The conference “Russian Saints” was held in the Kirillo-Belozersky museum-reserve. The exhibition with the same title was opened in the Treasury Chamber of the Museum of Dionisy’s Frescoes within the framework of the event. Various icons are presented there. Svetlana Gnutova, Ph.D. in Art history, head of the Department of Decorative and Applied Arts in the Central Andrey Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art, told the guests about the exhibits:
“This display is unique. Its exhibits were taken from private collections of Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Yaroslavl and other cities. Some of them are presented for the first time. I should note that as the exhibition is staged in the Russian North, the collectors tried to display images exactly of northern saints. We can see St. Pavel Obnorsky, St. Kornily Komelsky, and, of course, St. Kirill Belozersky – a very rare icon of the 17th century decorated with the original silver setting. Pay attention to the icon of the Virgin with the image of St. Kirill Belozersky on the borders. It is similar to that very icon which Kirill had when he came to this region. In my opinion, the icons depicting shrines of saints, i.e. their incorruptible relics, are very interesting. So this exhibition is the real feast for the eyes”.
The conference itself was held in the Kirillo-Belozersky museum-reserve at the end of the round-table discussion in Ferapontovo. Various reports were given there. Participants brought up the topics connected with the images of saints canonized by the Russian Orthodox Church, people who had created the cult of personality, icons of the Old-Believers and icons with images of Russian rulers. It is planned to publish the reports in a scientific book about the conference in the near future.
The exhibition “Graphic Arts of Our Time” from the Collection of Mikhail and Galina Krasilins was also opened within the framework of the event. One of its organizers, Mikhail Krasilin, participated in the conference and gave a report titled “Images of Russian Hierarchs in the Icon-paining of the Synodal Period”.
