Russian Medieval Art

Studie byla publikována v roce 1967 v knize ,,Культура и искусство древней Руси: Сборник статей в честь проф. М. К. Каргера" / The study was published in 1967 in the book ,,Culture and Art of Ancient Russia: Collection of articles in honor of prof. М.K. Karger."

The article deals with one of many regional architectural
traditions of Russia in the 18th century. Only three churches
were built in Kargopol in this period, and they have never
been subject of detailed research. The only surviving building
the katholikon of Oshevensk monastery (1707–1734) is the
key artifact. The author argues, that the church receives very
sophisticated composition due to desire of its founders to copy
the architectural forms of the famous Solovki monastery. The
second church, that of the Spasski monastery (1707–1717),
located in the town of Kargopol, is now destroyed and only can
be seen on some old photos. These photos were discovered in the
archive by the author and were published for the first time in this
article. Unfortunately, we have no images of the third, Uspenski
church in Kargopol (1715–1730) which was also destroyed. Its
forms are roughly described on the basis of archive documents.
The author concludes, the Kargopol architecture is unique
because it is the most conservative one in the early 18th century
Russia. The buildings still represent Post-Byzantine tradition
some 30 years after the introduction of European Mannerist and
Baroque forms into Russian architecture.

"The Great Disarray" at Pskov in 1540:

The First Pskov chronicle informs that in 1540 some "elders-migrants" brought to the western frontier town Pskov two wooden statues of St. Nicholas and one more - of St. Paraskevi. At least one of these statues of St. Nicholas survived in the local museum till nowadays. The chronicle doesn't specify the region, where these statues were made and from where they were brought to Pskov. Nevertheless the general opinion of Russian researches is that the statues were brought from the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and their appearance in Pskov should be considered as an impulse of the catholic church art. In this article another explanation of this event is suggested. The deal is that in 1510 Pskov was annexed by Basil III, the grand prince of Moscow. Since that time the public life in Pskov felt a strong impact from Moscow. And the survived Pskov statue of St. Nicholas is very similar to another wooden sculpture of St. Nicholas, which appeared in the 14th century in the town Mozhaysk and was especially venerated as a military palladium by the grand princes of Moscow, including Basil III. The assumption that wooden statues were delivered to Pskov in 1540 (after the Starodub war with Lithuania) from Moscow corresponds to the appearances of similar statues of St. Nicholas in the other western frontier Russian towns (Mtzensk, Peremishl' Kaluzhskiy, etc.) in the same political conditions during the 15th - 16th centuries. According to some indirect indications of the First Pskov chronicle we can suppose that originally these three sculptures had a defensive function and were destined for placing on the town walls at Pskov.
The First Pskov chronicle informs that in 1540 the residents of Pskov were troubled with the wooden sculptures of saints and it became a reason of "the great disarray" in this town. The pro-Moscow chronicler explained this fact by a fear of people that the veneration of such sculptures would be the worship of pagan idols. However this explanation looks like a far-fetched one - the veneration of wooden and stone sculptures of saints was well known in Russia during the 14th - 16th centuries. In fact "the great disarray" at Pskov in 1540 was caused by the local rejection of wooden sculptures, which were brought there as the Moscow military palladiums.

The Russian culture of late XVII and first half of XVIII centuries was deeply influenced by many representatives of the clergy coming from the Lavra of Kiev – the main spiritual and educational centre of the Eastern Orthodoxy. In the field of architecture this impact wasn’t so decisive as in icon painting or church singing. The only part of Russia where Ukrainian formed the basis of local architectural schools was Siberia.
The key Ukrainian figure was Metropolitan Filofey Leshchinsky (1650–1727), a fervent preacher among native pagans and Old Believers, a true apostle of Siberian lands. The splendid Trinity Monastery in Tiumen’ (1708-1741), a copy of the Lavra, was his main architectural legacy. Posterior Ukrainian Metropolitans of Siberia kept on the Kiev-oriented program. They added Ukrainian “bania” cupolas to the St. Sophia in Tobol’sk (1726–1727, 1735), erected a winter cathedral in honor of the founders of the Lavra (1743–1746), created a “space model” of the miracle-working icon of Our Lady of Abalak (1748–1759) following Ukrainian patterns.
“Ukrainisms” were adopted by Siberian architectural traditions both as symbolic models and as simply a building method. The Trinity Monastery served as a model for Baroque churches of Tiumen’ — Znamenskaya (1768–1801) and Spasskaya (c. 1770 – 1796) ones. The “bania” cupolas appear as the most assimilated Ukrainian form, widely used in East and West Siberia till the end of XVIII c., particularly in wooden churches. Tobol’sk masons succeeded in blending of Ukrainian facades with traditional Russian volumes. If a composition with the so called “big octagon” wasn’t a great achievement, churches with the “small octagon” really were; the first one of such type was the church of Archangel Michael (1745–1749) in Tobol’sk. They were successfully adopted by different local traditions and were built throughout Siberia till the early XIX c.
What is the secret of such success of Ukrainian architectural forms in the remote Siberia? It seems, it grew from Filofey’s brilliant personality, his talent for architectural invention and a lack of a long-standing architectural tradition in partibus infidelium.

The article considers the problem of anatomical veracity in the subject of the Crucifixtion in the
Russian iconography of the 15th–early 16th centuries. The figural representations are analyzed with the help
of the language of anatomical description.
The research is based on the icons from the Andrey Rublev Museum, the Cathedral of the Annunciation
in the Moscow Kremlin, the Cathedral of the Dormition in Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, and the icon by
Dionisius for Pavlo-Obnorsky Monastery preserved in the Tretyakov Gallery.
The psychological and anatomical veracity in the icon from the Cathedral of the Annunciation (Rublev
school) combined with the fluent rhythm and harmony in composition makes it outstanding for its time. The
spirit of antiquity rests on the balance of diverse tendencies but not merely on copying ancient Greek mod-
els. The anatomical details in the icons of the late 15th–early 16th centuries were represented schematically,
with ornamental interpretation. The problem of anatomical veracity arose in Russia anew with the beginning
of the Modern Age.

В данной статье дан анализ композиции, изображенной на фрагменте фрески Благовещенского собора
Московского Кремля из собрания ГИМа. Кратко приведена история перестроек Благовещенского собора.
Рассмотрены все упоминания данного фрагмента фрески в литературе и его атрибуция. Благодаря сравнительному
анализу композиции фрагмента с кругом ближайших по времени памятников, удалось точно определить
изображенный на фрагменте сюжет как «Евхаристию», а вернее правую его часть — «Причащение Крови».
Уточнение атрибуции фрагмента фрески Благовещенского собора Московского Кремля из собрания ГИМа позволяет
теперь включать его как важный памятник для изучения искусства XV в., алтарных росписей этого периода, а также
развития и бытования иконографии «Евхаристии».

В XVI в. появляется несколько новых сюжетов, которые непосредственно изображают литургию. «Да молчит всякая плоть человеча...» появляется в росписи конхи центральной апсиды Успенского собора Московского Кремля (1513–1515). «Видение Григория Богослова» содержался и в росписи жертвенника собора Чудова монастыря в Московском Кремле (1518–1519). Если допустить, что при последующих поновлениях была сохранена первоначальная система росписи, иконография конкретных сцен могла отражать традицию их изображения первой половины XVI в. По сути, старейшим дошедшим до нас русским изображением Великого входа является сцена «Святая Божественная литургия» на северной алтарной двери церкви Архангела Михаила в Риге (середина XVI в.). Он может рассматриваться как предтеча более сложной сцены «Иже херувимы...». В произведениях конца  XVI — начала XVII в. встречаются все литургические сюжеты. Они имеют сложившуюся иконографию, которая, в одном случае, строится на основе мотива перенесения Святых даров, заимствованной из византийских памятников; в другом — в качестве базы берется сцена «Служба святителя». Судя по всему, все эти сюжеты появляются в разных регионах (Москва, Псков) практически независимо друг от друга, хотя нельзя отрицать возможность их взаимного влияния.

Конференция Актуальные проблемы теории и истории искусства VIII / Conference The Actual Problems of History and Theory of Art VIII  - Moscow, 4th October 2018; Исторический факультет МГУ (Ломоносовский проспект, д. 27, к. 4), 5 этаж, ауд. Е544
MSU, Faculty of History (Lomonosovsky prospect 27/4), 5th floor, room E544

The icon depicting the Transfiguration of Christ from the catholicon of Solovki Transfigura
tion monastery belongs to the most outstanding works of the Russian icon art of the  16lh c., created by the
best artists for the educated ecclesiastics. As this article is the first publication of the icon, which was only
noted in literature before, we examined the written sources mentioning the icon, as well as its iconography
and style in order to set its dating and the regional school of the icon painting to which the artist belonged.
The written sources (inventories of Solovki monastery of the  16-20'1' cc.) and stylistic features of the icon
make it possible to say that the icon was painted between  1538 and  1549. The iconographic program of the
icon, including two scenes besides the “Transfiguration” itself, which are “Parable of new wine in old wine­
skins” and “Healing o f an epileptic” is unique.  “Healing of an epileptic” is known  in  Byzantine and  post
Byzantine art,  however the only example of combining this  miracle  with  the Transfiguration  is the altar
picture painted by Raphael in  1516-1520 for Giulio de Medici. The question of whether it is a coincidence
remains open. The unique and sophisticated ascetic program makes it possible to suppose that donator of
this icon was Philipp Kolychev. As a result, we can argue that the icon o f Transfiguration was painted for the
Solovki abbot Philipp Kolychev between  1538 and  1549 by a Novgorodian icon painter.

Novgorod and Pskov (which became independent since 1348) were the north-western Old Rus/Russia territories and the merchant republics, closely related with the neighbors (Germany, Sweden and others). The musicians were represented there in applied art and in book illustrations. There is usually the sitting man with gusli instrument similar to psaltery, 70-90 sm long (engraving of Adam Olearius’ embassy, 1639), with the body of triangle, semispherical but more often trapezium form; only one image of the staying man with trumpet was depicted. Both instruments were also used actively for sacred music in Catholic countries. It was not accidental that gusli was the first in the list of instruments popular among the Russian priests (Lecture of Daniil mitropolit, the 16th c.) and the last in the list of instruments of Russian skomorokh (jongleurs) for the destruction after tsar Alexey decree of 1648. The prototype of such sitting musician images was the Biblical king David; but there the Russian skomorokh groups’ musicians were depicted. They were young (without a beard and moustaches) and their clothing was the verkhnitsa shirt in the 13th c. and later the caftan or odnoryadka open in front, with a row of the hinges and buttons. They used a leggings and boots (with heels since the 15th c.) colored by red – the most popular color in Old Russia and the kolpak conic headdress (similar to some western jongleurs), sometimes with a plume. On the glazed bricks of the mid. 15th c. we see a musician with the presented (?) long caftan with fur lapels and high hat, the neighboring aristocrat give him a bowl with wine (?). The western adoptions in musician’ costume we know in the 14th c. In Novgorod Psalter the “Д” initial he depicted as David king with a beard and crown but also the tunic with pleated and striped hem and with turtleneck used in the Central Europe. In Mikulino Gospel “P(R)” initial we see on trumpeter’ body the diadem with two imitated wings (wich associated by Catholic countries’ musicians with Mercurius – the inventor of lyra) and the lateral openings on the sleeves and hem.