Initially, penates are pre-Roman deities guarding the house, or rather, guarding the food supplies of the family, because penus translates as "pantry", and many assume that the name of the heavenly guardians comes from this word. Later, in Roman mythology, the cult of the Penates already appeared, which include all the patrons of the house. Usually, two Penates stood guard over the ancient Roman family. This is how the ancestors were deified.
Etymology of the word
As in most cases, there is no exact interpretation of the origin of the term. Cicero allowed the formation of the name from the word penitus - living inside. Therefore, Roman poets, unlike Russian ones, among whom this term was also incredibly popular, but in a different interpretation, often called these deities Penetrales, or “penetrating”. Penates are household deities included in the retinue of the goddess Vesta - the guardianhearth. According to legend, the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius, built the first temple of the goddess Vesta in the city. Its innermost central part is called Pen (from penetralia - the inner secret compartment of a house or temple). An eternal flame was maintained in it, and the state Penates were kept. The theory about the origin of the name of the gods is quite acceptable from the heart of the temple of Vesta.
Keepers of the Empire
One way or another, but in ancient Rome, the Penates are not only household gods, but also the guardians of the state and the entire Roman people. In the Latin version, this idea looked like this: Penates Publici Populi Romani.
The history of the emergence of state Penates in Ancient Rome is not known for certain. The uninitiated knew little about them at all, their storage was shrouded in mystery. It was believed that Aeneas brought them from Troy. And what they were, knew only the priests and vestals - the servants of the cult of Vesta. But it was believed that the state Penates are the main shrines of Rome. They protected the empire and served as a guarantee of the prosperity and peace of the whole people.
Cute, dear, homemade…
But even at the everyday level, home gods were loved and revered. Their clay and wooden images were kept in a separate locker located near the hearth. It has already been noted that the cult of the Penates was identified with the deification of ancestors. Home guardians who care about the well-being of the family, whether they were dead parents or simply made idols, all united under the understandable name "native Penates". And for all generations it was natural and desirablereturn to them, no matter how far a person is. Home, shelter, hearth have always been for most people a guiding star on the path of life.
Changing the meaning of a term
Gradually, what was dear in the father's house, what kept and protected a person from childhood, replaced the image of the family hearth itself. And the expression "native land" ceased to personify the guardian gods. It has become synonymous with the father's home. And not everyone would understand the situation correctly if they showed him a figurine-amulet and called it Penat. I should have told a backstory. Now there is also a real estate agency called "Native Penates". Well, of course, the authors of the name meant cozy apartments that could become a stepfather's home, and not some gods. The Guardian Penates belong to a different time, a different culture. But through the years, all that warm and dear has passed, which is connected with the hearth, near which the family gathered, where it was cozy and safe, because you were guarded by household gods. As Mtsyri said on his deathbed: “… And I remembered our father’s house, in front of the evening hearth, long stories about how people lived in the old days …” All this is close and beloved, associated with the place of birth and a happy childhood, implies the phrase “relatives penates.”
The idea of a family nest
There is nothing surprising in the fact that the brilliant Russian artist, a representative of the realistic school of painting, Ilya Efimovich Repin, having decided to build a manor that would become a family nest, named it after the ancient Roman guardian gods and depicted their figures onestate gate. In 1899, already a famous painter, I. Repin bought a plot of land 50 km from St. Petersburg, built a house and carefully arranged the territory. The choice fell on the village of Kuokkala because since 1898 Ilya Efimovich Repin served as rector of the Academy, he had plenty of duties. Getting from the village to the place of duty was quite convenient due to the railway line, and the place itself was secluded and quiet.
Deserved name
Everything turned out as planned: a shelter where you are always drawn to return, where there are many loving relatives and friends, where you are always successful. Soon after the family was established, the owner received the title of professor and head of the workshop at the Academy of Arts. Repin's estate "Penates" fully justified its name. The great painter lived here for 30 happy years.
It was a real house of the artist, he loved every corner here, and every corner had its own name. I. Repin lived here until his death, which happened on September 29, 1930. He was 86 years old. According to his request, he was buried here, on the estate, next to the house and Chugueva Hill. The village of Kuokkala was renamed Repino, and now there is a museum known to every Russian "Penates", which was founded in 1940.
Modesty and democratic manners of the estate
Unfortunately, during the war, the house burned out completely, the whole estate suffered. There was an oak planted immediately after the funeral. After the war, the manor was completely restored, andthe new museum opened in 1964. It is now a federal listed building. You can talk about it for a very long time. All the most famous and best people of that time visited the artist's estate.
Took I. Repin on Wednesdays, the rest of the days he worked. Repin environments were known to both capitals, guests came to the estate after 3 o'clock. Repin was a unique person, and his estate "Penates" is also unique. Its territory had its own laws. The artist did not keep servants in principle, and two women who helped around the house lived here on an equal footing with the owners, they ate everything at the same table. Serving anyone is strictly prohibited. Those who violated the established order were punished in the form of a public speech condemning their act.
The attractiveness of Repin environments
These democratic relations, without lordship, made Repin's "Penates" especially attractive. The atmosphere was very pleasant. The simplicity and modesty of the owner, who did not at all boast of the merits and position of the idol of his time, the absence of pretentiousness in the atmosphere - all contributed to the establishment of comradely relations between the owners and guests of the estate. It should be noted that, being impressed by the speeches of A. N. Beketov and Leo Tolstoy, who were guests here, about eating kill-free food, vegetarianism dominated the estate. Much of the furnishings were made according to the sketches of the artist. So the table for guests was two-tiered and rotating. Dishes were placed on the first tier, and each of the guests turned the handlecould bring the desired food closer to him. Only in 1918, when there was a tension with food, ordinary food was served at the table. At the same time, the border with Finland was closed, "Penates" became for Repin himself and many Russians in this country a piece of the Motherland. The artist of his native Academy bequeathed his legendary estate. Thanks to the great painter, the name of his estate took on a life of its own. When they say or write in quotation marks and capitalize the word "Penates", it becomes clear that we are talking about the estate of Ilya Repin.
Now the museum-estate, located at the address: 197738, St. Petersburg, Repino village, Primorskoe highway, 411 - receives visitors daily, except Monday and Tuesday, from 10 am. Service only excursion.
