The chess - composition dedicated to the
2000th anniversary of Christ's birth.|
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"Unity of Purposes of the Christians."
(but not being the same)
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"The refore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin
will be with child
and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel." [Isaiah
7:14] |
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And He has
Come-the Son of a Man,to Redeem Sins of the Mankind. “...the woman saw
that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and
also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave
some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” [Genesis 3:6] This
scene opens the gallery of images which represents the long history of
the fall of man.
Information from the Old Testament (preface of the New Testament)
was taken to be the basic to the plots of all the bas-reliefs of this part
of siding. The choice of themes was conditioned by the author's purpose
to development of the main topic of the composition and specificity's of
wood- carving technologies.
Let us look through the first part of the chess-board’s siding:
Fratricide; Paganism; Human Sacrifices to False Gods; the Noah’s ark; Moses breaking the tables of Commandments; The Bronze Snake;A warrior-invader shown against the backdrop of an ancient city.
Here the representation of plots of the Old Testament is put to the end. The mentioned representation symbolized the epoch before
Christ.
Further, carved along the perimeter of the board’s siding are:
The newborn Christ with Mary and Joseph bent over the Baby; “The Mountainside Sermon”; Saint George; Saint Nicholas; the Golgotha; the bas-relief that depicts the Savior crucified on the Cross.
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Jesus' disciples scattered over the world to bring
the doctrine to peoples. However, yet the first continuators of Jesus'
legacy had no unanimity towards treating it. From that moment on, the contradictions
continued. Rome has become capital for one branch of Christianity and Constantinopol
- for the other one.
Centuries and a millennium passed... Catholic and Orthodox branches have
grown stronger.
We can compare Christianity to a bird in the “ocean” of mankind, of its
passions, wishes, sins and vices.
And the churches are like wings of that bird.At the present moment, communicational,
informational and other connections between people, cities, countries and
continents constantly expand and extend in a disastrous way. This process
can be compared to “boiling” of the ocean when its mobility increases and
it becomes more “gaseous”. That’s why the “bird in the ocean of mankind”
has to be more mobile and more maneuverable, but it must not forget about
its real destination. And its wings may not be tied up neither separately,
nor together; they must not have contradictions. Both wings are equal during
the flight.
The idea of unification (but not being the same) of two great
branches of Christianity is the foundation of theme of the present chess-composition.
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Pieces
The Pieces are executed in two tones:- yellow (color
of memory of Christ) and violet(color of
memory of The Cross of the Lord).
Kings: tsar and king - heads of states of Eastern
and Western Europe, the symbols of peoples of Europe.
Queens: tsaress and princess - symbols of revival
of the peoples.
Officers(yellow):Patriarch
of Russian Orthodox Church; Catholic Bishop.
Officers(violet):the Pope - head of Roman Catholic
Church; Orthodox Mythropolith.
Knights: dragons. Each one of them is mounted
by a warrior that is symbolizing St. George.
Rooks: Wooden and stone castles of East and
West.Pawns:
Pawns: Orthodox and Catholic monks. |
| Board
Each bas-relief of the siding is seen
through thick vine-leaves which are the symbol of life. We look through
the leaves as if it were ages past since the times of the events described.
When the board is shut, the parts of
its siding are one(of the Old testament) below another {of the New Testament).
But when spread, the plots of the siding depict the long way of the mankind
from the moment of the Original Sin until the terrible Crucifixion of Jesus
Christ for the sins of all people.
The hooks that are to lock both sides into a chest are executed in the
shape of the Copper Serpents on the pole:
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| Conclusion. |
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The theme represented by Mrs.
Elena V.Uralova is performed as a chess-composition
for the first time. That’s why it can provoke different judgements and
treatings. We would like to ask you to remember that the author while creating
the set has been led only by good will and motivations. The chess-set is
a mean of expressing the idea. This is not a chess-set for games, but a
souvenir. But what if the first symbolic game will be played by heads of
the churches? We believe that it could be a good sign for all the peoples
of our planet. But if someone, despite the all above, will, in a way, become
suspicious towards our motivations may he remember:
”8 ...but no
man can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison 9
With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father,and with it we curse men,
who have been made in God's likeness. 10 Out of the same mouth come praise
and cursing. My brothers,this should not be.” [JAMES 3:8-10.]
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