ECCLESIASTICAL OVERSIGHT?

Tim Rutten should have caught on to a blatant historic error in the book, “Russian Icons” by Father Vladimir Ivanov (Book Review, June 4). I am referring to the statement “icons dating from the 12th to the 20th Century.” The title of this book, “Russian Icons,” and the mention of the 12th Century, do not follow, for there was no “Russia” in the 12th Century. The Moscovy State, the precursor of modern Russia, was not founded until the middle of the 13th Century. In AD 988, the year Christianity was officially accepted in this area, the reigning seat of power was concentrated in the Kievan State, which has a separate history from that of Moscow. All this information is clearly spelled out in the historic archives of various Ukrainian universities, especially in archives dealing with religious history. However, noting that Father Ivanov is associated with the Moscow Ecclesiastical Academy, I am not surprised at this little historic “slip up.”

FLORENTIO C. DE BACA

LONG BEACH