Task 29 - Russian Icon Museum

Located in a renovated 150-year-old former mill, court house & police station in central Massachusetts resides the largest collection of Russian Icon’s in North America. Gordon B Lankton’s vast collection started as a small personal collection which graced the walls of his home then corporate office when it grew too large. When the collection grew even larger and no suitable location could be found Mr Lankton decided he would start his own museum.

Opened in 2006 the renovated facility and contemporary aluminum clad addition is the culmination of his life’s work. The collection now consisting of more than 500 Russian icons and artifacts and isn’t just the largest in North America but also one of the largest outside of Russia. While visiting the museum I got the privilege of a guided tour by non-other than the founder. Gordon who can often be found in the museum provided us with a personalized tour of the 16,000 square foot facility and also shared a little history about his collection.

We learned his first piece was purchased at a Moscow flea market for $25 during his a visit to Russia. He also shared the story of how he came to own “Not Made by Hand” which he acquired after a long period of negotiation with a Moscow shop owner. The story of “Not Made By Hand” is an interesting one. It is a story of Syrian King Abgar who believed that an image of Christ could heal him from his illness. He sent a painter to see Christ who told him he need not paint him but instead asked him for a cloth. “Just give me a cloth and my face will be transferred to the cloth”. From what Gordon told us this icon the Icon of the Savior is one of the earliest icons witnessed by the church.

Next he told us the story of St Paraskeva who was born to a wealthy Greek Christian Family who while in Rome sought to teach the way Christ. This icon was a recent acquisition for the museum and is one of Gordon’s favorites. As the story goes Antonius Pius then emperor tortured and imprisoned Paraskeva. While being tortured she withstood being immersed in a vat of boiling oil. While immersed she stood up and threw some of the oil into the face of the emperor blinding him. She went to his side and told him that only the Christian God could cure him. Having regained his sight he ended all persecution against the Christians. She would later be beheaded after Antonius’s death.

Next he showed us a few modern pieces in his collection. The originals these replica’s duplicate almost exactly are housed in the Tretyakov State Gallery. They were painted by Alyona Knyazeva a master iconist based in Moscow

He has chosen to have Alyona create a few replica’s for display because export restrictions forbid taking icons out of Russia. Over the past decade it has only gotten harder and Gordon described to us having a few icon’s seized from him when he attempted to carry them out of the country. He later was able to legally take them out of Russia after some paper shuffling. Now he only purchases from auction houses and reputable dealers.

“Not Made By Hands” is one of those pieces and while owned by Gordon it is on loan to him from his collection that must be kept in Russia. Gordon also was able to secure a loan of 16 icons from the State Tretyakov Gallery. Gordon was able to accomplish this feat by covering all the costs related to insuring, transporting, custom fees, advertising and publishing a catalog of the pieces. These pieces have since been returned to the Russia.

After being given the best tour possible Gordon then introduced us to one of the museum docents names Svitlana. Svitlana’s expertise and knowledge of Russian icons’ was amazing. She began by explaining how they are painted using what is called tempera paint. Tempera paint is pigment mixed with egg yolk and water.

She also explained that icons are meant to be replicated and that many of the icon’s in the collection while still old are recreations of even older icons. Icons weren’t meant to be creative. They were instead meant to retell stories important to the people. She explained that for centuries that many of the people were illiterate and that religion was taught to the people pictorially

In addition to the vast collection the museum also has a Russian Tea House where guests can sample some authentic Russian treats. It also has a great gift shop where visitors can pick up a few uniquely Russian items to take home.