The days of vengeance befell us ... we repent, may the Lord not destroy us

	unknown
	"The days of vengeance befell us ... we repent, may the Lord not destroy us." between 1905 and 1907
	Canvas, oil
	State Museum of the History of Religion , St. Petersburg ; small copy

"The days of revenge upon us ... we repent so that the Lord will not destroy us" is a picture of an unknown artist dedicated to the 1905 revolution and the creation of the Union of the Russian people to protect the ruling Romanov dynasty from revolutionaries. The ideological component of the picture is a call to the Russian people to abandon the revolution and repent for participating in it; protect the king and preserve the monarchy, otherwise the wrath of God will befall Russia and people will perish.

In the annotation of the State Museum of the History of Religion, it is reported that a reduced copy of the painting was presented, owned by the abbot of the Resurrection Missionary Monastery, Abbot Arseny and hanging in his cell.

Content

Authorship

The author of the picture is unknown. With a high degree of probability its author is Apollon Apollonovich Maikov , he himself was one of the founders of the Union of the Russian people and his image among the founders of the Union of the Russian people is present in the picture, but on the inscription in the picture: “Now, following the example of angels, they protect the Tsar’s authority from demons The main founders of the Union of Russian People: 1 - Father Superior Arseny ; 2 - Archpriest John Sergiev ; 3 - A.I. Dubrovin ; 4 - I.I. Baranov ; 5 - V. M. Purishkevich ; 6 - N. N. Oznobishin ; 7 - V. A. Gringmouth ; 8 - Prince Shcherbatov ; 9 - P.F. Bulatzel ; 10 - R.V. Tregubov ; 11 - N. N. Zhedenov ; 12 - N.I. Bolshakov ; 13 - about. Iliodor . The holy books say that when people shied away from idolatry, God exterminated them, ”apparently made by the hand of the author, Maykov’s name is missing.

Picture Title

The opening words for the picture, “the days of vengeance,” are taken from the Gospel of Luke : “... because these are days of vengeance, may all that is written be fulfilled” ( Luke 21:22 ). The final words are taken from the Psalms : “The Lord will destroy all mouths flattering, the tongue is great” ( Psalm 11: 4 ), and paraphrased.

Composition

In the center of the picture, in a light conical column rising to the sky, is depicted a Crucifix . Near the Crucifixion in the same column depicting Emperor Nicholas II , his wife Alexandra Fedorovna and their children, praying to God for the salvation of Russia. Above the Crucifix two soaring angels with a crown in their hands are depicted. The light pillar, which rises to the sky and in which the Romanovs are depicted, symbolizes prayer. The conical pillar is connected to a light cloud. Inside the cloud, the New Testament Trinity is depicted and around it, in the same light cloud, praying saints . The union of the pillar and the cloud symbolizes the union of the prayers of the celestials - saints and the royal family. At the bottom of the picture, around the praying royal family, are the defenders of the monarchy, the Black Hundreds with the flags of Russia , among them in the foreground are the founders of the Union of the Russian people. In the center is Abbot Arseny , who holds the Cross and the Gospel , next to him is Archpriest John of Kronstadt , who has the Cross in his hands; on the right and left side of them - the remaining 12 founders of the Union of the Russian people: Alexander Dubrovin ; Ivan Baranov ; Vladimir Purishkevich ; Nikolai Oznobishin ; Vladimir Gringmouth ; Prince Alexander Shcherbatov ; Pavel Bulatzel ; Rostislav Tregubov ; Nikolay Zhedenov ; Nikolai Bolshakov ; father Iliodor ; Apollo Mike . Hegumen Arseny and Archpriest John of Kronstadt symbolize the Savior, and the twelve remaining founders of the disciples of the Lord - the apostles; who, like angels, protect royal power from demons- revolutionaries; the revolution itself, according to the author of the picture, is idolatry .

A half ring of the Black Hundreds depicted in the picture is surrounded by revolutionaries with red banners . In the hands of individual revolutionaries are pistols, from which they shoot at the Black Hundred monarchists; individual monarchist defenders fall slain. Between monarchists and revolutionaries, fire bonfires and pools of blood are depicted. Shots, pools of blood and bonfires symbolize terrorism and the revolution of 1905-1907 in Russia . In the upper part of the picture around the bright cloud in which the New Testament Trinity is located, black clouds are depicted; from clouds to the heads of revolutionaries directed lightnings. Lightning symbolizes the wrath of God against the revolutionaries.

Links

Anatoly Stepanov, Main Founder of the Union of Russian People, Russian People’s Line, Army of St. George / 05.01.2006, Igumen Arseny (Alekseev) (1845-1913) ...
Stepanov A. D. “The days of vengeance befell us ... we repent and God will not destroy us” // Black Hundred. Historical Encyclopedia / Comp. A. D. Stepanov , A. A. Ivanov . Repl. ed. O.A. Platonov . - M .: Institute of Russian Civilization, 2008. - P. 170. - 680 p. - ISBN 978-5-93675-139-4 .