Lecture with Amy Adams: Sacred Histories: Why Russian Leaders Tell Icon Tales

Members Free, Not-yet-members $15.
Limited to 80 seats, tickets at door if available

This talk uses the icon of the Mother of God of Kazan as a case study to highlight how Russia’s political leaders invoke the notion of “sacred” history as political discourse. Drawing on hundreds of years of icon tales (skazaniia) linked to the Kazanskaya icon from its “miraculous” appearance in 1579 in Kazan to the 2021 restoration of the church built on the site of its discovery, the talk considers its use by Ivan IV (“the Terrible”), Joseph Stalin, and Vladimir Putin to push national political agendas, especially in times of war.