Porcelain Pugs Parade

Masonic theme in Russian museums

Freemasonry in the cultural consciousness of most Russians still remains a marginal exoticism. This was confirmed by the exhibition “Freemasonry: History, Ritual, Symbolism” that opened at the Museum of the History of Religion in St. Petersburg. A report on the opening was published in the newspaper Vremya Novostey. The exhibition about Freemasonry is definitely of interest to two categories of viewers who will undoubtedly visit it. The first consists of intellectuals who are upset by the level of their knowledge about a phenomenon that has affected two-thirds of Russian nobles. The second are ordinary people who have heard something about secret rituals and the Judeo-Masonic conspiracy. Therefore, a simple announcement is quite enough to attract attention. Let's try to determine what is happening.

Nowadays the Masonic collection of the unique Museum of the History of Religion in St. Petersburg is on display for public viewing. It includes a collection of bronze badges of individual lodges from the early 19th century, a number of ribbons, cufflinks and daggers, the identity of which is unclear, tableware for table gatherings and a couple of porcelain pugs, which were badges of lodges in the 18th century. There are about one and a half hundred items in total, the most spectacular of which were published by curator Marina Ptichenko two years ago in a small booklet that left the intrigue of waiting for more. However, today's exhibition is rather disappointing. A little history, something about ritual and a few words about symbolism. The abundance of doors in a small exhibition room increases the tension of expectations, which, however, are not justified. Or almost not justified. All things are known from the booklet, plus several portraits and several esoteric books by Jung, Lopukhin and Eckartshausen. Masonic literature was presented very thoroughly at the sensational exhibition “500 Years of Gnosis in Europe. Gnostic tradition in printed and manuscript books”, organized in 1993 by the Library of Gnostic Literature of Amsterdam in the GBIL (Library of Foreign Literature in Moscow) and the museum-apartment of A.S. Pushkin on the Moika in St. Petersburg. It was followed by the creation of the St. Petersburg Center Lectorium Rosicrucianum and the Russian Commission in Holland, which translated Hermetic literature into Russian. In 1994, the All-Russian Museum of A.S. Pushkin, the Library of Hermetic Philosophy in Amsterdam, the Russian National Library and other organizations organized the exhibition “He who spread the first rays...”: N.I. Novikov and Russian Freemasonry of the 18th - early 19th centuries."

The current exhibition cannot boast of fundamental preparation. Unfortunately, the area of ​​St. Petersburg where the exhibition is being held has not been articulated in any way. But it is quite remarkable in the context of the history of free masons. The new building of the Museum of the History of Religion is located in the postal district. The point is not even that many Masons traditionally served in this department. Palace A.A. Bezborodko, advisor to Empress Catherine II and head of the department in the 1780s-1790s, stands on the opposite corner from the museum. The interior preserves an oval room with various signs that are interpreted as Masonic. To this day, the room attracts the attention of lovers of mysticism. The Masonic topography of St. Petersburg is an excitingly interesting topic.

The opening of the new exhibition, which the Vremya Novostey newspaper wrote about, was like a meeting of new initiates, delighted at any fact of recognition of their existence. It seems that this meeting barely managed to stay on the verge of cultural buffoonery. Probably, it would still be worthwhile to draw a clearer line between the modern movement and the events that took place in Russia before the prohibition of Freemasonry in 1822. However, the history of Freemasonry in Russia is still poorly researched. Therefore, any Masonic exhibition is an extremely complex and risky undertaking. The items of the Museum of the History of Religion may be interesting in themselves, but they are not enough to represent such an important cultural phenomenon of the 18th - early 19th centuries. Obviously, things had to be made to speak more actively. However, timid attempts have been made to introduce the topic in an interesting way. The entrance to the exhibition hints at a lodge, because, according to accepted Masonic iconography, it is decorated with two columns with spheres under an arch. In addition, the authors wanted to show the first moment of initiation with the installation of the Room of Reflection, known from the pages of “War and Peace” by Leo Tolstoy. Pierre Bezukhov was "involved" into the lodge due to his wealth, and Tolstoy described in some detail the psychological state of a person joining the fraternity. The author also noted changes in the personality of his hero under the influence of the society of free masons.

Perhaps the concept of the exhibition is to show that Freemasonry belongs to the liberal eras in the history of Russia: it existed from the post-Petrine era or even from the Petrine era until the beginning of the reign of Emperor Nicholas I, then was revived at the beginning of the 20th century, existing until the ideological totalitarianism of the 1930s, and finally revived again with Gorbachev's perestroika. In the Museum of the History of Religion we can see documents from recent years, modern attire, as well as photographs, emblems, bookplates and cufflinks related to the activities of B.V. Astronomova - evidence from the 1920s that the external, ritual side of Freemasonry changed little. Probably, all this is enough for the first acquaintance of “laymen,” as the uninitiated were called, into the essence of what was happening in ancient times. However, you still expect more, remembering how much Freemasonry meant for the Russian 18th century.

Alas, the alchemical experiments of the President of the Academy of Arts, Count A.S., were left out of the picture. Strogonov, who so frightened the Northern Minerva - Catherine II, who wrote three funny plays as an denunciation of the Freemasons. The Masonic symbolism of the portraits of Dmitry Levitsky is not shown. We also have to regret that the curator did not have the opportunity to show the significance of the search for free masons for architecture (the school of Vasily Bazhenov, for example), etc.

To demonstrate Masonic charity and demonstrate opposition to the official course, archival research and a subtle analysis of the cultural environment were necessary. Only in this case would the Masonic exhibition at the Museum of the History of Religion be an intellectual breakthrough that would undoubtedly interest foreign colleagues, and not remain a local event, slightly diversifying the boredom of the dead summer season.

Sergey KUZNETSOV, St. Petersburg