The Minister of Culture participates in the discussion of the transfer of “returned shrines” to the Russian Church

On October 4, 2011, a meeting took place between the Minister of Culture Alexander Avdeev and Sergei Shmakov, president of the Sapsan group of companies, and Archimandrite. Tikhon (Shevkunov), executive secretary of the Patriarchal Council for Culture. During the meeting, the intention of Sergei Shmakov to transfer to the Russian Church a collection of icons that were once exported from Russia and purchased by a patron of the arts was discussed.

The collection includes more than 70 icons from different times and is estimated at 30 million rubles. All of them have passed the examination and do not require restoration.

Answering a question from journalists about the future fate of the Toropetsk Icon, the Minister of Culture emphasized: “ Now the icon is in one of the churches near Moscow, available for viewing and stored in ideal conditions. In parallel, the same conditions are being prepared in the Toropets Monastery. This sacred relic will move to the Toropetsk Monastery only when the storage conditions are better than in the museum .”

According to the Minister of Culture, the icon will spend several years in Toropets, but will remain in the museum collection.

Sources

• Trilateral meeting of the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Alexander Avdeev and philanthropist, president of the SAPSAN Group of Companies Sergei Shmakov with the executive secretary of the Patriarchal Council for Culture Archimandrite Tikhon (Shevkunov) // Official website of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation. 2011. October 4.
• The Toropetsk Icon will stay in the monastery for at least a year // Interfax-religion. 2011. October 4.