Iconographic lawlessness. The unusual in Orthodox icon.

Why is Saint Christopher depicted with a dog's head? Why does the Mother of God have three hands and a fish tail? How did Pushkin, Stalin, and football players end up on icons? "Iconographic lawlessness" – is a book about how the most unusual plots of Russian icons appeared and what they actually mean. It will tell about the six-handed Christ, the Orthodox centaur, and the dove with four heads. You will immerse yourself in mystical images where human life is represented as a labyrinth, mysterious hands grow from the crucifixion, and a multitude of eyes gaze at the viewer. You will see brutal scenes, in which saints and even Jesus himself take up weapons. You will understand how laptops, footballs, and nuclear reactors appeared in sacred images. Together with the author, you will decipher the meaning of mysterious allegories, make excursions into theology and world history, learn about the most incredible Russian conspiracies and beliefs, and see the rarest icons, previously accessible only to specialists. But most importantly – after reading this book, the familiar culture and history will open up to you from a completely new and unknown side. Sergey Zotov – cultural anthropologist, winner of the "Enlightener" award for the book "Suffering Middle Ages. Paradoxes of Christian iconography", doctoral candidate at the University of Warwick (United Kingdom). Creator of the popular blog about unusual icons "Iconographic lawlessness", from which this book idea originated.