The study considers the growing importance of the Apocalypse in late 15th-century Russia, attributed to Western influences and eschatological anxiety about the end of the seventh millennium (1492). In particular, the article analyzes the different hermeneutical functions of the Woman of Apocalypse in three key texts. In the anonymous On Offenses Against the Church, the figure has a traditional eschatological purpose, exhorting fidelity to Christian doctrine. In contrast, the starec Filofej uses the image in his Letter to M.G. Misjur' Munechin to legitimize the concept of translatio imperii to Moscow. Finally, in Discourse on Instability and Chaos, Maximus the Greek transforms the woman into “Vasilija”, a personification of the charisma of power used to criticize the moral decadence of contemporary states. The study demonstrates how a single biblical motif was reused to support different theological and political views in the Muscovite context.
University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-4630-5374
Chapter Title
La donna dell’Apocalisse in Russia. Immagini e metafore nella produzione apologetica della prima metà del XVI sec.
Authors
Marcello Garzaniti
Language
Italian
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0893-2.07
Peer Reviewed
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Book Title
In dialogo con l'Occidente: Rinascimento e renovatio nella Russia del Cinquecento / В диалоге с Западом: возрождение и религиозное обновление в России XVI века
Editors
Marcello Garzaniti, Ovanes Akopyan, Iris Karafillidis, Francesca Romoli
Peer Reviewed
Number of Pages
240
Publication Year
2025
Copyright Information
© 2025 Author(s)
Content License
Metadata License
Publisher Name
Firenze University Press
DOI
10.36253/979-12-215-0893-2
ISBN Print
979-12-215-0916-8
eISBN (pdf)
979-12-215-0893-2
eISBN (xml)
979-12-215-0894-9
Series Title
Europe in between. Histories, cultures and languages from Central Europe to the Eurasian Steppes
Series ISSN
2975-0318
Series E-ISSN
2975-0326