The Flying Carpet - Vasnetsov

Without dwelling on contemporary political events in the Ukraine, it is very clear that the Euro-American/Russian divide has been renewed in what amounts to a neo-Cold War. The present writer is of the view that this is a situation largely contrived and orchestrated by NATO and concerns geopolitical squabbles over resources and military domination. It certainly has little to do with "freedom" and "liberty" and other noble principles. On the whole, and in view of these events, he grow more sympathetic to the Russians, and Russian civilisation, by the day, and this has led him to delve further into the extraordinary artistic legacy of the Russian people. (Actually, it is not only an artistic legacy, but a spiritual tradition. Russia is not merely a country. It is a civilisation - a Christian civilisation - of extraordinary beauty and depth.) 

Accordingly, his explorations of Russian art lead him to uncover more and more treasures. Most recently, he discovered the works of Viktor Vasnetsov, born 1848, died 1926. He is counted as a Russian "romantic" who specialised in depictions of Russian mythology and folklore, but he was also an icon painter who produced profound Christian works including great frescoes in Russian cathedrals. He should be counted among 'orientalists' (Russia is 'east', after all) because there is a distinctly oriental ambience and oriental motifs in many of his works. For example, there are his paintings that feature that most oriental of motifs, the magic carpet. Perhaps his most famous painting is a picture of the Russian folk hero Ivan Tsarevich on a quest for the Firebird of Slavic legend on a flying carpet. Here:

Ivan Tsarevich is no one in particular. (The flying carpet is often associated with the more concrete hero, Baba Yaga.) Ivan Tsarevich is just a ubiquitous and pervasive hero in Russian legend. The Firebird is a feature of Slavic mythic adventures where, typically, the hero must seek out the bird having first discovered one of its feathers. Vasnetsov's painting of the quest is a bold, sweeping image that brings these two features of Russian folklore together through the oriental vehicle of the flying rug. The painting is often entitled Samolet (ie. air craft). You will note the crescent moon in the clouds.

The flying carpet is a motif the artist used several times. Here is another instance, more gentle and less spectacular and fantastic:

The magic or flying carpet, of course, alludes to the prayer rug - a device for spiritual flight, the ascent of the spirit. In this sense it is related to the symbolism of the cloud. Here is another painting - this time on a familiar religious theme, Madonna and Child (Bogomater) - by Viktor Vasnetsov:

There is much more to be said about this parallel. The flying carpet and the hovering cloud are closely related symbols. They recur in oriental myth and folklore - the Arabian Nights, for instance - often. Hopefully, this can be explored in future posts along with other works by this neglected artist. Vasnetsov is a wonderful artist with a rich folio of paintings and drawings covering both mythological topics and Christian iconography (in the Orthodox tradition.) 

Yours,

Harper McAlpine Black