Icon of St Noe the Forefather. Russian. Rybinsk, late 17th to early 18th century.

St Noe the Forefather (Russian, Rybinsk, late 17th to early 18th century)

It rained for 40 days and 40 nights… remember?

Icon of St Noe the Forefather. 19th century Russian

St Noe the Forefather (19th century Russian)

All of us are familiar with the story of Noe’s Ark. If you need to be told about that…

Konstantin Makovsky. A Girl with a Dog. no date (1860s?)

A Girl with a Dog (Konstantin Makovsky, no date (1860s?))

Konstantin Makovky (1838-1915) is a fairly prolific artist completely unknown in the West except for his A Boyar Wedding Feast of the 17th Century (1883). Therefore, here are painting of varying genres from all stages of his career.

Konstantin Makovsky. The Call to Arms of Kuzma Minin in Novogorod in 1611. 1879

The Call to Arms of Kuzma Minin in Novgorod in 1611

Konstantin Makovsky

1879

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This illustrates one of the most pivotal episodes in Russian history. The Poles invaded Russia during the Smuta (Time of Troubles) after the death of Tsar Boris Gudunov. They attempted to place a Catholic Pole on the Russian throne and wanted to ram the Unia down the throats of the Russian people, to make them submit to the Pope of Rome. Quite obviously, this led to a Russian national awakening. The opolchenie (militia) came to arms under the leadership of the boyar Dmitri Pozharsky and the butcher Kuzma Minin. The Poles, after hard fighting and a long siege, were defeated, and Russia and Orthodoxy were preserved from destruction. Any time you hear a Pole downing Russia, remember, they started the fight, we finished it. They attempted to force their religion upon us, and we not only rejected them, we threw them out. There’s a reason for their hatred… they attempted to murder us as a people and we foiled them. Sic semper tyrannis!

BMD