St. Olga Commemorative Plate

Product Description

St. Olga Commemorative Plate. In 1988, the Church celebrated its millennial anniversary. The year 988 is considered the official birthday of the Russian Orthodox Churc. It was when Prince Vladimir the Great proclaimed Kievan Rus a Christian state. Princess Olga of Kiev, his grandmother, who ruled from ruled 945-962, was the first ruler, in 957, to convert to Christianity. She was baptized in Constantinople in 955. Soon afterwards she built The Church of Saint Nicholas and the Church of Hagia Sophia. She is considered one of Russia's most outstanding women, and many a new-born has been named for her. No certificate or box. (Also, photo of the back shows a different number, all else is identical). 10" in diameter. Comes with a stand.

To mark this historic event, three limited edition, high-quality porcelain plates were issued, decorated with the artwork of Russian artist Valeria Nisskaya (more information about her below). These were made in Western Germany by the prestigious Lindner Porcelain Factory (Lindnerporzellan) of Bavaria. The designs by Nisskaya are rich in detail and use pure gold and colorful transfers. Intricate Church Slavonic calligraphy surrounds each design.

The edition was set to a limit of 10,000, but that number proved to be an overestimate, as fewer than 1,000 (more like 700) were manufactured, one-tenth of the producer's anticipated demand. 

Valeria Nisskaya (1927-2011) came from a family of multi-talented artists. In addition to painting, she was a sculptor and art director for many films, including the acclaimed film "Seryozhka". She won best art director at Cannes in 1960 and exhibited numerous paintings in Rome and Venice, as well as in Russia.

The Church conferred upon Vladimir many titles, including Holy Grand Prince, as well as "The Baptizer of Ru'", and "Vladimir: Krasnoye Solnyshko", which means "The Beautiful Sun." Vladimir exhorted the residents of his capital to the Dnieper river for baptism. This mass baptism became the iconic inaugural event in the Christianization of Kievan Rus. Saint Vladimir built his first church out of stone and dedicated it to the Dormition of the Blessed Mother of God.