MAG Collection - Substitute Science for the Sorcerer's Spells

Image of Substitute Science for the Sorcerer's Spells

Substitute Science for the Sorcerer's Spells
The letter З from The Anti-Religious Alphabet

1932
14 7/8 x 10 5/8 in. (37.8 x 27 cm)

Mikhail Mikhailovich Cheremnykh
Russia (Tomsk, Russia, 1890 - 1962, Moscow, USSR)

Full Title:The letter З from The Anti-Religious Alphabet

Object Type: Print

Medium and Support: Color lithograph

Credit Line: Marion Stratton Gould Fund

Accession Number: 2001.20.8

Link to this object

Location: Not currently on view

Portfolio: The Anti-Religious Alphabet

From a portfolio of 27 prints.

In many Russian rural communities, peasants consulted the village sorcerer as frequently as they consulted the village priest. The toothless and unkempt man on the left-- the sorcerer-- is shown with various tools of his trade: a rat, a bone, seeds, and a candle. A bottle labeled with the symbol of the Russian Orthodox cross is probably holy water, linking the magic of the sorcerer with the sorcery of the church. The scientific alternatives to magic, including the "new bible" Political Education, a microscope, and a draftsman's triangle are shown on the right.

[Gallery label text, 2004]

Keywords Click a term to view the records with the same keyword

20th century

politics in art

1900-2000

lithographs

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