Old Russian icon of the Mother of God “of Vladimir”
The Moscow Tretyakov Gallery, the Kievan Caves Historical and Cultural Reserve, and the Minsk National Arts Museum are engaged in an unprecedented project to display masterpieces of iconography from their collections in an exhibition called “The Orthodox Icon of Russia, the Ukraine, and Byelorussia”. According to Lidia Iovleva, the Tretyakov Gallery Deputy Director, the exhibition gives a clear picture of common cultural sources and the uniqueness of the iconographic schools in Russia, the Ukraine and Byelorussia. The project’s top agenda, she says, is to demonstrate the spiritual and cultural commonalities of the Slavs, who once lived in one state. All followed a particular path of development and witnessed a golden age at different times. But, the idea of the display is to appeal to common traditions, which manifested themselves in the Orthodox faith with icons as its artistic expression.
Iconography arrived in Russia from Byzantium shortly after Russia was baptised in the 10th century. Even though the icon remained under the influence of the Greek ascetic tradition for many years, it absorbed the images, colours, and traditions of Russia. The pinnacle of Old Russian church art was reached in the works painted by the 15th century monk and iconographer St Andrei Rublyov, who enriched the traditional biblical scenes with a new spiritual and philosophical touch. His masterpiece, “Holy Trinity”, came to symbolise the consolidation of the Russian lands around Moscow and the strengthening of Russian statehood.
The Tretyakov Gallery is presenting masterpieces of the 14th to 16th centuries, a golden age in Russian iconography. The artworks illustrate the wide variety of medieval religious art schools in Yaroslavl, Suzdal, Novgorod the Great, Pskov, and Moscow. The Ukrainian and Byelorussian icons on display are of the 16th to 19th centuries, painted in different styles ranging from post-Byzantine to Baroque and classicism. By virtue of their historical circumstances, the iconographic traditions of the Ukraine and Byelorussia fell under the influence of Western European patterns. But, in the words of the exhibition’s curator, Nadezhda Bekenyova, these countries’ sacred painting grew out of the Old Russian tradition. The tall iconostas, which originated in Russia in the 14th century, arrived in Ukraine and Byelorussia later. It’s interesting to compare the principal images depicted on Orthodox icons, which included Christ the Saviour, the Mother of God, and the saints.
Undoubtedly, the exhibition has attracted a great number of art historians, but, its significance goes much farther, said Vladimir Prokoptsov, the Director of the National Art Museum of Byelorussia. “This unique project has cultural, political, and religious importance. Culture is a way to show politicians how to work jointly to maximum effect”. The exhibition opens its doors for the first time at the Moscow Tretyakov Gallery at the end of May, during the Festival of Slav Culture and Alphabet. It will then travel to Kiev and Minsk.
30 April 2008
Voice of Russia World Service
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=eng&q=26450&cid=62&p=30.04.2008 (in English)
