How 5 paintings appeared on the same plot at once: Historical scandal at the wedding

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

This plot has come down to us from time immemorial. In 1433, at the wedding of Grand Duke Vasily the Dark, an ugly story took place, which became the cause of a long and bloody war between the princes. Of course, like any conflict, this discord was beneficial to someone, historians call today several names of possible "puppeteers", but formally the quarrel broke out because of the golden belt, which Princess Sofya Vitovtovna publicly ripped off her nephew Vasily Kosoy.

The history of the golden belt decorated with stones is interesting in itself. This precious thing was unlucky. It was made, most likely, for the Suzdal prince, and in 1367 he presented the belt to his future son-in-law - the Moscow prince Dmitry, who would later be called Donskoy. However, at that wedding, the precious relic was stolen. I must say that in those distant times, the belt was not just an element of clothing or an adornment, it carried a very important "information load" associated with a person's honor. Even to a woman, he meant a lot. So, today we read in old fairy tales how the hero steals from a bathing girl not clothes or some intimate detail of the toilet, namely a belt, after which the beauty turns out to be connected with the kidnapper by some kind of ties and does everything to only regain this symbol of maiden honor …

And for a man, especially a prince, the belt was even more incredibly important. Today, in terms of importance, it can be compared rather with regalia, meaning power law. Therefore, the history of the stolen belt for many decades was a shameful page for the Moscow princes, which they preferred not to remember. However, 65 years later, it was continued. Through several intermediate hands, the precious relic ended up in the hands of the boyar Vsevolozhsky. His granddaughter was engaged to the young Vasily Kosy, the son of the Zvenigorod prince, and the "good grandfather" made this ambiguous and dangerous gift to the future relative. Historians do not exclude the idea that he was counting on a scandal in order to embroil the two princely branches. If so, then this intrigue was fully successful. Vasily Kosoy, not suspecting anything about the "shameful trace", put on a belt, getting ready for the wedding of his cousin Vasily II.

The beginning of the 15th century was a time of struggle for power. It flared up between the descendants of Dmitry Donskoy. The young Vasily II, who became a Moscow prince during the regency of his mother Sophia Vitovtovna, completely relied on her opinion. On February 8, 1433, the 18-year-old ruler played a wedding with the Borovsk princess Maria Yaroslavna (of course, the bride was chosen by the domineering mother). However, the newlyweds in this story were far from the main characters.

In the midst of the fun, Sofya Vitovtovna was whispered that her son's cousin was walking around in the same belt that had been stolen a long time ago at the wedding of her father-in-law Dmitry Donskoy. There were old-timers-witnesses who saw the precious relic 65 years ago and have now identified. The enraged princess immediately approached Vasily, tore off his belt and publicly accused him of theft. This insult could be equated, perhaps, only with a spit in the face. Of course, Vasily Kosoy and his brother immediately left Moscow and went to their father in Galich. On the way, they were offended by "the robbish robbery of Yaroslavl and the treasury of all the princes of the robbery". Then a bloody internecine war began, and power has repeatedly passed from one hand to another.

There is a version that this whole story with the belt was even rigged by Sofya Vitovtovna herself. Zvenigorod princes were then “like a bone in her throat,” and the influential Moscow boyar Vsevolozh was just about to become related with them. The scandal that broke out embarrassed all of her political opponents at once. Historians do not have exact data on the "undercurrents" and hidden intrigues near the Moscow princely throne, so today one can only guess what exactly was the real reason for such a striking episode.

In 1861, at the Academy of Arts, it was this historical plot that was chosen as the theme for the final exams. As a result, five beautiful paintings appeared on the same topic, and besides, they were dated the same year. They were created by young artists: P. P. Chistyakov, V. P. Vereshchagin, N. D. Dmitriev-Orenburgsky, K. F. Gun and K. B. Venig (Chistyakov was declared the winner of the competition). All canvases are solved in approximately the same way - in the background there are newlyweds, an angry princess has a torn belt in her hands, disgraced Vasily Kosoy and numerous guests froze in horror (of course, all the artists depicted the most dramatic moment of this story). This is how one of the most famous historical provocations became a popular pictorial subject.

Many pages of history are revised by descendants, and partially even radically rewritten. So, for example, historians have many questions about the facts from the life of Alexander Nevsky: was the massacre "ice", whether the prince bowed to the Horde and other controversial issues