Kulakova I.P. The theme of the Passion of Christ and the cult of the Theotokos of the Passion in the Russian historical and cultural context

Abstract: This article is focused on the stages of adoption into the Russian cultural tradition of the theme of the Passion of Christ. The Ancient Russian icon-painters inherited the Byzantine iconography of the Theotokos of the Passion with worshipping angels and the Instruments of the Passion (13th-century icon from the museum of Kalyazin). The theme of the Passion seems to disappear later on from the artistic usage and only reappears again in the middle of the 17th century in the form of an icon, miraculously acquired in 1641. Using the semiotic approach in interpreting the pose and gestures of the icon’s figures, the author identifies a particular accentuation on the “vulnerability” of Christ, concerning his human nature. The author further traces a link between the canonisation of the icon and the establishment of the Moscow Monastery of the Passion (Strastnoy monastery) with the ruling dynasty of the Romanov family. The article reviews the different directions of the Passion theme’s distribution in Russian culture during the 17th–19th centuries: “the Legend” recounting the appearance of the miracle-working icon; the venerated prototype established in its lists; the symbols of the Passion in the adornments of the decorative and applied arts and book illumination; the cycle of engravings and literary compositions. The author proposes to consider the origins of the Passion theme’s adoption not only with the transfer of the European Baroque tradition, but also with the very complex environment of the early Modern period.

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