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Muscovy and the kingdoms of Western Christianity differed considerably in their ideology of power and the imagery expressing that ideology as Muscovy was part of the Orthodox community. Examination of early seventeenth-century English examples of symbolic political theology elucidates these differences, especially as to the female personification of sovereignty and ‘nation’, at a time when the female personification of “Russia” was just becoming manifest in Russian literary and ceremonial sources.
The reign of Peter the Great witnessed a “revolution in Russian imagery,” to borrow the title of James Cracraft’s book. A crucial role in this revolution was played by a handbook of Western symbolism, Simvoly i Emblemata, published in Amsterdam in 1705 on Peter’s order. While Tsar Peter was on his grand tour of Western Europe in 1697-98, he became fascinated by the emblem book of Daniel de la Feully (Devises et Emblémes), published in Amsterdam in 1691. Peter ordered a Russian translation of the book and a new frontispiece as well. The frontispiece, designed by Joseph Mulder, contained Peter’s Western-style portrait surrounded by eight 8 devices (images and mottos) with bilingual Latin and Russian inscriptions. Until now, there has been no study of the iconography of the frontispiece which aimed to glorify Tsar Peter as a military leader – a new Hercules – in Russia and abroad. Careful study of the frontispiece reveals hidden messages addressed to the enemies of Russia and also shows how Peter was presented as the creator of a new Golden Age of Russia. Iconographical analysis is used here to decode the ideological and propaganda messages conveyed by the frontispiece.
Mit dieser neuen Reihe soll der interdisziplinäre und interkonfessionelle Dialog über Recht und Religion in der Frühen Neuzeit gefördert werden. Sie wird von international anerkannten Wissenschaftlern herausgegeben und von RefoRC-Mitgliedern wie der Universität Leuven und der Leucorea Stiftung Wittenberg unterstützt. Die Publikationssprachen sind Englisch und Deutsch. Die Redaktion begrüßt ausdrücklich die englische Übersetzung herausragender Werke, die ursprünglich in anderen Sprachen veröffentlicht wurden.