Moscow Kremlin Museums: - By Love and Unity We Shall Be Saved. The Heritage of St Sergius – a United Nation, a Spiritual and National Fortress

By Love and Unity We Shall Be Saved. The Heritage of St Sergius – a United Nation, a Spiritual and National Fortress

Banner of Dmitry Pozharsky
Russia, first half of the 17th century
Taffeta; sewing, painting (mixed technique)
Reliquary for the icon of Our Lady of Grebnya, with two painted icon flaps in silver covers
Russia, Moscow (?), second half of the 16th century
Wood, gesso, velvet, non-precious metal, silver; egg tempera, stamping, engraving, carving

15 November 2024 – 16 March 2025

Sergiev Posad State Historical and Art Museum and Heritage Site

Organised by:

The Sergiev Posad State Historical and Art Museum and Heritage Site

Participants

the State Tretyakov Gallery, State Museum of Military History and Nature Reserve "Kulikovo Field", State Historical Museum, State Museum of the History of Religions, "Peterhof" State Museum and Heritage Site, the Moscow Kremlin Museums, Museum of Christian Art "Church and Archaeological Cabinet" of the Moscow Theological Academy, Nizhniy Novgorod State Art Museum, Russian State Library, the Russian Museum, M.B. Grekov Studio of Military Artists, Andrei Rublev Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art, Yaroslavl Art Museum

The Moscow Kremlin Museums take part in the exhibition project "By Love and Unity We Shall Be Saved. The Heritage of St Sergius – a United Nation, a Spiritual and National Fortress" organised by the Sergiev Posad State Historical and Art Museum and Heritage Site. The personality of the eminent Father Superior of the Russian lands – Venerable Sergius of Radonezh – became the ideological core of the event.

Guests of the exhibition will become acquainted with the earthly life of the great ascetic, which is closely connected with the history of Russia, and with the richest spiritual heritage of the saint. At the same time, special attention is paid to the theme of protecting the unity of the country and the Orthodox faith under the heavenly patronage of the Virgin and St Sergius.

A precious reliquary from the last quarter of the 16th century with the icon of Our Lady of Grebnya from the collection of the Moscow Kremlin Museums stands out among the pieces telling the story of the Battle of Kulikovo. Its flaps bear the images of St Sergius of Radonezh and the Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessaloniki. According to legend, the ancient missing painting, one of the copies of which is the icon on display here, was presented by the Greben Cossacks to Grand Prince Dmitry Donskoy in 1380 as he returned from the battlefield.

The narration of the Time of Troubles and the heroic defence of St Sergius Trinity Lavra in the 1680-1610s is illustrated by another exceptional work, which was brought to the Armoury Chamber in 1826 by order of Emperor Nicholas I – the banner of Prince Dmitry Mikhailovich Pozharsky with the image of Christ the Almighty on one side and the scene of the Appearance of the Archangel Michael to Joshua on the other.