The Russian Academy Of Arts

Date: 12.07.2007
Source: Press Service

In the Art Gallery (19 Prechistenka street) there was a presentation of a new sculpture by the President of the Russian Academy of Arts  Zurab Tsereteli. The bronze multi-figure composition “Night at the Ipatiev House”  is dedicated to the tragic death of the Russian Emperor Nicholas II and his family.

Visitors of the Art Gallery had already seen a small model of the  “Night at the Ipatiev House”  monument before it was installed in the Gallery’s  hall  “Knowledge of Good and Evil”  with works on the biblical topic in the June of 2007.

The “Night at the Ipatiev House”  represents sculptural images of Emperor Nicholas II, Empress Alexandra, Crown Prince Alexis, Grand Princesses Olga, Tatiana, Maria and Anastasia against the background of  the wall  dotted with bullets and containing engraved figures of the bloody date – the year of   1918.  The composition also comprises texts related to the last days of the royal family – citations from letters of the Empress and Grand Princess Olga.

By odd and terrifying in its symbolism coincidence, the Romanoff dynasty crowned in the Ipatiev monastery  was overthrown in the so called Ipatiev house. At the presentation were shown two nails from the basement, where the cruel massacre had taken place,  also included by the artist in  his sculptural composition. 

The assassinated members of the royal family were canonized because of their death as martyrs. In the last Christian tsar and members of his family we see people who sincerely tried to realize the Decalogue. “In sufferings endured by the royal family in the imprisonment with gentleness, patience and humility, in their martyrdom in Ekaterinburg on the night of July 17, 1918 was revealed the light of the Christian faith vanquishing the Evil” -   is written in the resolution of  the Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.     

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