Russian Religious Art at the Benaki Museum. Collecting Practices, Art, and Technology

Abstract

The publication Russian Religious Art at the Benaki Museum: Collecting Practices, Art, and Technology (Athens 2026) summarises the findings of the study conducted by the Benaki Museum research team on the works of Russian religious art in the collection, as part of the European ERC RICONTRANS programme. It includes the technical data collected from the study and the systematic conservation of two major groups of objects: portable painted icons and metal icons, many of which feature additional decoration with gilding and enamel. The paths these objects followed until their museification and the ongoing changes in how they have been received by the Greek academic community and the general public are examined in relation to shifting historical conditions, as well as the appreciation and tensions surrounding the response of the Greek Orthodox world to works of religious art imported from Muscovy. Russian icons and ecclesiastical objects that arrived at the Benaki Museum via the eventful journeys of refugees from Asia Minor following the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923 are explored as a special case study. The aim was to provide, alongside the art historical and technical analysis of the artworks, a historical interpretation of the obscurity into which the Russian works in the Benaki Museum and most Greek collections had fallen, until their recovery and study within the framework of ERC RICONTRANS. (DRAFT OF THE CATALOGUE)