President Vladimir Putin and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin will both make surprise, if minor, appearance inside the main cathedral of the Russian Armed Forces, being heavily decorated with historical scenes of the nation’s glory.
Photos showing an incomplete mosaic with the likeness of Putin, other key government figures, as well as seemingly random people celebrating with national flags made quite a stir in Russia after being leaked to the media on Friday. The artwork was linked to the grandiose church being built in Patriot Park outside Moscow, which is to become the main temple of the Russian military.
Perhaps even more controversial, an image of Stalin, pictured on a banner held by the Soviet soldiers on the Red Square, appeared on another mosaic supposedly meant for the church.
When asked about the images by reporters, Kremlin was seemingly caught off guard, and spokesman Dmitry Peskov said “I unfortunately don’t know what is on the walls of the temple.”
It didn’t take long for the Russian Orthodox Church to confirm the artwork was real – adding that the Kremlin had not been informed. Archpriest Leonid Kalinin, who chairs the church’s expert council on art and architecture, told TASS news agency that “it reflects historical events, and was done without consulting with these persons, entirely on the basis of historical documents as decided by the art council.”
The church official confirmed that the first mosaic – titled ‘Bloodless joining of Crimea’ – shows people celebrating the March 2014 event and people who were key to it, while the ‘Victory Parade’ replicates a photograph of the May 1945 event that includes Stalin, the supreme commander of the Soviet army in World War II. The reason both will appear in the temple is simple – historical accuracy, Kalinin said.
The art council considers these depictions absolutely appropriate and corresponding to historical truth, from which one should not arbitrarily tear out pages.
While the idea to paint figures from modern history on the walls of a Christian temple did seem eyebrow-raising to many, it’s also fair to say that the huge new temple under construction is no ordinary church. It is in fact partly a museum, themed to mark the 75th anniversary of victory over Nazi Germany in 1945 to the minute detail. The cathedral will be surrounded by a memorial complex called Road of Memory, with tens of millions of photographs of WWII veterans built into it.
Its interior, on the other hand, is said to be featuring all the milestone victories of the long and hard-fought Russian history, which would only seem fitting for the Armed Forces temple.
Showing historical events and personalities in church art has been centuries-old tradition in Orthodoxy, Bishop Stephan of Klin, vicar of the Moscow Patriarchate and the abbot of the Armed Forces temple, told the outlet RBC.
But the quest to depict all of Russia’s military history was not without controversy, Stephan has revealed. Stalin, who led a Communist regime that had once viciously persecuted the church, was not a welcome figure, but the clergy eventually agreed he had to make an appearance based on his key WWII role.
“As for Stalin, he was depicted based on a historical photograph,” Abbot Stephan told the outlet RBC. “This temple is being built in honor of Victory, so it would be wrong not to show the Victory Parade.”
The traditional Orthodox Christian themes will also feature prominently, and the mosaic depicting Putin is actually a small part of a greater picture honoring Our Lady of Kazan – one of the most revered icons of the Holy Mother in the Russian Orthodox Church – the artist behind the mosaic, Vasily Nesterenko, revealed to the local outlet Daily Storm.
The temple, officially the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ, will be consecrated on May 9, though the rest of the Victory Day celebrations have been postponed due to coronavirus quarantine measures.
Also on rt.com Putin postpones Victory Day Parade as coronavirus concerns rule out celebrations on 75th anniversary of Nazi defeatThink your friends would be interested? Share this story!
Source : RT - Daily news
‘Can’t erase history’: Putin & Stalin TEMPLE MOSAIC is ‘appropriate,’ church says amid furor over Russian military cathedral decor
‘Can’t erase history’: Putin & Stalin TEMPLE MOSAIC is ‘appropriate,’ church says amid furor over Russian military cathedral decor
