The museum’s collection houses a valuable 19th-century photograph. This is a cabinet card portrait of Archbishop Anthony, who headed the Kazan and Sviyazhsk dioceses.
Cabinet card portraits gained immense popularity since the 1870s. Photographs of this type were mounted on a cardboard base measuring 11 by 17 centimeters. This format replaced the previous small carte de visite because it was large enough to feature a photographer’s studio or cabinet — hence its name.
Vladyka Anthony, born as Jacob Amphitheatrov, lived in the 19th century. He was born on October 15, 1815 in the village of the Miass plant of the Chelyabinsk district — today it is the city of Miass. The saint was the nephew of another Kazan Archpastor, Saint Philaret, who was canonized in 2016.
The time when Vladyka Anthony headed the diocese was especially important for the Annunciation Cathedral: under his supervision, the church painting was renewed. In the 1870s, the famous artist Safonov from the Vladimir governorate re-decorated the temple with frescoes. Vladyka Anthony had prepared a detailed plan of the compositions, indicating all the scenes and their locations. He took an active part in the process and closely supervised the artist’s work. The murals were restored in 1999–2005 and still adorn the cathedral walls.
The saint was appointed bishop in April 1867. Six months earlier, on November 9, 1866, Emperor Alexander II issued a decree on the retirement of Archbishop Afanasy (Sokolov) of Kazan and Sviyazhsk. Vladyka Anthony took his place, and on April 16, 1867, he was ordained archbishop.
The first years of Anthony’s bishopric office coincided with the time of the Great Reforms. There were numerous changes at that time: a new charter of 1867 was introduced in theological educational institutions, the staff of parish churches was revised. The state increased the clergy’s salary and endowed each group of priests belonging to the same parish church with land — at least 33 desyatinas (desyatina is an archaic land measurement approximately equivalent to 10 926 square meters). At the same time, the government reduced the number of workers and banned the practice of inheriting church offices by sons and sons-in-law. All this required a tremendous amount of work and diplomatic ability from the bishop, who was able to carry out reforms in the Kazan diocese without any complications or intense conflicts.
Archbishop Anthony was often accused of only one thing: he was meticulous about the divine services and strictly monitored that everything was performed according to the charter, so his colleagues reproached him for excessive zeal.
It is important that during the years when Vladyka Anthony was the Archbishop of Kazan two new monasteries were opened: the male Michael-Arkhangelsk Cheremissky in the Kozmodemyansky district and the female Uspensky in Chistopol. Also in 1879, on his initiative, Kazan solemnly celebrated the 300th anniversary of the acquisition of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.
Cabinet card portraits gained immense popularity since the 1870s. Photographs of this type were mounted on a cardboard base measuring 11 by 17 centimeters. This format replaced the previous small carte de visite because it was large enough to feature a photographer’s studio or cabinet — hence its name.
Vladyka Anthony, born as Jacob Amphitheatrov, lived in the 19th century. He was born on October 15, 1815 in the village of the Miass plant of the Chelyabinsk district — today it is the city of Miass. The saint was the nephew of another Kazan Archpastor, Saint Philaret, who was canonized in 2016.
The time when Vladyka Anthony headed the diocese was especially important for the Annunciation Cathedral: under his supervision, the church painting was renewed. In the 1870s, the famous artist Safonov from the Vladimir governorate re-decorated the temple with frescoes. Vladyka Anthony had prepared a detailed plan of the compositions, indicating all the scenes and their locations. He took an active part in the process and closely supervised the artist’s work. The murals were restored in 1999–2005 and still adorn the cathedral walls.
The saint was appointed bishop in April 1867. Six months earlier, on November 9, 1866, Emperor Alexander II issued a decree on the retirement of Archbishop Afanasy (Sokolov) of Kazan and Sviyazhsk. Vladyka Anthony took his place, and on April 16, 1867, he was ordained archbishop.
The first years of Anthony’s bishopric office coincided with the time of the Great Reforms. There were numerous changes at that time: a new charter of 1867 was introduced in theological educational institutions, the staff of parish churches was revised. The state increased the clergy’s salary and endowed each group of priests belonging to the same parish church with land — at least 33 desyatinas (desyatina is an archaic land measurement approximately equivalent to 10 926 square meters). At the same time, the government reduced the number of workers and banned the practice of inheriting church offices by sons and sons-in-law. All this required a tremendous amount of work and diplomatic ability from the bishop, who was able to carry out reforms in the Kazan diocese without any complications or intense conflicts.
Archbishop Anthony was often accused of only one thing: he was meticulous about the divine services and strictly monitored that everything was performed according to the charter, so his colleagues reproached him for excessive zeal.
It is important that during the years when Vladyka Anthony was the Archbishop of Kazan two new monasteries were opened: the male Michael-Arkhangelsk Cheremissky in the Kozmodemyansky district and the female Uspensky in Chistopol. Also in 1879, on his initiative, Kazan solemnly celebrated the 300th anniversary of the acquisition of the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God.
