Icon and Axe

BACKGROUND

Background

THE COSMOPOLITAN, Christian culture of Kiev, “the mother of Russian cities,” from the conversion of Prince Vladimir in 988 to the Mongol sack of Kiev in 1240. The uncritical adoption by Kievan Rus’ of the artistic forms and sense of special destiny of the Byzantine “second golden age.” The love of beauty and preoccupation with history; the building of the new city under Yaroslav the Wise (grand-prince of Kiev, 1019-54); the movement north under Andrew Bogoliubsky (grand-prince of Vladimir-Suzdal, 1157-74).

The rise to dominance of the “forest land,” the Volga-Oka heartland of Great Russia, particularly during the Mongol overlordship, 1240-1480. The strengthening of communal ties during a period of weakened central authority. The fears and fascinations of the forest: bears, insects, and, above all, fire. The enduring importance for the Russian imagination of the key artifacts of this primitive frontier region: the icon and the axe within the peasant hut. The cannon and the bell within populated centers: symbols of metallic might in a wooden world.

A culture of concrete sights and sounds rather than abstract words and ideas. The images of sainthood on wooden icons; the image of divine order and hierarchy on the icon screen. The Vladimir Mother of God as the supreme mother figure of Great Russia; Andrew Rublev (1370-1430) as its supreme artist. Bells as “angelic trumpets” and hypnotic cacophony.