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The article is about the project of research into Soviet icons, which began at the Russian State University for the Humanities in 2021 at the Center for Visual Studies of the Middle Ages and Modern Period of the Faculty of Cultural Studies. The Soviet icon is a religious artifact created by village craftsmen (image painters) of the Soviet times – an icon, various in execution techniques, set in a wooden case (kiot). For the decoration of such icons both the traditional (for 19th – early 20th century) materials used – foil, paper, wax, paraffin etc. – as well as specific things that were available in the era of scarcity, poverty of the Soviet village, persecution of the Church and the inability to create religious artifacts in a manufactory way, for the market. Craftsmen used the fabric from Soviet Pioneers ties and wedding dresses, Soviet newspapers, foil from tea bags, prints on which were made with the hunting shotgun cartridges, etc. As a result, the complex bricolages appeared. Often they had icons and materials of the 19 – early 20th century inside, covered with a layer of heterogeneous materials of the Soviet era. The article deals with the specifics of that phenomenon, explains the term "Soviet icon" introduced by the authors of the project, and describes the prospects of the project in the coming years.

The article describes the history of the unique Soviet government institutions aimed at improving the welfare of scientists in the 1920s–1930s: the Central Commission for the Improvement of the Life of Scientists and the Commission for Assistance to Scientists. There were no analogues of these institutions abroad, except for the German organization "Notgemeinschaft der deutschen Wissenschaft". Thus, the Soviet commissions occupied a unique niche; their work was widely covered in foreign periodicals, through the All-Union Society for Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries and local diplomatic institutions. On the other hand, the activities of the commissions caused ambiguous assessments due to the ideological and politicized nature, the narrowness of the beneficiary circle, an uneven distribution of privileges, and, finally, the instability of approaches to supporting scientists – from ensuring their economic and living conditions to detailed regulation of scientific work and its planning. Based on unpublished documents from the State Archives of the Russian Federation, the author characterizes the evolution of the "foreign" component of the commissions' activities, their vatious tasks from popularizing the achievements of Soviet science abroad to attracting foreign specialists to the USSR during the years of industrialization. The author concludes that the work of the commissions corresponded to the tasks set for Soviet science at different stages of its transformation, changed along with them. Therefore, the study of this problem can contribute to a more accurate understanding of the deep processes of the development of Soviet science in the 1920s–1930s.

The article analyzes the observer category of the "inner world" in the novel "The Angel of the Western Window" by G. Mayrink: the factors of the artistic impression at the level of focalization and mythotectonics are consistently systematized in the logical scheme of the evolution of the worldview of the main character, Baron Muller (John Dee). The chronotope of the legend of "St. Patrick's well" is studied as the foundation for the author's myth of man's being in the world, manifested in the novel. The observer in the novel perceives the "inner world" of the novel in reverse perspective, interpreting all the events taking place in terms of the alchemical sacrament of transforming one's soul into a light-bearing hypostasis. The observer goes through the path of the great magisterium: he ceases to control the act, succumbs to darkness and death, ascends transfigured, overcomes the trial by fire and performs an alchemical wedding, the fruit of which is the acquisition of the philosopher's stone. Each of the stages of the transfiguration of the observer corresponds to one of the chronotope levels of the legend of "Saint Patrick's Well", so it becomes the plot-forming for the mythotectonic level of the entire novel.

The category of the Fear of God has changed over time despite its apparent immutability. The article discusses the semantics of the concept of the Fear of God and the notions associated with it, based on the "Tale of Bygone Years" and Vladimir Monomakh's "Instruction". The author of the article analyzes all mentions of "the Fear of God" in the selected sources, paying special attention to the context of the expression. The research has shown that, to describe the Fear of God, the chronicler mainly uses quotations, especially from sacred texts. With their help, the chronicler conveys his ideas about the studied category. The analysis of the sources reveals that the Fear of God should not be considered as an emotion, but as a long-term state or feeling that positively influenced the person's way of life. The Fear of God was the result of a conscious choice and the basis for the life of a pious Christian. In addition, the Fear of God was close to the states of awe and joy that emerge during worship. Particularly important for the chronicler was the connection between the Fear of God and the concept of wisdom, which was believed to spring from the former. The Fear of God was the basis of knowledge perceived as a process of understanding God

The report is an attempt to consider the question of one of the characteristic functions of the Imperial court in the 18th century – the systematic distribution of money, benefits and gifts under Catherine II. The documents of the Imperial Cabinet testify to the increasing mass of various kinds of g giveaways and gifts to courtiers, military and civil servants and a wider circle of petitioners. Such a practice served as an important element of social policy; it was supposed to ensure the loyalty of the elite and increase the prestige of the monarch among the military and bureaucracy