The composition is dominated by a figure in a dark suit with his head whipped back at a dangerous angle. He seems to be melting or in the middle of lascivious movements, maybe some kind of cathartic dance. Rasputin has become the symbol of Machiavellianism, of everything that was wrong with the reign of the last Czar and of the mistakes that led to the Russian revolution. Many of Putin’s narrative of Russian history go back right to this pivotal point in the country’s history.
To the right of the man is an eyeless polar bear moving forward out of the darkness of the night sky to sniff the red head of an eagle, that is being offered to him. The body of the decapitated red white and blue eagle, the heraldic animal of the Russian Empire, hangs upside down close to the right edge of the painting, suspended by its talons.
The sky is riddled by drill marks, which could be stars but are also reminiscent of bullet scars in a wall, the photos of wich are the last pieces of evidence that remain today of the Carz’s family’s last hours.
Today, facts about Rasputin and his historical role are scarce. But in a way it matters little what the facts really were, because it is the narratives, the stories that are being told and retold, true or false, that people believe and react to today.
