While the benevolent aspect of Stalin’s leadership was represented to the people by displaying Stalin as a father of the people and a wise teacher, a major component of the later years of his personality cult was his portrayal as a successful military strategist and leader of the Red Army. Someone of great wisdom and monstrous power. Not a God in heaven, but here, on our dismal earth.
And the more remote, the more vague, the less accessible the hero, the more freedom for the imagination … There must be a ‘Once upon a time there lived’ about it - something of the fairy tale. The people need a hero, a saint - General Skobelev, Feodor Kuzmich, Ivan the Terrible - they are all alike to them. The icon is a hymn of triumph, a manifestation, a memorial inscribed for those who have fought and conquered, humbling the demons and putting them to flight. I will refrain from writing further of the martyr’s valour, for you have crowned him and I rejoice today at the victory won by your power. My praise of the crowned champion is dull compared with the wisdom that inspires your brush with its radiant colours. Now arise, you renowned painters of the champion’s brave deeds, who by your exalted art make images of the general. Stalin saves the world - Stalin and the evolution of the Warrior and Saviour archetypes
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