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Rare collection reveals how Russians used folk art to mock their rulers

Popkin
Jun 17, 2025
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A 19th-century Russian judge assembled this remarkable collection of folk art prints that used humor and satire to mock everything from emperors to elaborate hairstyles.

Dimitrii Aleksandrovich Rovinskii, a high-ranking Moscow jurist, devoted his spare time to collecting lubki — colorful Russian prints that first emerged in the 1500s as cheap substitutes…

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