Iconic painting of infamous Tsar vandalised for ‘being a lie’
A VANDAL enraged by what he claimed is a misleading portrayal of Ivan the Terrible has badly damaged one of the most iconic paintings of the infamous Tsar.
The attacker, who has not been named, used a metal pole to break the glass protecting Ilya Repin’s Ivan the Terrible and His Son Ivan on November 16, 1581, just before closing time at Moscow’s Tretyakov gallery on Friday.
“The painting is badly damaged, the canvas is ripped in three places in the central part … The falling glass also damaged the frame.
“Luckily, the most valuable images, those of the faces and hands of the tsar and prince were not damaged,” the gallery said in a statement.
A 37-year old man from the town of Voronezh was arrested at the scene.
The suspect told officers that he had acted because of what he called the “falsehood of the historical facts depicted on the canvas.” In a video released by police, the suspect said he had come to the gallery to see the painting and had a drink.
“I wanted to leave, but then dropped into the buffet and drank 100ml of vodka. I don’t drink vodka, and became overwhelmed by something,” he said.
Repin’s painting, which was completed in 1885, depicts the moment of deranged grief when the ageing Ivan the Terrible realises he has murdered his son and heir apparently in a rage. It is considered one of Repin’s most emotionally intense paintings, and it has been said that Ivan the Terrible’s eyes can drive viewers mad.
Tsar Alexander III disliked the painting so much he banned its display for several months – making it the first painting subject to censorship in Russia.
In 1913, Abram Balashov cut it with a knife, shouting: “enough death, enough blood.”
Repin, who is widely considered the greatest Russian painter of the 19th century, was still alive to help restore the painting after that attack.
The painting has been held by the Tretyakov since the 19th century, making it difficult to value. In 2011 Repin’s A Parisian Cafe fetched £4.5million.
Ivan the Terrible ruled Russia from 1547 to 1584. Most sources agree he killed his son Ivan in a quarrel, but some Russian nationalists argue that his reputation for brutality is a product of Western propaganda.