit Timofey Prokhorov) (1894-2004) on a Munich rubbish tip from the wreckage left by the war. In 1943 Timofey Vasilyevich was carried off by the Germans from the town of Shakhty, after which the Mother of

Faith · Museums · Heritage · Saint Petersburg

Keys to European fortresses at Kutuzov's tomb and their transfer to the Historical Museum

At Kutuzov's tomb in the Kazan Cathedral in Saint Petersburg hang the keys to fortresses and cities liberated by the Russian army in the war of 1812. In the left niche are the keys to Geertruidenberg, Bremen and Avesnes. In the right are those of Lübeck, Mons and

Faith · Museums · Heritage · Society

Union of Museums of Russia discusses church claims to museum property, including UNESCO sites

The General Assembly of the Union of Museums of Russia has discussed the thorny question of transferring museum property to the Church. At present, in particular, the Russian Orthodox Church and the Old Believer Church lay claim to the Dormition and Demetrius cathedrals of the Vladimir-Suzdal Museum-Reserve and