Simon Ushakov's "Virgin With Child" (Mid 16th Century) and Viktor Deni's "Village Virgin" (1919)

Russian religious icon art like Simon Ushakov’s “Virgin with Child” (mid sixteenth century), possessed great significance in Russian society. According to Tamara Machmut-Jhashi PhD, an assistant art history professor at Oakland University, “The term “icon” is used to convey the idea of representation, to denote an image that is usually widely recognized, or even revered… For Orthodox Christians, icons are painted images that have played a significant role in the theological and liturgical life of the Church...they are equal to the authority of the Gospels,”1. These images were recognized as having the power to ward off enemies, protect, and heal 1. While initially Ushakov’s work “Virgin with Child,” was questioned because of its nontraditional use of Western artistic styles, it was eventually lauded as an influential icon painting 1. This image not only impacted Russian religious life, but also served as inspiration for Bolshevik propaganda, with unique political implications.

In his image “Village Virgin” (1919), Viktor Deni replaced the figures in Ushakov’s “Virgin with Child” with influential leaders of the Bolshevik revolution. By replacing meaningful religious figures with the heads of Bolshevik leaders, Deni suggested that the Bolshevik leaders were powerful or even god-like. Icons were only made of holy individuals worthy of worship. According to Machmut-Jhashi, “For the Orthodox Believer, it is not the actual icon that is worshiped; rather, it is the person on whom that image is modeled who is venerated. The icon comes to function as a window, or screen, to the holy person depicted, to lead the believer into communion with the ‘divinely illumined’ personage represented,”1. These images therefore venerated the Bolshevik leaders and the beliefs they fostered. By relying on an image of religious power, Deni was able to create propaganda illustrating the political might of Bolshevism and the emerging government. Additionally, Deni’s “Village Virgin” also succeeded in deriding religion, which the Bolsheviks viewed as the opiate of the masses. The inclusion of political figures in a realm of art that should have been reserved for only holy subjects, detracted from the meaning of icons and traditional religious practices. The “Village Virgin” was the beginning to a, “deconstruction of faith,”2. Deni’s work also illustrates, “the dichotomy between the progressiveness of Bolshevik workers in contrast to the “backwardness” of traditional Russia,” 2. This contrast serves to mock and belittle Old Russian and the original Tsarist regime.

1. Machmut-Jhashi, Tamara. 2003. Between matter and spirit: russian icon painting. Meadow Brook Art Gallery: Oakland University
2. Rosenthal, Rachel. 2005. Visual fiction: the development of the secular icon in Stalinist poster art. Stanford’s Student Journal of Russian.1: 1-13.