Today the entire Orthodox world celebrates a special day. The ancient great feast marks the Baptism of the Savior in the River Jordan. The rite was performed by the prophet John the Forerunner. The holiday is fixed (non-movable), that is, it has a constant date — January 19, since it is tied to that very act of baptism. This feast quite often serves as a subject of icon painting, and the museum has such examples. Of particular interest is an 18th-century icon entirely devoted to the event. Its main feature is a "lifelike" painting style, where the figures of the saints are rendered more humanlike and approach the likeness of real people.
"The icon is painted in the Baroque style (it 'came' from Italy and the word translates as 'whimsical'). It is characterized by a variety of ornaments, iconography and composition, as well as the poses and gestures of the figures and architectural backgrounds. The museum icon "The Baptism" also has an unusual form — an oval panel framed by a 'laurel wreath'. In the center of the composition is Jesus Christ, half-covered with a white cloth; on the right is John the Forerunner pouring water on his head; on the left kneels an angel," explains Irina Korotkova, curator of collections at the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda museum-reserve.
Another matter of great interest, which became the subject of research, is the place from which the icon arrived at the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda museum-reserve. It is the Church of the Annunciation pogost of the village of Timoshkino in the Florishchensky rural council. "The icon probably formed part of the festive row of the iconostasis. Interestingly, in this area was the ancestral estate of the Nagikh princes, close relatives of Maria, the last wife of Ivan the Terrible and mother of Tsarevich Dmitry. Therefore, for now we cautiously assume, and hope, that our icon will turn out not only to be unique but to gain the status of a true rarity," summarizes Svetlana Vershinina, press service specialist of the Alexandrovskaya Sloboda museum-reserve.
By the way, the museum's collection also contains other items on the 'Baptism' theme — delightful postcards, for example the open card "Once on Baptism Eve the girls were fortune-telling," dated to the very beginning of the 20th century. It was published by the printing house "R. Golike and A. Vilborg Partnership", the designer of the scene being Elizaveta Merkuryevna Böhm. In the early 1900s the well-known artist became fascinated with 'small printed forms', at that time a novelty called 'open letters' (postcards). They began to be issued under the name E.M. Böhm in large runs because they became incredibly popular. A century later postcards have almost disappeared from our lives. But they have been preserved in the museum, invariably evoking warm nostalgic emotions. Happy Baptism holiday to everyone!
