Mediaeval Russian icon- and fresco-painting

Your journey round the Golden Ring will be a wonderful opportunity to see some very fine specimens of Russian painting from the whole mediaeval period from the 10^th to the early 18^th century. The numerous museums and churches of North-East Russia contain many masterpieces of monumental art and icon-painting. And although a lot of the icons from Vladimir, Suzdal, Yaroslavl and Uglich have been moved to the central museums, the area is still unusually rich in art.

We know of little painting in Northeast Russia from the first half of the 12th century. In the second half, however, the local centres developed intensively. Churches were built and decorated with icons and frescoes. A most important specimen of this period are the frescoes of the St Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir painted at the end of the century by Greek and Russian masters and commissioned by Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest. Fragments of early painting have survived in two other cathedrals in the area – the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir (12th cent.) and the Nativity Cathedral in Suzdal (1233).

One of the oldest and most revered icons of the Vladimir lands dating back to the pre-Mongol period is Our Lady of Bogolyubovo (12^th century), now in the Nativity Monastery in Vladimir. It was commissioned by Andrew the God-loving after the Virgin appeared to him in a vision. The icon has only survived in part, but the fragments show that it rivalled the famous icon of Our Lady of Vladimir in expressiveness, beauty and intensity colour.

After the Mongol Invasion artistic life practically ceased and did not begin to revive until the end of the 13th century. The few works that have survived from the 13^th century are mainly to be found in the central museums. Almost all the towns in the Golden Ring area had their own special icon of the Virgin Mary. The icon of the Fyodorovskaya Virgin said to have appeared miraculously in 1239 near Kostroma is the most revered sacred image in the Kostroma area. When Michael Romanov was elected tsar, the icon became famous throughout Russia. It is now in the Epiphany Monastery in Kostroma. There are several early icons of the Virgin Mary from Yaroslavl, including two of Our Lady of the Tolga from the Tolga

Convent. One of them is 13th century and can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery. The other dates back to 1314 and is in the Yaroslavl Art Museum. The 1314 icon was famed for its miracle-working powers and was copied by icon-painters for many centuries.

The15th century witnessed a real flowering of art in Northeast Russia. Moscow became the leading artistic centre. The greatest Russian icon-painter Andrei Rublev worked and was buried in the city.

Andrei Rublev and his fellow painter Daniil Cherny painted the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir in 1408. The frescoes have survived with considerable losses and are partially disfigured. The main section of the extant composition shows the Last Judgement and is under the choir gallery on the west side of the cathedral.

One of the oldest Russian iconostases created by Rublev and Daniil Cherny in 1425-1427 is in the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity Monastery of St Sergius. The cathedral's present iconostatis consists of several tiers, of which the deisis, festival and prophets tiers and also the Royal Doors in the local tier date back to the time of Rublev. This splendid ensemble delights us by the inspired harmony of the image and perfect artistic treatment.

ICONS

The word "icon" is Greek in origin and means "portrait" or "image". Icons are representations of Christ, the Virgin Mary and the saints painted on wood and appeared in the early Christian period. The icon image of the saint is free of anything impure or accidental and has a special beauty. The icon is merely a projection of the divine essence on the surface of the panel, which explains why the representation is so conventional. Their function is to convey an idea, not an external appearance or a psychological state. The profoundly elaborated artistic language that developed over the centuries was intended to convey the nobility of the sacred personages in the icon, their proximity to a different reality. The faces on the icons are full of light, yet there is no source of that light. The steady shimmer of the gold background, haloes and highlights that convey the radiance of the divine light is combined with a system of applying highlights that creates the relief and the illusion that the face itself is emitting light. The first and fundamental icon of Christ is the Mandilion. Legend has it that Christ's face was miraculously imprinted on a cloth with which he wiped it. This famous miracle-working icon is mentioned by ancient historians and writers from the 5th century. The first icons of the Virgin Mary are thought to have been painted by the Apostle Luke. Dozens of icons of the Virgin Mary were attributed to him in mediaeval Russia.

Following the iconographic canon, artists painted images that were always recognisable. In strictly observing the canon (a compilation of rules and devices), they were not making copies in the modern sense of the word. An artist was able to add his own touches to the icon, in the facial expression or the colouristic and rhythmic structure. Each image bore the features of the moral strivings of its day and the national aesthetic ideal.

THE INTERIOR OF A RUSSIAN CHURCH.

Just as the type of church was taken over from Byzantium together with Orthodoxy, so was the system of arranging and decorating the interior. The arrival of the first Greek masters and the bringing of icons from Byzantium are often mentioned in the chronicles as events of great importance at that time. The most famous of all the Greek icons brought to Russia is undoubtedly the 12th-century "Our Lady of Vladimir" which subsequently became one of the most sacred relics of the Russian state (and is today in the Tretyakov Gallery's Church of St Nicholas). In mediaeval Russia, as in Byzantium, churches were decorated with mosaics (in the pre-Mongol period) or frescoes.

The oldest surviving frescoes on the territory of what was once Vladimir-Suzdalian Russia are to be found in the St Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir. The church itself was seen as a model of the universe, an image of the world, and the system of frescoes was dictated by this idea. The dome, which symbolised

heaven, usually had a representation of Christ Pantocrator (Almighty) hovering over the universe, his hand raised in blessing. He was surrounded by archangels, cherubim and seraphim singing his praises. The drum was painted with Old Testament prophets. The triangular-shaped pendentives that effect the transition from the dome to the cube and appear visually to support the dome, bore the Evangelists, thanks to whom the gospel was spread to all four corners of the world. On the vaults there were usually scenes of Christ's earthly life and parables from the gospels. Lower down, on the walls, came the Mariological cycles and events connected with the saints to whom the church was dedicated. A most important section were the frescoes in the sanctuary, the images of the holy of holies. This section was dominated by the Virgin Mary who links heaven and earth and embodies the Church on earth.

ICONOSTASIS.

From the late 14th century the iconostasis, a kind of wall of icons, began to play a particularly important role in the interior. It gradually grew higher until in the 16th century it concealed the sanctuary almost entirely from the congregation. The low sanctuary screen with a small number of icons came to Russia from Byzantium. As one of the interpreters of the symbolism of the Church of St Simeon of Salonica (15th century) wrote, the icons of the Saviour, the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist, the angels and saints arranged on the sanctuary screen symbolise Christ's dwelling in heaven with his saints and, at the same time, his presence here, among us.

The sanctuary screen gradually developed into the high iconostasis which can be seen as one of the finest creations of Russian theological thought. It embodied the full range of theological and aesthetic views. It originally consisted of three tiers, but a fourth was added in the 16th century, the prophet tier, and a fifth in the 17th, the forefathers tier. By the end of the 17th century some churches had iconostases with six, seven or even more tiers, containing icons of Christ's Passion. The iconostasis was crowned with a cross.

The top tier or row is the patriarch tier, containing the Old Testament forefathers. Immediately beneath it is the prophet tier with icons of the Old Testament prophets. The next row has the church feasts, which illustrate the fulfilment of the prophesies. And, finally, there is the Deisis tier (from the Greek word meaning "supplication") in which the saints intercede for mankind before the Saviour. There is Tzar (Holy) Gate in the centre. The system of painting in the church also has a prescribed arrangement that has developed over the centuries. The painting is intended to illustrate the Bible story and the various subjects are always arranged in a certain order. On the inside of the west wall there is traditionally a series of painting showing the famous icons.

Last Judgement. Inside the main dome is Christ the Almighty in various iconographical versions. The pillars are painted with the archangels or saints who are specially revered in that particular town.

An important role m the interior decoration of the church is played by the iconostasis, a wall of icons arranged in a prescribed order. In several cathedrals in the Golden Ring the iconostasis contains some very old and

In the middle of the bottom tier, known as the local tier, are the Royal Doors leading into the sanctuary, which are usually painted with the Annunciation at the top and the four Evangelists lower down on the panels (an older tradition has the compilers of the liturgy St John Crysostom and St Basil the Great). The Annunciation symbolised the dogma of the incarnation and marked the entrance to the sanctuary. The Royal Doors stood for the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven. In the Orthodox liturgy the faithful partake of the body and blood of Christ in front of the Royal Doors. On the right of the doors next to the icon of the Saviour is one of the feast or saint to which the church is dedicated. On the left of the doors is an icon of the Virgin and Child in different iconographical versions, usually the Smolensk, Tikhvin or Vladimir iconography. The other icons in the local row are representations of particularly revered saints and feasts that sometimes have a special connection with the town or diocese in question. As well as the Royal Doors in the local tier, there are two side doors leading to the credence table and the diaconicon (vestry) respectively in the side sections of the sanctuary. These side doors are usually painted with archdeacons and archangels as co-priests in the celebrating of the Divine Liturgy. To understand the programme of the classic iconostasis, it is best viewed from above. The top tier or row is the patriarch tier, containing the Old Testament forefathers Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Noah, Abel and others. Immediately beneath it is the prophet tier with icons of the Old Testament prophets who foretold the coming of Christ and the future salvation of mankind. The next row has the church feasts, which illustrate the fulfilment of the prophesies – the birth of Christ and his life on earth culminating in his crucifixion. All the events shown in this tier are celebrated by the church as feasts, namely, the Nativity of the Virgin, the Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ, the Epiphany, the Transfiguration, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Raising of Lazarus, the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, the Descent into Hell and the Ascension. Their arrangement in the tier is in the order in which they take place in the gospel story. And, finally, there is the Deisis tier (from the Greek word meaning "supplication") in which the saints intercede for mankind before the Saviour. So the history of mankind is represented in the iconostasis from Adam, the first day of Creation, to the Last Judgement. Each of the tiers stands for a particular period of Divine history in the establishment of the Church on earth.

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