The exhibition is devoted to a rather rare, but significant subject in Russian Orthodox iconography – “Christ in the Dungeon” (“Midnight Savior”) – the depiction of Jesus Christ imprisoned, subjected to desecration and awaiting his ascent to Calvary on the first stop of the Via Dolorosa. The afflicted Christ was portrayed sitting, with a crown of thorns on his head and, most often, with his right hand pressed to his cheek. Displayed in Manege, the exhibition consists of over thirty sculptures ranging from the mid-17th to the early 19th centuries.
Orthodox church wooden sculpture is a major phenomenon in Russian art. Along with icons and works of decorative and applied art, it was part of artistic ensembles of churches and chapels.
With loans from fourteen Russia’s museums: the State Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, Perm State Art Gallery, Morshansk Museum of History and Art, Pereslavl-Zalessky Museum Preserve, the State Museum of the History of Religion in St. Petersburg, Totma Museum Association and more.
Curated by Semyon Mikhailovsky, Head of St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, Commissioner of the Russian pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Exhibition design by Anton Gorlanov.
Bookshop: 12:00-20:45
Manege Café: 12:00-20:30
Christ in the Dungeon
16 January 2019 — 10 February 2019
Wooden sculptures portraying “Christ in the Dungeon” appeared relatively late in Russia, in the 17th century, and became widespread over the subsequent two centuries. The first sculptural works on this subject were carried out by Belarusian woodcarvers working for Patriarch Nikon. Chapel-shaped icon cases were fashioned to house the sculptures in the Voskresenky Cathedral—a structure which was created to resemble the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem—which is located in the New Jerusalem Monastery near Moscow.
While temple sculptures—“icons carved, hewn, hollowed out, or sculpted”—were periodically banned by the Holy Synod, in provincial areas remote from the capital, they were able to escape destruction. The creation of the chapel-shaped icon cases inside these temples was completed in the first half of the 19th century. Arising from European influence, the sculptures were connected with folk culture. The so-called “Perm Gods,” with their characteristic poses, expressive faces, and a whimsical combination of European style with Asiatic character, became widespread.
A series of educational events will help deepen the understanding of the subject.
Please be careful — you are entering exhibition spaces with dimmed lighting.