Oprichnik

“Svyatogor” Hard stone carving studio
2013

1565, Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible established the oprichnina — a special territory under the direct control of the Emperor. The oprichnina included the most economically developed lands. It had its own Boyar Duma, court and administrative agencies. The Tsar paid particular attention to the oprichnina army, where noblemen who had no kinship with people from the zemshchina — potential traitors deserving to be executed — were admitted.

A nobleman in military service, a guardsman in the oprichnina troops of Ivan IV the Terrible (1565 – 1572).

History

The rest of the territory, zemshchina, was under the control of the Boyar Duma. This land was perceived as territories that the oprichnina army was allowed to rob, which they did, among everything else. Even the appearance of the guardsmen inspired fear — they wore black clothes and tied a dog’s head and a broom to their saddles. This meant that they gnawed treason and swept it out of the state.

In 1569 – 1570, Ivan the Terrible led a punitive expedition against Novgorod. The oprichniki killed and tortured Novgorod citizens, destroyed all goods that they could not take away, and crushed people’s homes. Accustomed to committing acts of terror against defenceless people, the oprichniki lost their fighting skills, and in 1571 they failed to stop the army of the Crimean Khan Devlet Giray. After that, Ivan the Terrible, disappointed in the oprichnina army, cancelled the oprichnina in 1572.

The Stone

When creating a collective image of the oprichnik, the masters combined historically accurate details with their emotional perception of the army’s acts.

The elements of historical reconstruction include the black caftan cut from a very dark jasper, its thin veins highlighting the dynamism of the image. The dog head at the oprichnik’s feet made of flint, with scraps of rope (silver), also refers us to the attributes of the oprichnina.

The winter campaign against Novgorod that devastated several cities is reflected in the piece of white chrysoprase with pale green spots and fragments of the natural crust that serves as the base for the entire composition. The broken door carved out of fossilised wood is placed under the main character’s feet and reminds the viewer of the violent methods used by the guardsmen. The lonely grey strand in the oprichnik’s thick hair (chalcedony crust) that “frames” the face with aharsh expression on it is an element that has a special effect. This peculiarity of the stone that could not escape the master’s keen eye has evolved into a distinctive finishing touch that complements the image of the oprichnik.

Heinrich von Staden
About Moscow under Ivan the Terrible

Heinrich von Staden, originally from Westphalia, wandered across Eastern Europe for a long time, until he moved to Muscovy, where he enrolled as a translator at the ambassadorial mission. In his autobiography he mentions that he was accepted by Ivan the Terrible as one of the oprichniki, but scholars are putting that assertion into question. However, von Staden was witness to the oprichnina during his service.

The oprichnina was [composed of] the Grand Prince’s people; the zemshchina, of the ordinary people. That’s what the Grand Prince did. He began to inspect one city and region after another. And those who, according to the military muster rolls, had not served [his] forefathers by fighting the enemy with their [estates] were deprived of their estates, which were given to those in the oprichnina.

The princes and boyars who were taken into the oprichnina were ranked not according to riches but according to birth. They then took an oath not to have anything to do with the zemskie people or form any friendships with them. Those in the oprichnina also had to wear black clothes and hats; and in their quivers, where they put their arrows, they carried some kind of brushes or brooms tied on the ends of sticks. The oprichniki were recognized in this way.

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The oprichniki ransacked the entire countryside and all the cities and villages of the zemshchina, although the Grand Prince had not given them permission to do that. They drew up instructions themselves, as though the Grand Prince had ordered them to kill this or that merchant or noble — if he was thought to have money — along with his wife and children, and to take his money and property to the Grand Prince’s Treasury.

In the zemshchina, they thus committed many murders and assassinations, which are beyond description. When the oprichniki had tortured Russia — the entire zemshchina — according to their will and pleasure so that even the Grand Prince realized it was enough. The oprichniki did not at all like this situation... Then the Grand Prince began to wipe out all the chief people of the oprichnina.