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The Sainted Pious Grand Prince Alexander Nevsky: images and symbolism
The Church of the Pious Prince Alexander Nevsky
On 26 May 2021, a large-scale exhibition opened in the State Hermitage marking the 800th anniversary of the birth of Alexander Nevsky, Prince of Novgorod and Grand Prince of Vladimir, the hero of the Battle of the Neva and Battle on the Ice, a gifted diplomat, made a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church. The exhibition provides an introduction to the main events in Alexander Nevsky’s life, as well as the formation of the cult of the saint, and reveals the significance of his personality for the history of Russia.
On that same day, the Hermitage opened the permanent display of the Church of the Pious Prince Alexander Nevsky situated in the Eastern Wing of the General Staff building.
The second part of the virtual tour is devoted to the permanent display of the Church of the Pious Prince Alexander Nevsky. The tour includes an account of the history of how this place of worship was created and of pieces of Russian religious art from the first quarter of the 19th century, notable among which is a set of objects that belonged to Alexei Andreyevich Arakcheyev (1769–1834), a prominent statesman and military figure. These all come from the Cathedral of Saint Andrew on the country estate of Gruzino in Novgorod province that Paul I (reigned 1796–1801) presented to Arakcheyev in 1796. Other exhibits are associated with the theme of the Patriotic War that followed Napoleon’s invasion in 1812. Particularly noteworthy is a communion set and an iconostasis that were produced for Alexander I’s portable campaign church.
The exhibition is accompanied by a scholarly catalogue and a separate publication (both in Russian) devoted to the history of the creation, preservation and restoration of the memorial complex of the tomb of Alexander Nevsky (State Hermitage Publishing House, 2021).
The curators of the exhibition are Anna Petrovna Ivannikova and Boris Dmitriyevich Zashliapin, both researchers in the State Hermitage’s Department of the History of Russian Culture.
The Domestic Church of the Pious Sainted Prince Alexander Nevsky
The Church of the Pious Sainted Prince Alexander Nevsky is situated within the fourth storey of the eastern wing of the General Staff complex constructed in 1819–29. The architect Carlo Rossi incorporated its interior space organically into the corner section of the building which points towards Choristers Bridge, while the windows face onto the embankment of the River Moika. The church, intended only for a small number of worshippers, was consecrated on 2 September 1828. It belonged to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and served as a domestic place of worship for its staff, as well as for the family of the minister, whose apartment was located on the floor below.
In the 20th century, the church suffered the same fate as hundreds of works of religious architecture ravaged or destroyed by the Soviet authorities. The domestic church of the ministry was closed immediately after the October Revolution in 1917. One portion of its property was evacuated to the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery near Vologda, another came into the keeping of the Alexander Nevsky Monastery.
After the eastern wing of the General Staff building was transferred to the administration of the State Hermitage in 1988, major restoration work was carried out throughout, in the course of which specialists reconstructed the original interior and the finishing of the walls in the Alexander Nevsky Church. Today visitors are able to admire one of the remarkable examples of ecclesiastical decor that Rossi’s architectural genius produced in the late Empire style. The permanent display is devoted to Russian religious art from the first quarter of the 19th century, with some of the exhibits being directly connected to the events of the Patriotic War that followed Napoleon’s invasion in 1812.