Free Lecture on Funeral Rites in Paintings

On January 29, a lecture on funeral rites captured by Russian artists will be held at the 'Na Stremyannoy' library. Admission is free.

Feb 16, 2026

Vasily Perov«s painting »The Funeral« illustrates traditional Russian burial customs and won first prize in 1865.
Source:
Vasily Perov, «The Funeral»

Paintings by Russian artists can serve as an unexpected source of knowledge about funeral rites. At the lecture on January 29, participants will learn why spruce branches are used at funerals, why windows are closed, and how to behave if one accidentally enters the afterlife.

Vasily Perov received the first prize for his painting The Funeral (1865). Contemporaries recognized the plot from Nekrasov«s poem Frost, Red Nose. The canvas depicts a widow transporting her husband»s coffin on a sleigh with two children, although in the poem, other relatives also see him off. The artist does not show ritual details, but viewers remembered the lines:

Lies motionless, stern,
With a burning candle at his head,
In a wide linen shirt
And in new lime bast shoes…

The lecture Death in Colors: The History of Funeral Rites in Paintings by Russian Artists will be conducted by Lyudmila Filonova, a guide from the Museum of Urban Sculpture. She will tell which customs were recorded by painters and which of them have survived to this day in a modified form.

The event will take place on January 29 at 18:00 at the «Na Stremyannoy» library at the address: Stremyannaya Street, building 20. Admission is free, age restriction 16+.