Literay Fact Literay Fact 2541-8297 2542-2421 IWL RAS https://doi.org/10.22455/2541-8297-2023-30-178-193 Research Article Articles The Eye of Falcon’s Feather and the Hot Caskets Grinberg Mark S. editor@litfact.ru 2023 Osip Mandelstam Rembrandt Jacob Willemsz. de Wet the Elder poetry and painting Copyright © 2026, IWL RAS 2026 The article deals with the analysis of Osip Mandelstam’s poem “Like Chiaroscuro’s Martyr Rembrandt” (1937). It tries to interpret the central enigmatic images (“the eye of the falcon’s feather,” “hot caskets at midnight in the harem”), which have not been satisfactorily explained to date, and providing an example of a holistic interpretation of the text. The analysis also touches on the question of “light and shade” (or chiaroscuro) and the category of time and muteness. Critically reviewing the works of T. Langerak, O. Ronen, M.L. Gasparov and I.Z. Surat, the author offers his own understanding of the poem as a poetic statement about art in general and its effect on humans. 1. 1. Valeri, P. Ob iskusstve [ On Art]. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1976. 622 p. (In Russ.) 2. 2. Gasparov, M.L. O. Mandelstam: Grazhdanskaia lirika 1937 goda [O. Mandelstam: The Civic Lyrics of 1937]. Moscow, Russian State University for the Humanities Publ., 1996. 128 p. (In Russ.) 3. 3. Klee, P. Pedagogicheskie eskizy [ The Pedagogical Sketches], trans. from German by N. Druzhkova, ed. by L. Monakhova. Moscow, D. Aronov Publ., 2005. 71 p. (In Russ.) 4. 4. Langerak, T. “Analiz odnogo stihotvoreniia Mandel’shtama (ʽKak svetoteni muchenik Rembrandt...’)” [“Analysis of the Poem of Mandelshtam (ʽAs Rembrandt, a Martyr of Light and Shade...’)”]. Russian Literature, no. 33, 1993, pp. 289–298. (In Russ.) 5. 5. Mandel’shtam, O.E. Polnoe sobranie sochinenii i pisem: v 3 t. [Complete Works and Letters: in 3 vols.], vol. 1. Moscow, Progress-Pleiada Publ., 2009. 808 p. (In Russ.) 6. 6. Mandel’shtam, O. Stikhotvoreniia. Proza [Poetry. Prose], comp. and comm. by M.L. Gasparov. Moscow, Kharkiv, AST-Folio Publ., 2001. 739 p. (In Russ.) 7. 7. Merlo-Ponti, M. Oko i dukh [Eye and Mind], trans. by A. Gustyr’. Moscow, Iskusstvo Publ., 1993. 63 p. (In Russ.) 8. 8. Ronen, Omry. Chuzheliubie. Tret’ia kniga iz goroda Enn [ Xenophilia. The Third Book From the City of NN]. Moscow, Zvezda Publ., 2010. 400 p. (In Russ.) 9. 9. Surat, I. “Avtoportret, kuvshin i muchenik Rembrandt” [“Self-portrait, Pitcher and Martyr Rembrandt”]. Novyi mir, no. 10, 2017. Available at: http://www.nm1925.ru/Archive/Journal6_2017_10/Content/Publication6_746/Default.aspx#sdfootnote47sym (Accessed 31 July 2023). (In Russ.) 10. 10. Valéry, Paul. Degas. Danse. Dessin [Degas. Dance. Drawing]. Paris, Librairie Gallimard Publ., 1949. 162 p. (In French)