History students explore rare artifacts

Six University of Wisconsin-Platteville students recently had an opportunity to view rare, medieval and early modern Slavic icons at the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison. The fieldtrip was organized as part of the History 4110 course on Medieval/Early Modern Russia and Ukraine taught by Dr. Andrey Ivanov, associate professor of history at UW-Platteville.

During the hands-on learning experience, students participated in a special seminar where they viewed and discussed rare and unique Slavic icons from the Chazen's exhibited collections and special storage. The seminar was led by Ivanov and Mieke Miller, the academic coordinator at the Chazen Museum of Art.

Some of the icons were acquired by Joseph E. Davies (1876-1958), a Watertown, Wisconsin native, and the United States' second ambassador to Soviet Union. Ivanov noted that Davies maintained very friendly relations with Stalin while in Moscow, which helped him procure some very rare paintings, icons and works of art that he later donated to Wisconsin's preeminent state art museum.

Among the icons the students explored was a rare, 16th century tryptich of the Great Diesis, acquired from East Slavic lands' holiest site, the Kyiv Caves Monastery, and then gifted by Stalin to the Wisconsinite US Ambassador. According to Ivanov, the icon has puzzled art historians worldwide who travel to Madison to study it. Historians are particularly fascinated by the coat of arms of Pope Paul III, which implies that the icon may have Italian connections.

Following the seminar, students toured rare Russian paintings in the main collections of the museum. The field excursion also included the viewing of Klavdiy Lebedev's original, famous 1891 painting "The Fall of Novgorod," which depicts the end of Novgorod's Hanseatic Republic and amalgamation of that republic into the autocratic state of Muscovy in 1478 - an event that is often portrayed as the end of the Russian experience of limited medieval democracy.

In the afternoon, students toured the Russian/East European Collections Center of the Memorial Library, particularly the Michael B. Petrovich Reading Room. Students paired their learning experiences with the tastings of regional Siberian, Ukrainian, Uzbek, Afghan, Georgian, and Turkish cuisine.

Ivanov said the experience enabled students to learn about Russian, Ukrainian and Slavic history through a physical encounter and experience of medieval and early modern riches.

"Learning history through tangible artifacts and primary sources is the best way to experience the past without inventing a time machine," said Ivanov. "Icons are an overlooked historical artifact of global cultural heritage. Their use of non-linear reverse-inverse perspective, cryptographic asymmetry, nonsequential chronology, steganography, and abstractions are often seen as unconventional. Yet they provide unique - some may say, alternative - manifestation on how visual data could be transmitted, depicted or encrypted. To a trained eye, the icons - especially Russian ones - often relay not just spiritual messages but also the image's political and industrial contexts."

Ivanov observed that experiential learning not only enhances one's understanding of a subject but also improves the ability to analyze data and information - competencies that are crucial for future careers.

"Studying artifacts to investigate events consistently sharpens both analytical and investigative skills," said Ivanov. "This experience helps students refine their research skills, deepens their graphic authentication aptitude and navigation of evidence-based chronology, while also immersing them in a multicultural environment and broadening their knowledge of societies other than their own."

The hands-on, experiential learning experience at the Chazen Museum of Art was made possible with the support of UW-Platteville's Department of History, as well as curatorial assistance provided by the museum and the UW-Madison Memorial Library's Russian/East European Collection.