Two feelings are so close to us,
From them the heart can gain power;
The love for our native ashes,
The love for predecessors’ tombs.
A.S. Pushkin.
The word “Fatherland” originates from the word “father”. It denotes a place where we come from and that brought us to life. Fatherland, native land is our native country. The notion fatherland stands for the land of ancestors (forefathers) and has an emotional connotation that demonstrates that some people nurture a special, sacral feeling towards their fatherland, a feeling that is a combination of love and the sense of duty.
The graphics “Father” is symbolic. The image is collective.
An elderly man, tired of all the storms of history, is sitting on a bench and looking at us. One can see the memory of generations, the memory of the history of Russia, its past and present, reflected in his eyes.
Behind his back are the symbols of princely Russia – a shield and a sheathed sward. The man is dressed in a tunic, on which there are two medals – symbols of the two bloodiest wars of the twentieth century. On the trophy bench, there are eagles, the symbols of the second Reich. “Father”, bemused, is supporting his head with his left hand, and with his right hand he is rubbing his knee, feeling the phantom pain, the pain of the destruction of the multinational empire. Barefoot, unbuttoned, with a torn trouser-leg, he communicates the losses and the reforms of Russia of our times, which actually began in 1988.
In various mythologies the sword is endowed with a special meaning, which in the long run was about the basic opposition of life and death. With the help of a sword everything that is unworthy or infertile, “every tree that does not bear fruit”, is cut off, thus the area of immortality and eternal life, embodied by the Heavens is protected. The sword in this case symbolizes the notion of supreme justice. A sword, tucked into the belt at the back, stands for peaceful intentions; a sheathed sword is a symbol of balance and reasonableness. On the haft of the sword there is a picture of a shamrock. In Christianity the shamrock symbolizes the Holy Trinity, unification, balance. In paganism this symbol stood for life, death and return to life as a never-ending cycle; and three elements – earth, air and water. In the present composition the shamrock is the symbol of sovereign Russia, an Empire.
“Father’s” shoulders are like the horizon, above which the sun (the shield) is rising. The shield symbolizes the word of the Lord, belief, salvation, defensive weapon. The shield is security, protection, and divine patronage. Lord to Abram, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield…” (Genesis 15:1)
Behind this shield are the peoples of Russia, who created our fatherland and protected it with great bravery and labour.
Despite everything that he has gone through, his look is calm. There is confidence that having experienced a new round of reforms, Fatherland will rise and its spirit will strengthen, as the peoples forming the Empire possess an enormous spiritual potential.