1876 -1888 · Icon, procession and moral justice

Ilia Repin observes religion as a collective experience and ethical conflict: icon worn, hierarchical crowd and saint arresting the executioner confront faith, power and justice.

Ilia Repin grew up in Chuguyev and received initial training in an icon workshop before studying at the Imperial Academy in St. Petersburg. This concrete knowledge of the sacred image nourishes a religious work very different from academic devotional painting. In Religious Procession in the Province of Kursk, carried out between 1880 and 1883, a huge crowd accompanies a miraculous icon. Repin distinguishes owners, clergy, police officers, peasants, beggars and porters without reducing the scene to a simple condemnation. Dust, heat and gestures simultaneously show sincere faith, social spectacle and inequality. Saint Nicholas of Myra saves three innocent people from death moves religion towards a moral decision: the saint seizes the executioner's sword at the precise moment when justice can still interrupt violence. The sketches of Saint Nicholas and the young boy wearing an icon reveal the preparatory work carried out according to model. Repin does not paint an abstract idea of faith. He looks for bodies, faces and situations where belief, authority and compassion become visible. This approach links his religious subjects to the major historical and social scenes of the Ambulant movement. This approach links his religious subjects to the major historical and social scenes of the Ambulant movement. This approach links his religious subjects to the major historical and social scenes of the Ambulant movement. This approach links his religious subjects to the major historical and social scenes of the Ambulant movement. This approach links his religious subjects to the major historical and social scenes of the Ambulant movement. This approach links his religious subjects to the major historical and social scenes of the Ambulant movement. This approach links his religious subjects to the major historical and social scenes of the Ambulant movement. This approach links his religious subjects to the major historical and social scenes of the Ambulant movement. saves three innocent people from death. Its reading favors the atmosphere.

In Repin, the sacred image crosses a real society: carried by the crowd or brandished against the sword, it reveals the relationships between faith, authority and justice.