Whom Are the Mice Burying? The Interpretation of the Lubok Print The Mice Are Burying the Cat

Abstract

The article is devoted to the interpretation of one of the most famous lubok prints (cheap popular prints) The Mice Are Burying the Cat, which was printed in different editions and versions from the beginning of the 18th century to the middle of the 19th century. The plot of this picture is under discussion. Some researchers view it as a parody of the funeral of Peter I, while others draw attention to the fact that the stylistic features of the early images and the language of captions indicate an earlier origin. Our analysis showed that the epithets of Kazan (Rus. казанский), of Astrakhan (Rus. астраханский) and of Siberia (Rus. сибирский) used with regard to the cat clearly refer to the title of the tsar. This points to the fact that it is a tsar's funeral that the picture parodies. The captions depicting mice reflect the entertaining laughter culture of the second half of the 17th century. It is significant that the mice are carrying buffoonery musical instruments, they are dancing, drinking alcohol and smoking tobacco. The attributes of buffoonery culture and fun, which the tsar used to combat with the support of Patriarch Nikon, make it possible to bring the prototext of the popular print into correlation with a parody of Alexei Mikhailovich's funeral. In later pictures, the plot-forming element is constituted by the indication of the areas the mice are associated with. Changes in a number of images, as well as the introduction of new toponymy, refer the viewer and reader to the funeral of Peter I, the ceremony of which involved a procession with the coats of arms of provinces. The proposed interpretation makes it possible to reconcile the two concepts and prove that this lubok represents a caricatural funeral of the tsar. However, in older engravings the funeral procession consists of buffoons, and in the later ones, it features representatives of different parts of the empire. In the first case, the tsar is Alexei Mikhailovich, and in the second case, Peter I.