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Political Influences on Russian Easter Egg-Giving, Part II

© Elizabeth Nordhausen

After the Bolshevik revolution in the early 1900s and the establishment of the Soviet Union, Russians were prohibited under the newly established Communist government to practice Christianity, although some managed to do so in secret. Churches were destroyed and Orthodox Priests were put in prison. Yet, somehow, Easter, the most important of the Orthodox Christian holidays, was not forgotten in over 80 years. Nor were Easter traditions.

Not until 1988, under Mikhail Gorbachev's leadership,did the Soviet government publicly accepted Easter church services. Many churches and monasteries were reopened and some religious objects were given back to Orthodox leaders. Artists began to decorate and paint Easter eggs once again. However, artists were hesitant to use religious symbols on Easter eggs until 1991 when Communism and the Soviet Union were abolished,thus, creating a tremendous opportunity for religious traditions to return.

According to The Moscow Times , in a very symbolic Orthodox Easter celebration in Russia this year, on April 16, 2001, the current President of Russia, President Putin, attended Easter services in the Christ the Savior Cathedral. The bells of the newly rebuilt Cathedral, which was destroyed 50 years ago by the Soviet leader, Stalin, rang across Moscow. Patriarch Alexiy II gave President Putin and his wife traditional colored Easter eggs on that day.

According to an article in Lifestyle, a Russian publication, on "Exhibitions: The Rebirth of the Russian Easter Egg", Patriarch Alexiy II, may have encouraged the rebirth of Easter Eggs. He is an admirer of art and has a collection of his own Easter eggs, mostly painted with religious icons. Patriarch Alexiy II also has in his collection some of the Imperial Easter eggs made in the porcelain factory in St. Petersburg in the 18th and 19th centuries. His collection was on exhibition at the State Historical Museum from April until June. This story can be found at Lifestyle's website at http://www.russiajournal.com/ls/article.... .

Many of the Easter eggs which sit in homes across the world are not seen as religious objects, but as works of art. Various art schools have opened in Russia since the newly found religious freedom. The St. Petersburg Art School teaches most of the different art techniques used on Easter eggs during Russia's rich history. In St. Petersburg, most of the artists paint wooden eggs with pictures of churches, Saints, or religious symbols. However, groups of artists also have started to paint fairy tales, architectural buildings, and portraits of famous people and landscapes on Easter eggs. A company in America called Delaine Ltd. sells Easter eggs painted at the St. Petersburg Art Shop, which can be found at http://www.ltdlimited.com/russianart .