Collectors: different spaces – one love. Conversation and photo: Yulia Makoveychuk

Church court- a system of bodies under the jurisdiction of a particular Church, exercising the functions of the judiciary on the basis of church legislation (church law).

In Russia

In the Middle Ages

In the conditions of judicial reform under Alexander II, the question of reform of the church court also arose. A committee created by Chief Prosecutor D. A. Tolstoy, chaired by Archbishop Makariy (Bulgakov), prepared a corresponding project, which was based on the principles of openness, competition and independence of the judiciary from the administrative power, that is, including from the diocesan bishop, but the supervision of secular authorities was maintained representatives of the chief prosecutor's office. This exclusion of the bishop from judicial system became the subject of criticism from the professor of the Moscow Theological Academy A.F. Lavrov; the project was rejected by the overwhelming majority of diocesan bishops.

New attempts at reform began in the context of the pre-conciliar preparations in 1905. The preliminary draft of the reform, developed by the Pre-Conciliar Presence of 1906, and in agreement with the reviews of the majority of the Eminences who entered the Synod in 1905-1906, envisaged the creation of four instances of the church court: the dean's court, the diocesan court, the judicial department of the Synod, the general meeting of the Synod and its judicial department . It was intended to remove judicial cases from the competence of the consistory, which thus remained only an administrative body.

In the Russian Orthodox Church on the restoration of the patriarchate

According to the chairman of the General Church Court, Metropolitan Isidore, in most cases the General Church Court plays the role of second instance in relation to diocesan courts and is called upon either to correct some injustices committed at the level of diocesan courts, or, conversely, to confirm the decision of the diocesan court, which is being called into question people convicted by this court.

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Notes

Literature

1. E. V. Belyakova. Church court and problems of church life. Discussions in the Orthodox Russian Church beginning of the 20th century. Local Council 1917-1918 and the pre-conciliar period. M. - Round table on religious education of the Russian Orthodox Church, 2004.

see also

Links

• Interview of Metropolitan Isidore of Ekaterinodar and Kuban to a correspondent of Rossiyskaya Gazeta.

Excerpt characterizing the Church Court

This is where the most gifted dynasty in Europe, which brought light and strength to the unenlightened, ended (or rather, was exterminated) to the European people. As you can see, Isidora, cowards and traitors at all times did not dare to fight openly, knowing for sure that they never had, and would not have any, even the slightest chance to win honestly. But with lies and baseness they defeated even the strongest, using their honor and conscience in their favor... without worrying at all about their own “perishing in lies” soul. Thus, having destroyed the “interfering enlightened ones,” the Thinking Dark Ones then came up with a “story” that suited them. And the people for whom such a “story” was created immediately easily accepted it, without even trying to think... This, again, is our Earth, Isidora. And I am sincerely sad and hurt that I can’t make her “wake up”...
My heart suddenly ached bitterly and painfully... This means that at all times there were bright and strong people who courageously, but hopelessly fought for the happiness and future of humanity! And they all, as a rule, died... What was the reason for such cruel injustice?.. What was the reason for such repeated deaths?
– Tell me, Sever, why do the purest and strongest always die?.. I know that I have already asked you this question... But I still cannot understand, do people really not see how beautiful and joyful she would be life, would they listen to at least one of those who fought so ardently for them?! Are you really right, and the Earth is so blind that it is too early to root for it?!.. Is it too early to fight?..
Shaking his head sadly, Sever smiled affectionately.
– You yourself know the answer to this question, Isidora... But you won’t give up, even if such a cruel truth scares you? You are a Warrior and you will remain one. Otherwise, you would have betrayed yourself, and the meaning of life would have been lost forever to you. We are what we ARE. And no matter how hard we try to change, our core (or our foundation) will still remain the same as our ESSENCE truly is. After all, if a person is still “blind”, he still has hope of regaining his sight one day, right? Or if his brain is still asleep, he may still wake up someday. But if a person is essentially “rotten”, then no matter how good he tries to be, his rotten soul still creeps out one fine day... and kills any attempt he makes to look better. But if a Man is truly honest and brave, neither the fear of pain nor the most evil threats will break him, since his soul, his ESSENCE, will forever remain as brave and as pure, no matter how mercilessly and cruelly he suffers. But his whole trouble and weakness is that since this Man is truly Pure, he cannot see betrayal and meanness even before it becomes obvious, and when it is not too late to do anything... He cannot do this provide for, since these low feelings are completely absent in him. Therefore, the brightest and brightest will always die on Earth. brave people, Isidora. And this will continue until EVERY earthly person sees the light and understands that life is not given for nothing, that we must fight for beauty, and that the Earth will not become better until he fills it with his goodness and decorates it with his work, no matter how small or insignificant it may be.

But as I already told you, Isidora, you will have to wait for this for a very long time, because for now a person thinks only about his personal well-being, without even thinking about why he came to Earth, why he was born on it... For every LIFE , no matter how insignificant it may seem, comes to Earth for a specific purpose. For the most part - to make our common HOME better and happier, more powerful and wiser.
- You think, ordinary person ever be interested in the common good? After all, many people completely lack this concept. How to teach them, North?..
– This cannot be taught, Isidora. People must have a need for Light, a need for Good. They themselves must want change. For what is given by force, a person instinctively tries to quickly reject, without even trying to understand anything. But we digress, Isidora. Do you want me to continue the story of Radomir and Magdalena?
I nodded affirmatively, deeply regretting in my heart that I couldn’t have a conversation with him so simply and calmly, without worrying about what fate had given me last minutes my crippled life and not thinking with horror about the misfortune hanging over Anna...
– The Bible writes a lot about John the Baptist. Was he truly with Radomir and the Knights of the Temple? His image is so amazingly good that it sometimes made one doubt whether John was the real figure? Can you answer, North?
North smiled warmly, apparently remembering something very pleasant and dear to him...
– John was wise and kind, like a big warm sun... He was a father to everyone who walked with him, their teacher and friend... He was valued, obeyed and loved. But he was never the young and amazingly handsome young man that artists usually painted him as. John at that time was already an elderly sorcerer, but still very strong and persistent. Gray-haired and tall, he looked more like a mighty epic warrior than an amazingly handsome and gentle young man. He wore very long hair, as did everyone else who was with Radomir.

It was Radan, he was truly extraordinarily handsome. He, like Radomir, lived in Meteora from an early age, next to his mother, Sorceress Maria. Remember, Isidora, how many paintings there are in which Mary is painted with two, almost the same age, babies. For some reason everyone drew them famous artists, perhaps without even understanding WHO their brush really depicted... And what is most interesting is that it is Radan that Maria looks at in all these paintings. Apparently even then, while still a baby, Radan was already as cheerful and attractive as he remained throughout his short life...

And yet... even if the artists painted John in these paintings, then how could that same John have aged so monstrously by the time of his execution, carried out at the request of the capricious Salome?.. After all, according to the Bible, this happened even before the crucifixion Christ, which means John should have been no more than thirty at that time four years! How did he turn from a girlishly handsome, golden-haired young man into an old and completely unattractive Jew?!

- So the Magus John did not die, Sever? – I asked joyfully. – Or did he die in another way?..
“Unfortunately, the real John really had his head cut off, Isidora, but this did not happen due to the evil will of a capricious spoiled woman. The cause of his death was the betrayal of a Jewish “friend” whom he trusted and in whose house he lived for several years...
- But how come he didn’t feel it? How did you not see what kind of “friend” this was?! – I was indignant.
– It’s probably impossible to suspect every person, Isidora... I think it was already difficult enough for them to trust someone, because they all had to somehow adapt and live in that foreign, unfamiliar country, don’t forget that. Therefore, from the greater and lesser evils, they apparently tried to choose the lesser. But it’s impossible to predict everything, you know this very well, Isidora... The death of Magus John occurred after the crucifixion of Radomir. He was poisoned by a Jew, in whose house John was living at that time along with the family of the deceased Jesus. One evening, when the whole house was already asleep, the owner, talking with John, presented him with his favorite tea mixed with a strong herbal poison... The next morning, no one was even able to understand what had happened. According to the owner, John simply instantly fell asleep, and never woke up again... His body was found in the morning in his bloody bed with... a severed head... According to the same owner, the Jews were very afraid of John, because they considered him an unsurpassed magician. And to be sure that he would never rise again, they beheaded him. John’s head was later bought (!!!) from them and taken with them by the Knights of the Temple, managing to preserve it and bring it to the Valley of the Magi, in order to thus give John at least such a small, but worthy and deserved respect, without allowing the Jews to simply mock him, performing some of his magical rituals. From then on, John's head was always with them, wherever they were. And for this same head, two hundred years later, the Knights of the Temple were accused of criminal worship of the Devil... You remember the last “case of the Templars” (Knights of the Temple), don’t you, Isidora? It was there that they were accused of worshiping " talking head", which infuriated the entire church clergy.

- Forgive me, Sever, but why didn’t the Knights of the Temple bring John’s head here to Meteora? Because, as far as I understand, you all loved him very much! And how do you know all these details? You weren't with them, were you? Who told you all this?
– Sorceress Maria, mother of Radan and Radomir, told us this whole sad story...
– Did Mary return to you after the execution of Jesus?!.. After all, as far as I know, she was with her son during the crucifixion. When did she return to you? Is it possible that she is still alive?.. – I asked with bated breath.
I so wanted to see at least one of those worthy courageous people!.. I really wanted to “charge” myself with their endurance and strength in my upcoming final struggle!..
- No, Isidora. Unfortunately, Mary died centuries ago. She did not want to live long, although she could. I think her pain was too deep... Having gone to join her sons in an unfamiliar, distant country (many years before their death), but unable to save any of them, Mary did not return to Meteora, leaving with Magdalene . Having left, as we then thought, forever... Tired of bitterness and loss, after the death of her beloved granddaughter and Magdalene, Mary decided to leave her cruel and unmerciful life... But before she “left” forever, she still came to Meteora to say goodbye. To tell us true story the death of those we all loved dearly...

And also, she returned in order to last time see the White Magus... Your husband and most faithful friend which I could never forget. In her heart she forgave him. But, to his great regret, she could not bring him the forgiveness of Magdalene.... So, as you see, Isidora, the great Christian fable about “forgiveness” is just a childish lie for naive believers, in order to allow them to do any Evil, knowing that no matter what they do, they will eventually be forgiven. But you can forgive only that which is truly worthy of forgiveness. A person must understand that he has to answer for any Evil committed... And not before some mysterious God, but before himself, forcing himself to suffer cruelly. Magdalena did not forgive Vladyka, although she deeply respected and sincerely loved him. Just as she failed to forgive all of us for terrible death Radomir. After all, SHE understood better than anyone else - we could have helped him, we could have saved him from a cruel death... But we didn’t want to. Considering the White Magus' guilt to be too cruel, she left him to live with this guilt, not forgetting it for a minute... She did not want to grant him easy forgiveness. We never saw her again. Just like they never saw their babies. Through one of the knights of her Temple - our sorcerer - Magdalene conveyed the answer to the Vladyka to his request to return to us: “The sun does not rise twice on the same day... The joy of your world (Radomir) will never return to you, just as I will not return to you and I... I found my FAITH and my TRUTH, they are ALIVE, but yours is DEAD... Mourn your sons - they loved you. I will never forgive you for their death while I am alive. And may your guilt remain with you. Perhaps someday she will bring you Light and Forgiveness... But not from me.” The head of the Magus John was not brought to Meteora for the same reason - none of the Knights of the Temple wanted to return to us... We lost them, as we have lost many others more than once, who did not want to understand and accept our victims... Who did just like you - they left, condemning us.

As part of the Days taking place in Moscow from December 16, 2011 to January 15, 2012 Orthodox culture in the center fine arts The complex of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior on Volkhonka, 15 presents an exhibition of unique ancient Orthodox icons from private collections. Pravmir correspondent Yulia Makoveychuk talked with the scientific director of the exhibition, Irina Aleksandrovna Shalina, candidate of art history, leading scientific specialist of the State Russian Museum, author of numerous studies and publications, expert of Rosokhrankultura.

Collectors: different spaces - one love

– Irina Aleksandrovna, please tell us who are the private collectors whose collections are presented at the exhibition?

– These collectors are so different that the only thing that unites them is love and knowledge of Russian culture. Because the rest are different professions, different human emotions, different tempers, different spaces where people live.

One collector, lives in a village near Pereyaslavl-Zalessky most of its time. Another collector is a famous businessman, a builder who is building various business centers in Moscow. Another one is a professor at Moscow State University who teaches at the Faculty of History, in the Department of Art History.

The last one is Alexey Rastorguev, a very famous specialist in Western Middle Ages and the man main activity which takes place within the walls of Moscow University. All those who studied at Moscow State University remember and know his lectures and seminars very well. It's really not only subtle connoisseur, but also a scientist. Therefore, all those icons that fall within the circle of his interests are either ancient beautiful monuments, or very rare icons that almost no one collects from us: Greek icons, which rarely end up in private collections.

In Russia there has never been a tradition of collecting Greek icons, and it is only now beginning to rise and flourish. And this is connected with the name of Alexey Rastorguev.

Icons as people

– What treasure did Alexey Leonidovich provide for the exhibition?

– I would like to show a unique work: this is the 20s of the 16th century, Moscow, the icon of Our Lady Hodegetria. Her name is related to the Greek word "adegon". Adegon in Greek is a guide and mentor; it was one of the great shrines of the Moscow Kremlin, around which numerous religious processions were organized.

We don’t know what the iconography looked like - this is an ancient icon, it has not reached us, but several copies were made from it, one of which occupies a very important place in ancient Russian culture.

What you see here are copies and reproductions of what once existed. And this Mother of God Hodegetria exactly repeats the ancient Orthodox very important shrine, which has not reached us.

How did this particular icon survive? We do not know. But when we saw it for the first time, even before the restoration work, my soul and everything else cried and grieved at the same time, because it seemed that it was simply impossible to save the icon. If she was in state museum, they would put it down, tape it up, and it would lie on a shelf, because that’s how museums are structured: there are few restorers, and most often those icons that are to be included in the exhibition are unfastened.

We saw this icon for the first time during the preparation of a large exhibition at the museum. Pushkin, several years ago. It was strengthened for a long time, restored for a long time, and was already brought to the Museum of Personal Collections named after. Pushkin, where this exhibition took place.

And the exhibition was wonderful in all respects, because after the 1913 exhibition it was the first exhibition from private collections where such masterpieces were presented. And imagine, we brought this icon, a document is drawn up, we take out the exhibition, and the lovely owners of the Museum of Personal Collections say: “No, we will not accept it.” Because terrible ridges went along it, the painting floated, because the painful state of this icon affected the crossing.

That is why we are now saying not to touch ancient things if they are in poor condition. They are like sick people, like old parents who don’t really like to move. Those involved in the preservation of icons know this.

Alexey Rastorguev almost cried, because when we were preparing for this exhibition, he spent a lot on its restoration, study, it was included in the catalog... and then it was not exhibited. And now she was the number one monument for us, because we had to pay tribute to the collector. I must say that during these years, since 2009, she has been in our Museum of Russian Icons, and since we have a very good climate, she has settled down and is in very good condition. We really hope that this will remain at the exhibition. We will be watching her in a special way.

Nativity of the Virgin Mary: Tradition in Colors

– Are there any icons that you yourself saw for the first time while preparing the exhibition?

– If we talk about my personal discovery at this exhibition, this is, of course, the icon “Nativity of the Mother of God with the marks of the life of the Mother of God.” 1520s, I think this is Novgorod.

I see this work for the first time, and for the first time it appears before the public, it is in the private collection of Alexander Boytsov, which has almost never been presented at exhibitions. He is one of those collectors who is an infrequent guest at exhibitions.

It is interesting that the monument has not been completely preserved; its entire lower part has been lost. 20s XVI century- time of change of power in Novgorod. One archbishop was replaced, they waited for the next. A little more, and in 1526 the famous Bishop Macarius would come to the archbishop's see. He will then become the same famous Metropolitan of Moscow who will crown the first Tsar. This is most likely the first year of his reign at the department. Or maybe even before he came to the department. A very rare story.

Scene of the Nativity of Our Lady - main topic, which is one of the twelve holidays of the year. And around is the entire life of the Mother of God, starting with the prayer for childbearing of Joachim and Anna, who come to the Jerusalem temple with gifts.

They had no children, and this was a great curse for the Jewish family. They come to pray for a child and are kicked out of the temple. The priest of the Jerusalem Temple drives them out for those sins that cannot be forgiven: since the Lord did not give them children, no sacrifices will help.

And then begins the story of begging for this child. This is a rare iconographic mark - I have never seen anything like it in my life. Joachim sits in a bush, cries, prays, and at this time Anna prays in her garden, looks at the bird’s nest, where the birds chirp over their chicks and says: “Even the Lord gave offspring to the birds, but he did not give me.” They meet, as the legend says, at the Golden Gate, or, as is often depicted, against the background of a bed, because this moment of meeting is perceived in the history of the Church as the conception of the Virgin Mary. Because the Old Russian culture was very chaste, this event was never shown, except for some hint. And then - the Nativity of the Virgin Mary.

The marriage takes place in the middle, and around is the story of little Maria. Here she is being brought into the temple - very rare iconography. The introduction to the temple is a constant subject, but the iconography itself, when the baby is pushed, not by Anna and Iakim, but by several virgins, is surprisingly rare. They seem to be inviting their friend to come in and not be afraid.

Next is the stigma, the plot of which is connected with the prayer for the rods, when Joseph, already elderly, chooses a wife for himself, and as a wife the high priests give in marriage to the Mother of God, who must preserve her innocence - such a very difficult topic for Theology. He prayed in front of the rods, and each rod meant the name of the maiden whom he would choose as his wife. The Virgin Mary is never depicted in this situation. And here she is depicted as already the one he chose. The rods were from different elders, but it was Joseph’s rod that blossomed.

The next one is also a very rare mark, I don’t remember seeing it anywhere. The young man blows the horn, the elders gather before prayer, Joseph steps forward. We can only regret that we do not see, because it is very difficult to imagine.

The following scenes: Mary's first steps - the first 7 steps in the house, the Mother of God is brought to the court of the elders, who give Her special sacred water to drink in order to decide whether She was really born through the prayers of Joachim and Anna. Rare iconography.

The fate of an icon: an illustration for the era

– What other ancient icons can be seen at the exhibition?

– From the collection of Alexander Vasilyevich Novikov. Him great amount icons associated with the iconography of the Mother of God and other rare icons. In particular, the Savior on the Throne is a rare icon of the Rostov tradition. Very well preserved. So good that we even doubted it at first. But all the research that we have done really indicates the second half of the 15th century.

– Irina Aleksandrovna, you said about one of the collectors that he prefers to live in the outback. Please tell us about him.

– This is Vyacheslav Momot, a romantic artist who spends most of his time not in Moscow, but in the village. He still goes to the forests for inspiration, writes sketches, paints portraits, makes graphic sketches. He the finest artist, whose soul still sings and reacts in a special way to everything beautiful. Therefore, all the icons that come from his collections are amazing. They are either distinguished by their antiquity or large artistic merit, or it’s some kind of rare iconography, and more often than not, it’s an icon of some completely unusual fate. For example, once on the walls of his apartment I noticed the “Boris and Gleb” icon.

It is clear that the icon is not ancient. And when you start thinking about its date, you are faced with a difficult task. How to date it?

It turns out that in 1922, an article appeared in the criminal code, according to which icon painting was prohibited as a subject not only of craftsmanship, but also as a subject of making money. In the Soviet state, icon painting was considered a crime. Therefore, it is natural that all those icon painters who continued their work after 1917 immediately ended their activities in 1922. Thus, the tradition of icon painting essentially died. It began to recover only during the years of perestroika.

And how did Russia continue to pray at the icons? These were either old or some small printed icons that were sold in churches, or they were icons of very rare icon painters, which were nevertheless preserved somewhere in the outback - most often, in Siberia, the Urals or in those large monasteries , which did not close. This icon dates back to the darkest time in the history of Russian icon painting - the 20-30s. That is, when the icon painter, risking his freedom, painted icons and kept them at home, in his cell... We don’t know who he was - maybe a monk, maybe an Old Believer.

Pay attention to the board. It is completely unusual - it is different from all ancient icons. The board that could be found in everyday life was used, because the production of boards also disappeared in Soviet time, along with iconography. That's why this monument means a lot to me.

Conversation and photo: Yulia Makoveychuk

We are publishing a letter from art critic Irina Aleksandrovna Shalina, written after the story of the seizure of the Trinity icon returned to Russia from Kirill Ulanov in 1690 in order to dispel many unpleasant and offensive rumors that are full of the Internet, TV and newspapers.

Dear friends and colleagues, I am sending you this letter with only one purpose - to restore justice and tell the truth about the circumstances of the return to Russia of the icon “Old Testament Trinity” written by Kirill Ulanov in 1690, which was undertaken by the Museum of Russian Icons and carried out on May 14, 2012. director Nikolai Vasilyevich Zadorozhny. To create such a low scandal around an event - which anyone thinking man should only evoke feelings of joy and gratitude; - to pour so much dirt and lies onto the air in one day, to turn everything upside down - was possible only in one case - when someone needed to turn a noble and truly civil act of a number of people into a show monstrous in its immorality and publicity .

Here's how it all really happened.

In mid-April this year. Mikhail Yuryevich Abramov, founder of the Museum of Russian Icons (hereinafter: MRI), its director N.V. Zadorozhny and I.A. Shalina went to Veliky Ustyug for the ceremonial transfer to the Veliky Ustyug State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve of ten holiday icons stolen from the local church of Demetrius of Thessalonica in 1984. They were purchased for the collection of the IRI in 2006 in Switzerland and, naturally, were checked according to Rosokhrankultura database. All ten icons, along with other exhibits of the museum, underwent a full check again in 2008 in connection with their participation in the exhibition “Returned Property” at the Tretyakov Gallery. For six years the icons were on display in the open and accessible museum in the center of Moscow, were at an exhibition in the State Tretyakov Gallery, published in three catalogs, their photographs were posted on the museum’s website. The monuments were seen by thousands of people in the museum, including most of our colleagues, but no one recognized them as stolen monuments, since information about such a theft did not exist anywhere. Only in December 2011, the curator of the Veliky Ustyug Museum-Reserve, accidentally visiting the MRI website, saw and realized...

This was followed by sad story with employees of the Main and Vologda Criminal Investigation Departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs breaking into the closed Moscow museum (on the eve of its re-opening on December 15). Without any accompanying documents in hand (search warrants, orders for the right to seize, etc.), they began to remove icons from the walls of the exhibition with threats to call riot police in case of disobedience. Naturally, the director demanded to provide a set of supporting documents - both the fact of the theft itself and the correspondence of these ten icons to the inventory descriptions and photographs of the stolen ones. I would like to note that the confiscation of icons took place not just in a private collection, but in a museum accepted into the ICOM museum community and having a certain status, including museum records and inventory.

The most amazing thing in this story is that at that time in the police van there was already a sealed eleventh icon brought from Veliky Ustyug as a reference for the examination, which, as a big secret, they refused to show it to MRI employees. At the same time, the frost outside was -30, the exhibits were transported in an unheated car, neither the custodian nor the security forces had even packaging material with them... GosNIIR refused to accept the icons for examination, since they did not even think to warn him in advance about their arrival, and The guardians of the law also did not have a resolution to conduct such an examination. Resourceful representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs go to the Andrei Rublev Museum, not suspecting that there is a day off there on that day... In the end, N.V. himself Zadorozhny persuaded the director of GosNIIR to take the icons to VH, so as not to drive them around in the cold and Moscow traffic jams. Having not carried out any work, but after quite a long time, the icons were taken to Vologda to the branch of the State Central Artistic Church named after. I.E. Grabar, while that same one - the reference one - is still not shown to anyone as great military secret. Then at the beginning of April N.V. Zadorozhny asks the adviser to the Minister of Culture V.V. Petrakov to go with him to Vologda and there in the restoration workshop, with one look at the Veliky Ustyug icon from the festive rank, he understands that the ten holidays of the MRI come from the same complex: this is the case when in There was no need for an examination at all; the similarities are obvious. And at the same moment, with the approval of the owner M.Yu. Abramova, the director signs a donation agreement for ten icons to the Veliky Ustyug Museum-Reserve.

It would seem that everything was resolved, although, unfortunately, with enormous losses, efforts and hassle. However, the Vologda Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is indignant - it remains on the sidelines, the holiday was a success, but “not on their street.” At the same time, the icons by this time, which were in perfect preservation in the MRI collection (this is recorded by all publications), now found themselves in disrepair and required significant restoration, which accordingly resulted (for whom only?) in the amount of 400,000 rubles.

Agree that all this should have happened in a completely different scenario; it would have been more correct for the administration of the Veliky Ustyug Museum to inform the IRI about the noticed similarities, calmly figure it out, compare the photos, and come with official documents. And at that very hour the icons would have been worthily handed over to their rightful owner, as has already happened in the history of the Museum of Russian Icons. That's exactly what happened... only four months later. And some of our colleagues would not have had to behave the way they did in this situation... However, this is a matter of their own conscience.

At the moment of the ceremonial transfer of monuments to the Veliky Ustyug Museum-Reserve by Mikhail Abramov, Governor of the Vologda Region O.A. Kuvshinnikov noted the great contribution to the return of them both by the patron himself and the employees of the museum he founded, thanks to whom the monuments were found in the West, brought to Russia, preserved and studied, and handed over free of charge to the rightful owner. Then he asked for help to buy from " German captivity"The icon of the Old Testament Trinity by Kirill Ulanov, which was stolen in 1994 from the Ustyuzhna Museum.

Actually, the merit of its acquisition also does not at all add glory to the valiant criminal investigation department. At one time, the Tallinn collector Nikolai Merkuryev, a subtle connoisseur of icon painting, told me about its appearance at an auction in the small German city of Lindau. The information, which turned out to be completely correct, was transferred by us to Rosokhrankultura, but with the help of Interpol, it turned out to be impossible to take the icon from a law-abiding German citizen who had not violated the rules of acquisition in any way.

Moreover, Walter Gunther won the trial - by virtue of the same civilized laws of a civilized state, and it seemed that the fate of the icon was decided forever. However, the German turned out to be highly moral and, having learned that it had been stolen from the museum, expressed a desire to return it on two conditions: the icon will be returned only to its rightful owner - Ustyuzhensky local history museum(not the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, for example, where other icons stolen from Ustyuzhna and found by no means by the forces of the Urals are now kept); as well as reimbursement of all expenses that he incurred in purchasing and transporting it. M. Yu. Abramov decided to help and bought the icon free of charge (for the required 25,000 euros). During the same meeting in Veliky Ustyug, an agreement arose that the “Old Testament Trinity,” upon arrival from Germany, would be exhibited for several months at the Museum of Russian Icons in Moscow, where it would be seen by thousands of visitors, and then solemnly handed over with the participation of the entire museum community, the press, etc. d. - Ustyuzhensky Museum of Local Lore.

Preparations for the transportation of the icon lasted almost a month: we received various documents, including from the Vologda Department of Culture, confirming that N.V. Zadorozhny acts in the interests of the Ustyuzhensky Museum. An act of donation of the icon by Nikolai Vasilyevich to the Ustyuzhensky Museum of Local Lore was prepared in advance, as well as an act of transferring it from there to the Museum of Russian Icons for exhibition, even permission from the Department of Culture of the Vologda Region for this temporary transfer. With great and understandable difficulties for all museum workers, the heavy icon, one and a half meters high, was delivered to Domodedovo Airport. Mikhail Abramov, as a true philanthropist, paid all the costs of its transportation. We quickly and without difficulty passed through the customs zone, where a representative of the Ministry of Culture was already waiting for us, since there had been a preliminary agreement to bring this particular icon and all officials were aware of what was happening; having completed all the necessary customs documents and filled out the declaration [I cannot understand how the State Administration of the Ministry of Internal Affairs can afford to knowingly distribute on the official (!) website false information about its absence, since it was the first document that they took away from N.V. Zadorozhny, as well as to claim that the icon (one and a half meters high) was allegedly found by them during the inspection of personal undeclared luggage!], we went out into the hall arrival, where we were instantly surrounded by an iconographically recognizable crowd of employees of the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department - about fifteen people with video cameras and cameras. I would like to note that this was an extremely thoughtful and staged event. Pushing and prodding, we were rudely escorted to the police station. Therefore, the MUR’s statements that it was necessary to inform them about the arrival in Russia (!) of an icon stolen from it (and we already know how they behave in such cases) were hypocritical and unnecessary. The security forces not only knew everything perfectly well in advance, down to the flight number and the identity of the transporter, but also had with them a significant package of documents with photos prepared in advance, and were also well equipped with a wide variety of equipment and tools. In addition, as confirmed in today’s speech by A.A. Avdeev, the issue of returning (and not searching!) a work of art to Russia is a matter for the Ministry of Culture, and not for the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other law enforcement agencies. So, naturally, no warnings were legally required.

It is noteworthy that for some reason the Criminal Investigation Department does not want (or cannot?) to live up to its name and search for, let alone find, stolen valuables and return them to Russia. But he still knows in detail about all the actions and movements of its citizens, and as a result, he “finds” only what falls into his “strong” hands.

In a three-by-three-meter section, for five and a half hours, we were subjected to everything that we had hitherto known only by hearsay. N. Zadorozhny was announced that a criminal case had been opened against him under the article “buying up stolen goods”!!! The icon, which the representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs treated, like us, without any respect, was taken away, and they refused to provide a document about its confiscation. All originals of accompanying documents were also selected, including customs declaration, the absence of which they are now shamelessly shouting throughout the airwaves. They were not allowed to make copies, they were rudely forbidden to call mobile phone, especially to official bodies and representatives of the Ministry of Culture, but they easily promised a “fun” life in the future. A little later I will send all the scanned documents, most of which will have to be restored at customs in Domodedovo and at the Vologda Department of Culture.

Before last hour The most offensive thing was the silence of the governor of the Vologda region, the director of the Ustyuzhna museum and the regional Department of Culture, who have not yet given a live interview. Now their silence has become clear: as they just reported, for two days now they have been under intense pressure from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and interrogation follows interrogation.

Like this sad story about the most worthy and noble deed, which turned into dirt, slop and a wild amount of lies throughout the Internet. The answer to the question of who needed all this suggests itself. Another thing is obvious: none of the whole series of already planned and carefully prepared acts of returning our monuments to our homeland is now, most likely, destined to take place.

One of these days we will organize a press conference at the Museum of Russian Icon for the museum community and the press to comment on what happened and present all the documents. M.b. someone will have a proposal for some other actions.

With respect and gratitude for your attention and support,

Irina Shalina

A letter from art critic Irina Aleksandrovna Shalina, written after the story of the confiscation of the Trinity icon of Kirill Ulanov’s letter from 1690, which was returned to Russia, published on the website of the “Orthodox workshops “Russian Icon””

Irina Shalina, art critic: Dear friends and colleagues, I am sending you this letter with only one purpose - to restore justice and tell the truth about the circumstances of the return to Russia of the icon “Trinity of the Old Testament” written by Kirill Ulanov in 1690, which was undertaken by the Museum of Russian Icons and carried out on May 14, 2012. director Nikolai Vasilyevich Zadorozhny. To create such a low scandal around an event that should only evoke feelings of joy and gratitude in any thinking person; - to pour so much dirt and lies onto the air in one day, to turn everything upside down - was possible only in one case - when someone needed to turn a noble and truly civil act of a number of people into a show monstrous in its immorality and publicity .

Here's how it all really happened.

In mid-April this year. Mikhail Yuryevich Abramov, founder of the Museum of Russian Icons (hereinafter: MRI), its director N.V. Zadorozhny and I.A. Shalina went to Veliky Ustyug for the ceremonial transfer to the Veliky Ustyug State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve of ten holiday icons stolen from the local church of Demetrius of Thessalonica in 1984. They were purchased for the MRI meeting in 2006 in Switzerland and, naturally, when imported to Russia, they were checked against the Rosokhrankultura database. All ten icons, along with other exhibits of the museum, underwent a full check again in 2008 in connection with their participation in the exhibition “Returned Property” at the Tretyakov Gallery. For six years, the icons were on display in an open and accessible museum in the center of Moscow, were at an exhibition in the State Tretyakov Gallery, published in three catalogues, and their photographs were posted on the museum’s website. The monuments were seen by thousands of people in the museum, including most of our colleagues, but no one recognized them as stolen monuments, since information about such a theft did not exist anywhere. Only in December 2011, the curator of the Veliky Ustyug Museum-Reserve, accidentally visiting the MRI website, saw and realized...

What followed was the sad story of employees of the Main and Vologda Criminal Investigation Departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs breaking into the closed Moscow museum (on the eve of its re-opening on December 15). Without any accompanying documents in hand (search warrants, orders for the right to seize, etc.), they began to remove icons from the walls of the exhibition with threats to call riot police in case of disobedience. Naturally, the director demanded to provide a set of supporting documents - both the fact of the theft itself and the correspondence of these ten icons to the inventory descriptions and photographs of the stolen ones. I note that the confiscation of icons took place not just in a private collection, but in a museum accepted into the ICOM museum community and having a certain status, including museum records and inventory.

The most amazing thing in this story is that at that time in the police van there was already a sealed eleventh icon, brought from Veliky Ustyug as a reference for the examination, which, as a big secret, they refused to show to the MRI staff. At the same time, the frost outside was -30, the exhibits were transported in an unheated car, neither the custodian nor the security forces had even packaging material with them... GosNIIR refused to accept the icons for examination, since they did not even think to warn him in advance about their arrival, and The guardians of the law also did not have a resolution to conduct such an examination. Resourceful representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs go to the Andrei Rublev Museum, not suspecting that there is a day off there on that day... In the end, N.V. himself Zadorozhny persuaded the director of GosNIIR to take the icons to VH, so as not to drive them around in the cold and Moscow traffic jams. Having not carried out any work, but after quite a long time, the icons were taken to Vologda to the branch of the State Central Artistic Church named after. I.E. Grabar, while that same one - the standard one - is still not shown to anyone as a great military secret. Then at the beginning of April N.V. Zadorozhny asks the adviser to the Minister of Culture V.V. Petrakov to go with him to Vologda and there in the restoration workshop, with one look at the Veliky Ustyug icon from the festive rank, he understands that the ten holidays of the MRI come from the same complex: this is the case when in There was no need for an examination at all; the similarities are obvious. And at the same moment, with the approval of the owner M.Yu. Abramova, the director signs a donation agreement for ten icons to the Veliky Ustyug Museum-Reserve.

It would seem that everything was resolved, although, unfortunately, with enormous losses, efforts and hassle. However, the Vologda Criminal Investigation Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs is indignant - it remains on the sidelines, the holiday was a success, but “not on their street.” At the same time, the icons by this time, which were in perfect preservation in the MRI collection (this is recorded by all publications), now found themselves in disrepair and required significant restoration, which accordingly resulted (for whom only?) in the amount of 400,000 rubles.

Agree that all this should have happened in a completely different scenario; it would have been more correct for the administration of the Veliky Ustyug Museum to inform the IRI about the noticed similarities, calmly figure it out, compare the photos, and come with official documents. And at that very hour the icons would have been worthily handed over to their rightful owner, as has already happened in the history of the Museum of Russian Icons. That's exactly what happened... only four months later. And some of our colleagues would not have had to behave the way they did in this situation... However, this is a matter of their own conscience.

At the moment of the ceremonial transfer of monuments to the Veliky Ustyug Museum-Reserve by Mikhail Abramov, Governor of the Vologda Region O.A. Kuvshinnikov noted the great contribution to the return of them both by the patron himself and the employees of the museum he founded, thanks to whom the monuments were found in the West, brought to Russia, preserved and studied, and handed over free of charge to the rightful owner. At the same time, he asked for help to redeem from “German captivity” the icon of the Old Testament Trinity by Kirill Ulanov, which was stolen in 1994 from the Ustyuzhna Museum.

Actually, the merit of its acquisition also does not at all add glory to the valiant criminal investigation department. At one time, the Tallinn collector Nikolai Merkuryev, a subtle connoisseur of icon painting, told me about its appearance at an auction in the small German city of Lindau. The information, which turned out to be completely correct, was transferred by us to Rosokhrankultura, but with the help of Interpol, it turned out to be impossible to take the icon from a law-abiding German citizen who had not violated the rules of acquisition in any way.
Moreover, Walter Gunther won the trial - by virtue of the same civilized laws of a civilized state, and it seemed that the fate of the icon was decided forever. However, the German turned out to be highly moral and, having learned that it had been stolen from the museum, expressed a desire to return it on two conditions: the icon will be returned only to its rightful owner - the Ustyuzhna Museum of Local Lore (not the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, for example, where other icons stolen from Ustyuzhna and found far from by the forces of the SD); as well as reimbursement of all expenses that he incurred in purchasing and transporting it. M. Yu. Abramov decided to help and bought the icon free of charge (for the required 25,000 euros). During the same meeting in Veliky Ustyug, an agreement arose that the “Old Testament Trinity,” upon arrival from Germany, would be exhibited for several months at the Museum of Russian Icons in Moscow, where it would be seen by thousands of visitors, and then solemnly handed over with the participation of the entire museum community, the press, etc. d. – Ustyuzhna Local Lore Museum.

Preparations for the transportation of the icon lasted almost a month: we received various documents, including from the Vologda Department of Culture, confirming that N.V. Zadorozhny acts in the interests of the Ustyuzhensky Museum. An act of donation of the icon by Nikolai Vasilyevich to the Ustyuzhensky Museum of Local Lore was prepared in advance, as well as an act of transferring it from there to the Museum of Russian Icons for exhibition, even permission from the Department of Culture of the Vologda Region for this temporary transfer. With great and understandable difficulties for all museum workers, the heavy icon, one and a half meters high, was delivered to Domodedovo Airport. Mikhail Abramov, as a true philanthropist, paid all the costs of its transportation. We quickly and without difficulty passed through the customs zone, where a representative of the Ministry of Culture was already waiting for us, since there had been a preliminary agreement to bring this particular icon and all officials were aware of what was happening; having completed all the necessary customs documents and filled out the declaration [I cannot understand how the Main Directorate of the Ministry of Internal Affairs can afford to distribute deliberately false information about its absence on the official (!) website, since this was the first document that they took away from N.V. Zadorozhny, as well as to claim that the icon (one and a half meters high) was allegedly found by them during the inspection of personal undeclared luggage!], we went out into the arrival hall, where we were instantly surrounded by an iconographically recognizable crowd of employees of the Moscow Criminal Investigation Department - about fifteen people with video cameras , cameras. I would like to note that this was an extremely thoughtful and staged event. Pushing and prodding, we were rudely escorted to the police station. Therefore, the MUR’s statements that it was necessary to inform them about the arrival in Russia (!) of an icon stolen from it (and we already know how they behave in such cases) were hypocritical and unnecessary. The security forces not only knew everything perfectly well in advance, down to the flight number and the identity of the transporter, but also had with them a significant package of documents with photos prepared in advance, and were also well equipped with a wide variety of equipment and tools. In addition, as confirmed in today’s speech by A.A. Avdeev, the issue of returning (and not searching!) a work of art to Russia is a matter for the Ministry of Culture, and not for the FSB, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and other law enforcement agencies. So, naturally, no warnings were legally required.

It is noteworthy that for some reason the Criminal Investigation Department does not want (or cannot?) to live up to its name and search for, let alone find, stolen valuables and return them to Russia. But he still knows in detail about all the actions and movements of its citizens, and as a result, he “finds” only what falls into his “strong” hands.
In a three-by-three-meter section, for five and a half hours, we were subjected to everything that we had hitherto known only by hearsay. N. Zadorozhny was announced that a criminal case had been opened against him under the article “buying up stolen goods”!!! The icon, which the representatives of the Ministry of Internal Affairs treated, like us, without any respect, was taken away, and they refused to provide a document about its confiscation. All original accompanying documents were also selected, including the customs declaration, the absence of which they are now shamelessly shouting throughout the airwaves. They were not allowed to make copies, they were rudely forbidden to call on a mobile phone, especially to official bodies and representatives of the Ministry of Culture, but they easily promised a “fun” life in the future. A little later I will send all the scanned documents, most of which will have to be restored at customs in Domodedovo and at the Vologda Department of Culture.

Until the last hour, the most offensive thing was the silence of the governor of the Vologda region, the director of the Ustyuzhna Museum and the regional Department of Culture, who had not yet given a live interview. Now their silence has become clear: as they just reported, for two days now they have been under intense pressure from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and interrogation follows interrogation.
This is a sad story about the most worthy and noble deed, which turned into dirt, slop and a wild amount of lies throughout the Internet. The answer to the question of who needed all this suggests itself. Another thing is obvious: none of the whole series of already planned and carefully prepared acts of returning our monuments to our homeland is now, most likely, destined to take place.
<...>

The Russian Museum may lose its business card, the work by which he is recognized throughout the world, his oldest icon, “The Golden Haired Angel.” Orthodox businessman Sergei Shmakov wants to take it from the museum. Several years ago he took another famous icon, Our Lady Hodegetria, from the Russian Museum; it is now kept in cottage village Shmakova. Shmakov wants to place “Angel of Golden Hair” in the church of the Mikhailovsky Castle, restored at his expense, and then, according to some sources, almost tour with it throughout Russia.

This is what a leading researcher at the Department of Ancient Russian Art of the Russian Museum, an official expert on cultural values Ministry of Culture Russian Federation Irina Shalina: “This work is a symbol of the Russian Museum, and since it was received for permanent storage in 1934, it has not left its halls, except in exceptional situations - evacuation during the Great Patriotic War, a world-class exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Glory of Byzantium, when this particular icon was selected to represent the Russian Christian culture in the context Byzantine art generally".

And yet, the icon, which has no equal in the museum, can be taken away. In this regard, it is worth recalling the scandal of 2009, when the Russian Museum lost outstanding monument ancient Russian painting the first half of the 14th century - the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria, later called the Mother of God of Toropetsk. She was taken from the museum by order of the Ministry of Culture and at the request of Patriarch Kirill - to the Church of St. Alexander Nevsky in the cottage village "Princely Lake". They were taken away for a while - as the patriarch promised and the initiator of the removal of the icon from the museum, Orthodox businessman Sergei Shmakov, owner and president of the SAPSAN group of companies, which is engaged in the construction of cottage villages, swore. Nevertheless, the promises of both the patriarch and the businessman were not fulfilled: the deadline for the return of the icon to the Russian Museum was repeatedly postponed, and then the Ministry of Culture completely transferred it for storage to Restoration Center named after Grabar. But in fact, the icon was and still is in the village of “Princely Lake”. Meanwhile, it requires such careful handling that at one time the restorers of the Russian Museum even forbade its exhibition. Now it has been in a closed ark for several years, and experts cannot do anything, although they know that such storage is unacceptable, that the wood of the icon must breathe, otherwise the processes of destruction may become irreversible, and the monument may be lost.

However, the barbaric seizure of a precious exhibit from the Russian Museum may not be the only one. Back in 2009, Shmakov spoke about certain plans for the most ancient icon of the museum, the “Golden Hair Angel,” and last week these plans began to take shape. Irina Shalina speaks about the trouble that threatens Angel:

I remember how in 2009 Mr. Shmakov appeared at the Russian Museum and at first gently, then more and more demandingly, and then with a letter from the patriarch, he demanded the icon of the Mother of God of Toropetskaya, and, despite promises to return it, it is still there, one might say, in Mr. Shmakov’s personal cottage village, where they are actively selling land. And now the same man swung at the oldest icon of the Russian Museum, one of the most valuable icons of our national treasure. It miraculously ended up in the Russian Museum after many vicissitudes of the 19th century. Our exposition begins with it - and any excursion also begins with it, it has long become our symbol. She appears on all the posters all over the world when we're talking about about the Russian Museum. This is the end of the 12th century, there are different versions of its origin, some even considered it a Byzantine monument, others from Kyiv, my opinion is that it was painted by Novgorod masters of the late 12th century. This is an icon from the Deesis rank, where it took its place. And if the Toropetskaya Mother of God, although she was never miraculous, there are still some legends about her, she is revered, then the “Golden Haired Angel” is not a prayerful image at all, it is one of the intercessors before the Almighty, who prays for the forgiveness of our sins. And it is impossible to imagine that they pray in front of this icon, that they bow to it, kiss it, it is impossible, only a person who does not have even the rudiments of an understanding of the foundations of Orthodox culture can think of it. In front of this icon, we talk about the origins of ancient Russian painting, about the beginning of Orthodoxy in Rus'. And suddenly Mr. Shmakov has the idea to move this icon from the museum, where thousands of people see it every day, to the Mikhailovsky Castle. For this purpose, for some reason he wants to make the church there active and open, although there cannot even be a parish there: there are no residential buildings there - the Champ de Mars, Summer garden, Fontanka, Mikhailovsky Garden. The Mikhailovsky Palace is the premises of the Russian Museum, and the church in it was imperial, for the elite, imbued with the spirit of the Order of Malta, which is understandable if we remember the history of Paul the First. And why should this icon be moved to a place where it will only be worshiped on certain major holidays? This is an idea from a private person who offers to restore the church for his own money, although this is a museum object, and this cannot be done so easily. And the iconostasis there is a dilapidated museum storage, but you can’t touch it, let alone open the Royal Doors during services. This is the point - to move the icon 200 meters - to where supposedly pilgrims will come from all over the country. For a person raised in Orthodox traditions and in the canon of what an icon and a prayer image are, such a thought could not arise. This is an illiterate person who risks falling under the anathema of all ecumenical councils, which very clearly say which icons we should worship. This is a very active and uncompromising invasion of state, national property. And this is done by a man who has already taken one of the most valuable icons from the Russian Museum and did not keep not only his word, but also the word of the patriarch, who also promised to return it to us. How can you trust this person again? The restoration of the church is a good thing, and it would even be possible to open it to a very intimate number of people, but what does “Angel of Golden Hair” have to do with it?

– Irina, it seems that you already have similar experience Tretyakov Gallery?

– The Tretyakov Gallery went its own way: the church, which is located on its territory, has always been a parish church in this part of Moscow, and it became entirely part of the gallery, it is part museum space, where the icon of the Mother of God of Vladimir was transferred. The priest there is incredibly literate and cultured, the parish is practically like a museum. But from my own experience I can say: out of 10 times when you want to see Vladimirskaya, 9 times you cannot do this - because of a wedding, baptism, service. And this is a national treasure, which also opened the exhibition of the Tretyakov Gallery. Yes, this is a compromise, this is flirting with church circles, but this is not a solution. For the icon, this is a derogation; few people see it; it has fallen out of the excursion circle. And yet, in some ways, this compromise is clear to me - after all, we are talking about the most famous miraculous icon in Rus'. On the other hand, where does such ambition come from that it is necessary to pray for such valuable icons? Athonite monks pray in their cells for paper icons, and nothing, this does not detract from their holiness. But in the case of the “Golden Hair Angel,” we don’t even know what kind of angel this is - after all, there may be several of them in the Deesis rank. This is a nameless angel, hence its mythologized name. It seems that from the spread it could be the Archangel Gabriel, but maybe he is part of a complex of three angels, we don’t know, his name is lost along with the background. You can’t present your conjectures and interpretations as scientific fact. This is an icon, but it has never been a prayer image; it is not even called an image in the inventories.

- In general, is all this pride and ignorance?

– Yes, and also the idea that I, a rich and well-connected person, have the right to decide the fate of any object of national heritage owned by a state fund and to use it.

– And the Ministry of Culture is on his side again?

Medinsky came to see how the icon was hanging - you see, he was informed that it was hanging in inappropriate conditions, somewhere above the battery - for some reason he was not listening to the custodian, but to someone’s messages

- In any case, last week Medinsky came to us, and then a certain employee of the ministry. Medinsky came to see how the icon was hanging - you see, he was informed that it was hanging in inappropriate conditions, somewhere above the radiator - for some reason he was not listening to the custodian, but to someone else's messages. We have it hanging beautifully, in an expensive cassette, under bulletproof glass. Medinsky saw children sitting on the floor in front of the icon, the guide telling them what the icon was. Then he went to the Mikhailovsky Castle, and a few days later his deputy arrived - on the issue of the reconstruction of the Mikhailovsky Castle, which the SAPSAN company is supposedly going to do with its own money. And they say: we have not yet decided whether to take the icon to church every month or 4 times a year, on certain holidays. They decide this among themselves. And we must think about how to organize the entrance to the church during a mass pilgrimage, where there will be parking for buses. Why don’t pilgrims listen to the guide’s stories about this icon in the Russian Museum, where it hangs vertically, as an icon of the Deesis order should hang. About an icon that did not leave our museum under any conditions, except for the blockade, when everything was taken out, and the only exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, where the “Golden Haired Angel” was one of the representatives of Russian culture - among several icons, including Rublev. She was chosen as the most famous of Russian icons.

Irina Shalina is very afraid that at any moment the Russian Museum may receive an order from the Ministry of Culture to move the “Golden Hair Angel”, and the director of the museum, Vladimir Gusev, will obediently sign it, just as he signed the order to remove the icon of the Toropetskaya Mother of God.

Writer Mikhail Zolotonosov outraged by the impending relocation of the “Golden Hair Angel”:

Shmakov is going to quickly restore the church in the Mikhailovsky Castle, place the icon there first, and then transport it throughout the country, arranging a kind of happening

– Party of Orthodox Chekists in Once again I decided to arrange traffic for valuable artifacts and make money from it. The icon is the oldest in the Russian Museum and the most valuable. The problem is that Medinsky has already come to the museum, has already given orders, everything has apparently already been launched there through the Presidential Administration, so everyone in the Russian Museum is afraid, they do not have the strength to resist it. The project is supposedly such that this Shmakov is going to quickly restore the church in the Mikhailovsky Castle, place the icon there first, and then transport it throughout the country, arranging a kind of happening. I am also concerned about the problem of restoring part of the Mikhailovsky Castle - this is a cultural heritage site, so KGIOP must give technical specifications for this restoration, then a project for restoration work must be prepared, KGIOP must approve this project - all this is required by the law on cultural heritage peoples of the Russian Federation. Here, obviously, this law is going to be violated at all points at once, because it is impossible to do the restoration in the way that God wishes for Shmakov or anyone else. This all testifies to yet another barbarism, because if we remember the Toropetsk Icon, then it remained somewhere in an elite village near Moscow. Apparently, this icon will go there too. This is a real pearl, a star of the first magnitude. Apparently there is a competition going on there: who will snatch the most valuable artifact from the Russian Museum. First there was Toropetskaya, and now this one - and no one will surpass me, because there are no older icons there.

– So you think that this is being done, rather, not for the sake of profit, but for the sake of pride?

“I think it’s all together.” After all, you don’t have to take money to show it - but you can create an infrastructure around it: a hotel, sell souvenirs, arrange a paid toilet, immediately sell copies of this icon - but this can be done not directly, but indirectly. It’s hard for me to say - I didn’t communicate with these people and I don’t know the hierarchy of their motives.

– Are there any ways to protect the “Golden Hair Angel”?

– The whole horror here is that they are not going to exclude it from the museum fund, take it away from the Russian Museum, it will be listed there. And a handout is made - the restoration of the Church of the Mikhailovsky Castle. But if the restoration is carried out at an accelerated pace, then we will get another Konstantinovsky Palace, it will not be a restoration, but simply a European-quality renovation. They will simply ruin everything there along the way, because from such a “restoration” there will then be nothing genuine and authentic left. It seems that these people sit all the time and think: how else can they surprise the world? national culture mischief. Moreover, icons have nothing to do with the law on the return of church valuables, apparently signed by Yeltsin without regaining consciousness - it only deals with real estate. It is clear that such a masterpiece should be kept in a museum in special conditions under special protection, and not made into a fragment of private projects.

Radio Liberty managed to get through to the director of the Russian Museum Vladimir Gusev and ask him about the "Golden Hair Angel". He replied that he did not see the subject of the conversation, since the icon remained in the museum. He did not want to go into details, but it is in them, as we know, that the devil hides. Because the Mikhailovsky Palace is part of the Russian Museum, and the icon transferred there remains, as it were, in the museum - only it will be much more difficult to see it. And if this is so, then we can assume that some angel who guarded the Russian Museum even during the siege now seems to have turned his back on it.