Details Category: Fine arts and architecture of ancient peoples Posted on 03/20/2016 16:47 Views: 1411

In a broad sense, ancient Russian art is understood as medieval Russian art that developed from the 9th to the end of the 17th centuries.

Although the history of Ancient Russia is considered to be the history of the Old Russian state from 862 (or 882) to the Tatar-Mongol invasion (invasion of troops Mongol Empire on the territory of the Russian principalities in 1237-1240), and the history of the Russian state is a period Russian history dated 1478 or 1485 (annexation of Novgorod or Tver) and before the proclamation by Peter I Russian Empire in 1721 Old Russian art is considered in the aggregate of these two periods.

The essence of photomontage lies in its use of the physical and mechanical power of the camera and the resources of chemistry for the purpose of agitation and propaganda. When photography replaces drawing, the artist represents such and such a moment in a more realistic and lively way, and therefore with a greater degree of sensitivity to the masses.

The important thing about this substitution is that the photograph is not a sketch of a visual fact, but an exact fixation of it. This relationship, this documentary side, gives photography a power of action on the viewer that cannot be achieved with a graphic representation.

Art of the Old Russian state

urban planning

Large cities in Ancient Russia had complex defensive systems. Detinets (city center) defended itself separately. The fortifications covered a considerable territory; in case of danger, even the population of the outskirts of the city could hide behind them. Each such city was at the same time a princely residence with its own princely court. In some cities (Novgorod, Kyiv, Ryazan, Smolensk) there were also courtyards of ordinary citizens. Usually one or two streets ran along the rivers and were crossed by small streets and lanes. characteristic feature Russian city of the XI-XIII centuries. there was a mandatory presence of a church or temple. In ancient Russian cities, there were from 2-3 to several dozen churches. Monasteries could be located outside the city.

Propaganda posters, book covers and illustrations, Leninist slogans, wallpapers and red wedges called for new, stronger and more accurate methods of presentation. He needed art supported by a good technical team and he used sources of chemistry. There is no need to think that photomontage comes down to the expressive arrangement of photographs. It carries a political slogan, color and purely graphic elements.

The expressive organization of all these elements could only be realized at the level of ideology and art by a new artist - a militant specialist in the field of mass political culture, a builder with the art of photography, and who builds his composition in accordance with completely new laws in the field of technology. New building procedures became indispensable for the new elements of representation as well as for the new social order.

Archaeological Museum "Berestye", the remains of buildings
The unique archaeological museum "Berestye" in the city of Brest, opened in 1982, stores about 43 thousand exhibits. At the heart of the museum are the unearthed remains of the settlement of ancient Brest, the construction of a craft settlement of the 13th century. On the territory of Berestye, at a depth of 4 m, archaeologists unearthed streets paved with wood, the remains of buildings for various purposes on an area of ​​1118 m². The exposition includes 28 residential and utility log buildings - one-story log cabins made of logs of coniferous trees. Wooden buildings and pavement details were preserved with specially developed synthetic substances.

In the course of its history, painting has taken various forms, according to different means and methods, which have guided and become specific to each of them. In the West, fresco painting, which reached its highest level of development in the late Middle Ages and the Renaissance, is based on the application of paint on fresh or dry plaster. Another ancient variety is tempera paint, which consists of applying powdered pigments mixed with egg yolk on a prepared surface, which is usually canvas on board.

Household items (reconstruction)
Around the ancient settlement there is an exposition dedicated to the way of life of the Slavs who inhabited these places in ancient times: products made of metals, glass, wood, clay, bones, fabrics, including numerous jewelry, dishes, details of looms. Weaving looms were called "krosny".

During the Renaissance, oil painting took the place of fresco and temple; the method was traditionally thought to have been developed in the late Middle Ages by the Flemish brothers Jan van Eyck and Hubert van Eyck, but it is now believed to have been invented much earlier.

Other painting techniques are enamel, encaustic, gouache, grisay and watercolor. AT last years Use of acrylic paints, water based, fast drying and will not darken over time. Over the centuries, various methods and artistic styles occurred, as well as theories related to the purpose of art, in some cases reappeared in later times with some changes.

Belarusian krosny

Fortresses and fortifications in Ancient Russia

Fortifications played a big role in Ancient Russia. They were constantly improved depending on the historical situation and the nature of enemy attacks. Most of the fortifications and fortresses in the Old Russian state were wooden. This was enough, because. firearms did not yet exist. For the Russian fortifications of that time, the characters were a moat, city walls, a visor and an embankment.

At the opposite extreme of expressionist attempts to bring out the inner reality, there have always been artists who strive to accurately represent the outer aspects. Realism and symbolism, classical restraint and romantic passion have alternated throughout the history of painting, revealing a significant affinity and influence.

Prehistoric and ancient painting

The oldest paintings that are known were made on the walls of caves that served as a refuge for the human race thirty thousand years ago during the Paleolithic period. There are signs paleolithic art on sites Western Europe, Africa, the Sahara and the South, as well as in Australia. In some areas, such as the coast mediterranean sea, the development of painting continued into the Neolithic period.

Shafts of the Pereslavl Kremlin in Pereslavl-Zalessky
Usually, fortresses were built on a natural elevation, therefore, in many Slavic lands, city fortifications and fortresses were called "high cities". Sometimes fortifications were built near steep ravines, which made them inaccessible from different directions. In the wooded and swampy areas of Northern Russia, the fortresses were located on low hills. Wet lowlands and swamps were used as covers.
City walls were erected on shafts and consisted of gorodnitsy - wooden log cabins filled with earth. Sometimes log cabins were left empty for use as housing. At the top of the walls, wide platforms were arranged, the outer side of which was covered by a "visor". Slots were arranged in them for firing at the enemy - “boreholes”. The walls were reinforced with vezhami (towers), often on a stone foundation. Gates were made in the walls. The term "open the gates" meant the surrender of the city. In threatened places, the fortress walls were supplemented by a moat, bridges across which were built on pillars.

The paintings, preserved in the caves of Spain and in the south of France, represent bison, horses and deer with incredible accuracy. These representations are made in earth colors, composed of various powdered minerals and mixed with animal fat, egg white, vegetable extracts, fish tail and even blood; were applied with a brush of sticks and reeds, or were blown up on the wall. These paintings must have played a role in magical rituals, although their exact nature is not known with certainty.

For example, in the painting of Lascaux, France, a man appears among the animals, as well as several dark spots; although its exact meaning remains unknown, it demonstrates the presence of spiritual consciousness and the ability to express it through images, signs and symbols.

Pskov Krom (Kremlin)
Pskov Krom (Kremlin) is the historical and architectural center of Pskov and the Pskov fortress. It occupies an area of ​​3 hectares.
The initial settlement in this part of the settlement dates back to the middle of the 1st millennium. In the X-XII centuries. there were earthen (and possibly stone) fortifications and a wooden Trinity Cathedral. During the period of the Pskov Republic (XIV-beginning of the XVI centuries) the Kremlin with its cathedral, veche square and Kromsk cells was the spiritual, legal and administrative center of the Pskov land.

Over 1000 years ago, Egyptian artists began to paint the walls of the pharaohs' tombs with mythological images and scenes of daily activities such as hunting, fishing, Agriculture or a banquet. As in Egyptian sculpture, two stylistic constants prevail. First, the images, more conceptual than realistic, represent the most characteristic anatomical features, combining frontal and profile views of the same figure; secondly, the scale of the numbers indicates their importance, and thus the pharaoh is superior to his spouse, children or courtiers.

Pskov Trinity Cathedral (the first mention of it dates back to the 10th century)

The Minoans decorated realistic paintings, great liveliness, the walls of their palaces in Crete, as well as pottery. For example, the famous bull jump fresco recreates a ritual game between humans and a bull. Marine life was frequent topic, as in the fresco of the dolphin found on the walls of the palace of King Minos at Knossos, or in the vase of the octopus, a globular vessel on the surface of which octopus tentacles pulsate, which define and enhance their shape.

Except for some fragments, there are no traces of Greek frescoes. However, naturalistic representations of mythological scenes in Greek pottery can shed light on what large-format painting is. During the Hellenistic era, the scenes and motifs presented in the mosaics are also probably an echo of monumental painting, made using other methods that have not come down to us.

Vlasievskaya tower of the Pskov Kremlin
This is one of the defensive towers of Pskov. It was erected in the 15th century. It has a high tent and an observation attic. Defended the line of fortress walls at the descent to the Velikaya River.

Old Russian architecture

Old Russian architecture absorbed the traditions of East Slavic culture and the art of Byzantium and the Balkan countries. Outstanding monuments of ecclesiastical and secular architecture were created on this basis.

The Romans decorated their villas with mosaic floors and exquisite frescoes depicting rituals, myths, landscapes, still or still life paintings, and everyday scenes. Roman artists were able to create the illusion of reality using a technique known as aerial perspective, which renders the colors and contours of the most distant objects in a more blurred way to achieve spatial effects. In the excavations carried out in the cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, which were buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD, a collection of Roman paintings, both civil and religious, has been restored.

Hagia Sophia (Sophia Cathedral) is a church built in the first half of the 11th century. in the center of Kyiv. In accordance with the chronicle, at the direction of Prince Yaroslav the Wise, the temple was erected on the site of the victory over the Pechenegs in 1037. At the turn of the XVII-XVIII centuries. The temple was rebuilt externally in the Ukrainian Baroque style. Inside the cathedral, the world's most complete ensemble of original mosaics and frescoes from the first half of the 11th century has been preserved. and significant fragments of murals of the XVII-XVIII centuries.

Paleo-Christian and Byzantine painting. For example, Jesus appeared as the Good Shepherd, with the accepted figure representing the Greek god Hermes; to symbolize the resurrection, represents the story of Jonah being released from the whale, according to the Old Testament.

The stylized and elongated figures that adorn the walls of the church, which are visible almost from the front, look at the viewer with wide eyes and seem to float weightless and timeless. This small earthly presentation became characteristic of Byzantine art, and the style was associated with the Christian imperial court of Constantinople, which lasted from 330 AD. Byzantine style also appears in icons, ordinary paintings on the table, intended for worship, which represent Jesus Christ, the Mother of God and the saints.

Our Lady of Oranta (Indestructible Wall). Mosaic in the altar of the cathedral (XI century)
In 1990, St. Sophia Cathedral, like the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, became the first architectural monument on the territory of Ukraine included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.
Hagia Sophia in Kyiv is the first stone monument of architecture in Russia. The mosaics in the Hagia Sophia were made by Byzantine masters.

In the Minor Manuscript, both the underlying texts - the texts of Virgil, and the Christian writings - the Psalter of Paris - have remnants of the Greco-Roman style. Pre-Hispanic Painting in America. Allegories of the most valuable things, such as water, blood, life, serenity, are reflected in the frescoes dedicated to Tlaloc, the deity of rain and paradise offered every time he was wasted.

In addition to the codices or scenes of prehispanic life and history embodied in painted books, the wall paintings of Cacastle in Tlaxcala and Bonampac in Yucatán stand out. They featured vivid scenes of war and ceremonial scenes illuminating the drama of pain and the pride of triumph. The use of colors - as Maya's characteristic blue background - and the details, in the myriad twists and attributes of the characters' costumes that look great feathers, weaponry, jewelry, shoes, masks, lay the foundations of the fundamental foundation of American plastic.

John Chrysostom. Mosaic (XI century)
Hagia Sophia is the main Orthodox church in Veliky Novgorod, built in 1045-1050. This is the oldest church in Russia, built by the Slavs.

In the details of the Bonampak frescoes, the prisoner is seen on the stairs in one of the most perfect foreshortenings of the old painting. It is noteworthy that several centuries will pass until the cultures of America are connected with European ones, and therefore they developed without any extra-continental influence.

The art of the Middle Ages, which developed outside the Byzantine Empire and into what were the northern frontiers of the Roman world, can be classified according to its distinctive stylistic features. Minimalistic manuscripts, such as the Lindisfarne Gospels, were produced using complex linear, flat motifs that combined Celtic and Germanic elements.

The cathedral is a five-nave cross-domed temple. Temples of this type were built in Russia only in the 11th century. In addition to Novgorod Sofia, these are St. Sophia Cathedrals in Kyiv and Polotsk, as well as the Kyiv Church of Irina and George.
The temple has three apses (a lowered ledge of the building) - the central one is five-sided, and the side ones are rounded. On three sides, the central building is surrounded by wide two-story galleries.
The cathedral has five domes, the sixth is crowned with a stair tower located in the western gallery south of the entrance. Poppy domes are made in the form of ancient Russian helmets.
The cathedral was first painted in 1109, but only fragments of the frescoes of the central dome with the figures of the prophets and archangels remained from this painting, in the center between them to the Great Patriotic War located the image of Christ Pantokrator, who died from a shell hit. In the Martirievskaya porch, an ancient wall image of Equal-to-the-Apostles Constantine and Helena has been preserved. It is assumed that this image was to become the basis for the mosaic, as it was made with highly diluted paints. The main surviving painting of the temple belongs to late XIX in.

At the beginning of the Gothic period, the structure of cathedrals gave great importance windows, so stained glass played a more prominent role in art than booby-trapped manuscripts. Lay artists set up their workshops in Paris and other important centers, producing elaborate manuscripts for real clients. We have come to pictures of secular subjects made during that period, especially in Italy.

Among the many characteristics that define the painting of this style is realistic detail, which denotes the astute observation of people and nature on the part of the painter. It is one of the most important works of the International Gothic style, and its calendar pages depict peasant life and nobility; is a brilliant document on the dresses, activities and architecture of the time. Although they are full-page illustrations, they reflect the previous medieval style, in that the numbers are small and should share the reader's attention with other images.

The most famous icons of the cathedral

Icon of the Mother of God "The Sign" (XII century)

On the contrary, about a hundred years before the Limburg brothers, the Italian artist Giotto appropriated the human figure of monumental size and dignity, making it the protagonist of the story. With his work, he revolutionized Italian painting, and his discoveries, along with the work of other artists, influenced painting in the north. The artist also painted large wooden wooden altarpieces, as did many other artists of the late medieval scene.

He continued to worship the achievements of antiquity, but at the same time there was an intellectual and cultural revival. In the Exile of Paradise, his Adam and Eve are really ashamed; The pose of Eva, trying to cover her body with her hands, is based on the attitude characteristic of the classical sculpture known as the Viennese pudding.

Icon of the Mother of God of Tikhvin (known since the 14th century)
In total, more than 50 ancient Russian architectural structures of the pre-Mongol period have been preserved. Let's talk about one more of them - the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl.

Church of the Intercession on the Nerl - a white-stone temple in Vladimir region Russia, an outstanding architectural monument of the Vladimir-Suzdal school. It was founded in the 12th century. The church was consecrated in honor of the Feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God, established in Russia in the middle of the 12th century. on the initiative of Andrei Bogolyubsky.
The old masters knew how to choose the only right place for temples. The location of this temple is unique: the church is built in a lowland, on a small hill, located on a water meadow. Previously, near the church there was a place where the Nerl flows into the Klyazma (now the riverbeds have changed their position). The church was located practically on the river "arrow", making out the crossroads of the most important water trade routes.
The temple is of a cross-domed type, four-pillared, three-apse, one-domed, with arched-columnar belts and perspective portals. The walls of the church are strictly vertical, but due to exceptionally well-found proportions, they look tilted inward, which achieves the illusion of greater height. In the interior, the cross-shaped pillars taper upward, which creates an additional sense of height.

Old Russian painting

Ancient Russia, having adopted Christianity in 988, received from Byzantium not only religion, but also artistic techniques. With the beginning of the construction of temples, the production of wall paintings and mosaics began.
Pre-Mongolian painting of Ancient Russia has been preserved very fragmentarily. The most striking example is the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God.

This is one of the most revered relics of the Russian Church; the icon is considered miraculous.
According to church tradition, the icon was painted by the Evangelist Luke. The icon came to Constantinople from Jerusalem in the 5th century. under Emperor Theodosius. She came to Russia from Byzantium to early XII in. (about 1131) as a gift to the holy prince Mstislav from the Patriarch of Constantinople, Luke Chrysoverg. The icon was delivered by the Greek Metropolitan Michael, who arrived in Kyiv from Constantinople in 1130. At first, the Vladimir icon was in the convent of the Theotokos in Vyshgorod, not far from Kyiv. The son of Yuri Dolgoruky, Saint Andrei Bogolyubsky, brought the icon to Vladimir in 1155 (after which it received its current name, where it was kept in the Assumption Cathedral.) By Andrei's order, the icon was decorated with an expensive salary. After the assassination of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky in 1176, Prince Yaropolk Rostislavich removed the expensive headdress from the icon, and it ended up at Gleb Ryazansky's. Only after the victory of Prince Mikhail, Andrei's younger brother, over Yaropolk did Gleb return the icon and the headdress to Vladimir. During the capture of Vladimir by the Tatars in 1237, the Assumption Cathedral was plundered, and the salary was torn from the icon of the Mother of God. The Assumption Cathedral was restored by Prince Yaroslav Vsevolodovich. He also restored the icon
Our Lady of Vladimir. During the invasion of Tamerlane under Vasily I in 1395, the revered icon was transferred to Moscow to protect the city from the conqueror. On the site of the “presentation” (meeting) of the Vladimir icon, Muscovites founded the Sretensky Monastery, which gave its name to Sretenka Street. The fact that the troops of Tamerlane, for no apparent reason, turned back from Yelets, before reaching Moscow, was regarded as the intercession of the Virgin.
Since September 1999, the icon has been in the church-museum of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi at the Tretyakov Gallery.

Of the most ancient Novgorod icons, the icon “Angel with Golden Hair” is known, dating back to the 12th century. The icon is kept in the State Russian Museum (Petersburg).

The Ustyug Annunciation (XII century) is also one of the few pre-Mongolian icons created in Veliky Novgorod. Stored in the State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow).

The Art of Crafts in Ancient Russia

By the XII century. There were over 60 handicraft specialties. Part of the crafts was based on metallurgical production quite high level, as evidenced by the use of welding, casting, metal forging, welding and hardening of steel by artisans.
Old Russian artisans produced more than 150 types of iron and steel products. Old Russian jewelers mastered the art of minting non-ferrous metals. Plowshares, axes, chisels, tongs, weapons (shields, chain mail armor, spears, helmets, swords, etc.), household items (keys, etc.), jewelry (gold, silver, bronze, copper) were made in craft workshops .

A copy of the helmet of Yaroslav Vsevolodovich
Pottery, leather, woodworking, stone-cutting and other crafts were developed. With its products, Russia won fame in what was then Europe.

The main material for production in Russia was wood. From it they built dwellings, city fortifications, workshops, outbuildings, ships, sledges, pavements, water pipes, machines and machine tools, tools and tools, dishes, furniture, household utensils, children's toys, etc. Old Russian craftsmen knew the technical properties well and other qualities of wood of all species growing in Russian forests and widely used it. The most common were pine and spruce. Oak wood was in short supply, they tried to use it for the manufacture of products of special strength (sleigh runners, barrels, shovels, etc.). Maple and ash were widely used. Carved dishes, ladles, spoons, etc. were made from maple. Ash was used for the production of turned dishes (made on lathes).

N. Roerich "The city is being built" (1902)
Double-sided combs were made from boxwood delivered from the Caucasus.
Products made of non-ferrous metals were in great demand (women's jewelry, cult and church utensils, decorative and tableware, horse harness, jewelry for weapons, etc.). The foundry business reached a high artistic development in Ancient Russia.
Ancient Russia did not have its own non-ferrous metals, they were brought from the countries of Western Europe and the East. Gold mostly came in the form of coins. It was obtained as a result of trade or wars with Byzantium and the Polovtsians. Silver also came to Russia in the form of coins and ingots from Bohemia, from beyond the Urals, from the Caucasus and from Byzantium.

Hryvnia, bracelets, rings and temporal rings of Vyatichi. Silver. Casting, engraving (XII-XIII centuries)
In ancient Russia, fabrics were made from wool, flax and hemp. A simple linen fabric used for men's and women's shirts, towels, was called canvas and uscinka. A coarse fabric made from plant fiber for making outerwear was called votola. Of the woolen fabrics, the most common were ponyava and hair shirt, and yariga and sermyaga belonged to the coarse fabrics. Cloth was made for outerwear.

Hair shirt of Ivan the Terrible (XVI century)
Hair shirt (also sackcloth) - a long coarse shirt made of hair or goat hair; ascetics wore it on their naked bodies, to mortify the flesh.
The assortment of bone products in the 9th-13th centuries was also wide. Combs, knife handles, buttons, mirror handles, chess and checkers, bow and saddle covers, icons were cut from bone. The bones of large domestic animals, as well as the antlers of elk and deer, were the mass material for bone-cutting production. Sometimes bull horns, aurochs and walrus ivory were used. Among the bone products, a significant place was occupied by artistic crafts: the tops of staffs, patch plates on caskets and leather bags, and various gifts. Tops were made in the form of heads of birds and animals and in the form of various geometric shapes. Fantastic animals, solar signs, geometric and floral ornaments, all kinds of wickerwork and other motifs were depicted on flat overlaid plates.

Kholmogory bone carving
Pottery in Ancient Russia was also highly developed due to the presence of clay. It was widespread everywhere, but especially in cities. The dishes were produced in various capacities and shapes. They made children's toys, bricks, facing tiles, etc., as well as lamps, washstands, pots and other products. Old Russian artisans left special stamps in the form of triangles, crosses, squares, circles and other geometric shapes on the bottoms of vessels. On some pottery there were images of keys and flowers.

Old Russian pattern (tiles)

Skopino ceramics
At the turn of the IX-X centuries. there was a transition from stucco ceramics to pottery, that is, circular. Pottery wheels were made of wood, so the remains of potter's wheels and their details have not been preserved.

Glassmaking in Ancient Russia originated in the 11th century. and development reached by the XII-XIII centuries. At the beginning of the XI century. glass beads were popular. From the middle of the XI century. table glassware appears. In the first half of the XII century. glass bracelets became widespread.
The first Russian glass-making workshops appeared in Kyiv in the first half of the 11th century. in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. Perhaps the reason for this was the need to produce mosaics for the design of St. Sophia of Kyiv.

Fragments of glass bracelets

Architecture of the Moscow Principality (XIV-XVI centuries)

The transformation of Moscow into a strong political center led to a new development of architecture on the territory of the city and the principality.

Assumption Cathedral on Gorodok
White-stone four-pillar one-domed temple, a monument of early Moscow architecture. Built at the turn of the XIV and XV centuries. Inside the cathedral, murals from the beginning of the 15th century, attributed to Andrei Rublev and Daniil Cherny, have been preserved.

Saved. Icon of Andrey Rublev

The Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin is an Orthodox church located on the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin, the Patriarchal Cathedral of the Patriarch of Moscow and All Russia (since 1991).

Built in 1475-1479. under the direction of the Italian architect Aristotle Fioravanti. The main temple of the Russian state. The temple is six-pillar, five-domed, five-apse. Built of white stone combined with brick. The famous icon painter Dionysius took part in the painting.

Annunciation Cathedral (Moscow Kremlin)
The Cathedral of the Annunciation is an Orthodox church in honor of the Annunciation of the Mother of God, located on the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin. It was built in 1489 by Pskov craftsmen on a white-stone basement of the late 14th-early 15th centuries. (remaining from the old cathedral) and was originally three-domed. The cathedral was badly damaged in a fire in 1547 and rebuilt in 1564.

Saints Constantine and Elena. Fresco (1547-1551). Painting of the southeastern pillar of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin

The Faceted Chamber is an architectural monument in the Moscow Kremlin, one of the oldest civil buildings in Moscow. Built in 1487-1491. by decree of Ivan III by architects Marco Ruffo and Pietro Antonio Solari. It got its name from the eastern facade, finished with faceted "diamond" rustication, characteristic of Italian Renaissance architecture.

Architecture of the Russian kingdom (XVI century)

The adoption by Ivan the Terrible of the title of "Tsar" and the transformation of Russia into a kingdom was the next stage in the development of the Russian state and Russian architecture. In the architecture of this period, past traditions continue, but the form of a “tent” penetrates into stone architecture from wood, which is a noticeable difference in the architecture of the new period.

The most famous architectural monument of this period is St. Basil's Cathedral. Its construction continued in 1554-1560. The cathedral is on the UNESCO World Heritage List in Russia. St. Basil's Cathedral (or Intercession Cathedral) was built by order of Ivan the Terrible in memory of the capture of Kazan. The monument is one of the most recognizable symbols of Moscow and Russia.

Another well-known monument of this period is the Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye - the first stone hipped temple in Russia. Erected in Kolomenskoye in 1528-1532. presumably by the Italian architect Peter Francissky Hannibal (according to the Russian chronicles, Peter Fryazin or Petrok Maly) on the right bank of the Moskva River.
Despite the development of stone tent architecture, temples of the old type continue to be built. The Smolensky Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent (1524-1598), the Assumption Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra (1559-1585) were built according to the type of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral with five domes.

Smolensk Cathedral of the Novodevichy Convent (1524-1598)

Russian architecture of the 17th century.

Early 17th century in Russia - difficult Time of Troubles, this led to a temporary decline in construction. Monumental buildings were replaced by small buildings.

An example of such construction is the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin in Putinki, made in the style of Russian patterning, characteristic of that period. This is one of the last hipped churches.

During this period, a type of pillarless temple develops. One of the first temples of this type is considered to be the Small Cathedral of the Donskoy Monastery (1593).

Theophanes the Greek. Don Icon of the Mother of God. State Tretyakov Gallery (Moscow)
A large number of original architectural monuments of the XVII century. preserved in Rostov the Great. The most famous are the Rostov Kremlin (1660-1683), as well as the churches of the Rostov Borisoglebsky Monastery.

Rostov Kremlin

Church of St. John the Evangelist of the Rostov Kremlin (1683). The temple inside has no pillars, the walls are covered with excellent frescoes. This architecture anticipates the Moscow baroque style.
The civil architecture of Moscow almost all perished, as the wooden Moscow burned out. The ancient walls of fortified cities with towers and gates and the fences of monasteries, which, in essence, were also fortresses, have been preserved.
Among civil buildings, the Kremlin's Terem Palace occupies a special place, testifying to the great technical knowledge and outstanding taste of its architects. Built in 1635-1636. by order of Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich. These are the first stone chambers in the royal palace.

Terem Palace (view from Mokhovaya Street)
The architecture of the Terem Palace reflected not only the traditional features of Russian wooden architecture, but also the enfilade construction of the interior, which was new for that time.
The painting of the rooms of the Terem Palace was carried out under the direction of S. F. Ushakov. The interiors, built according to the enfilade principle and richly decorated, have not been preserved. They were damaged by a fire in 1812.
Currently, the Terem Palace as part of the Grand Kremlin Palace is the Residence of the President of the Russian Federation.

Cross (Cathedral) room in the Terem Palace

Armouries

Architects, painters, masters of other types of art concentrated in the Order of stone affairs and in the Armory in the Kremlin. The Armory became a kind of school where the best artistic forces united. For all Russian lands, Moscow was an indisputable authority in the field of art.
It was from the Armory that all the innovations came. Ukrainian, Belarusian, Lithuanian, Armenian craftsmen and foreign artists who were educated in Europe worked here. Here began the work of Simon Ushakov - a major Russian painter who sought to break with the traditions of ancient art.
From the end of the XV century. Moscow is turning into a center of artistic crafts, where Russian craftsmen create many monuments of art.
The Kremlin treasury was replenished by numerous foreign embassies, delivering luxurious gifts to Moscow. Already during the reign of Ivan III, the treasury grew so much that for its storage in 1485 a two-story stone building with deep cellars for jewelry was specially erected in the Kremlin.
The Kremlin treasury was plundered by the Polish interventionists in the Time of Troubles, but quickly replenished during the times of rapid economic growth and the flourishing of crafts under the first tsars of the Romanov dynasty, and under Peter the Great - at the expense of military trophies. A significant part of the valuables was the products of the masters of the leading Kremlin workshop - the Armory, to which the museum owes its name, which is located today in a building erected by architect K.A. Thon in 1844

The building of the Armory
The Armory keeps the ancient state regalia, ceremonial royal clothes and coronation dress, vestments of the hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church, the largest collection of gold and silver items made by Russian craftsmen, Western European art silver, monuments of weapon craftsmanship, a collection of carriages, items of ceremonial horse attire.

There is now great interest in ancient Russian painting in our country, and no less enormous are the difficulties of its perception by those who turn to it today. Almost everyone experiences them, both teenagers and adults, and even people who are otherwise well educated, although in Ancient Russia her painting was available to everyone. The fact is that these difficulties are rooted not just in the lack of knowledge of an individual, their reason is much wider: it is in the dramatic fate of ancient Russian art itself, in the dramas of our history.

Christianity in Russia is a little over a thousand years old, and the art of icon painting has the same ancient roots. The icon (from the Greek word for “image”, “image”) arose before the birth of ancient Russian culture, received wide use in all Orthodox countries. Icons in Russia appeared as a result of the missionary activity of the Byzantine Church at a time when the significance of church art was experienced with particular force. What is especially important and what was a strong inner impulse for Russian ecclesiastical art is the fact that Russia adopted Christianity precisely at the epoch of the revival of spiritual life in Byzantium itself, the epoch of its dawn. During this period, nowhere in Europe was church art as developed as in Byzantium. And at that time, the newly converted Russia received, among other icons, as an example of Orthodox art, an unsurpassed masterpiece - the icon of the Mother of God, which later received the name of Vladimir.

Through the fine arts, ancient harmony and a sense of proportion become the property of Russian church art, enter into its living fabric. It should also be noted that for the rapid development of the Byzantine heritage in Russia there were favorable prerequisites and, one might say, the ground had already been prepared. Latest Research allow us to assert that pagan Russia had a highly developed artistic culture. All this contributed to the fact that the cooperation of Russian masters with Byzantine ones was extremely fruitful. The newly converted people turned out to be able to accept the Byzantine heritage, which nowhere found such favorable soil and nowhere gave such a result as in Russia.

Since ancient times, the word "Icon" has been used for individual images, usually written on a board. The reason for this phenomenon is obvious. The tree served as our main building material. The vast majority of Russian churches were made of wood, so not only mosaics, but also frescoes (paintings on fresh, damp plaster) were not destined to become the common decoration of the temple interior in Ancient Russia.

With their decorative effect, ease of placement in the church, brightness and strength of their colors, icons painted on boards (pine and lime, covered with alabaster ground - gesso) were the best suited for the decoration of Russian wooden churches.

No wonder it was noted that in ancient Russia the icon was the same classical form. visual arts, as in Egypt - a relief, in Hellas - a sculpture, and in Byzantium - a mosaic.

Ancient Russian painting - the painting of Christian Russia - played a very important and completely different role in the life of society than modern painting, and its character was determined by this role. Russia was baptized by Byzantium and together with it inherited the idea that the task of painting is to "embodie the word" to embody the Christian dogma in images. Therefore, the basis of ancient Russian painting is the great Christian “word”. First of all, this Holy Bible, Bible (“Bible” in Greek - books) - books created, according to Christian doctrine, by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

It was necessary to embody the word, this grandiose literature, as clearly as possible - after all, this incarnation was supposed to bring a person closer to the truth of this word, to the depth of the dogma that he professed. The art of the Byzantine, Orthodox world - all countries within the sphere of cultural and religious influence of Byzantium - solved this problem by developing a deeply unique set of techniques, creating an artistic system that was never seen before and never repeated, which made it possible to embody the Christian word in an unusually full and clear way. picturesque image.

For many centuries, ancient Russian painting carried people, unusually brightly and fully embodying them in images, the spiritual truths of Christianity. It was in the deep disclosure of these truths that the painting of the Byzantine world, including the painting of Ancient Russia, the frescoes, mosaics, miniatures, icons, acquired extraordinary, unprecedented, unique beauty.

Over time, the art of the entire Byzantine world, and the art of Ancient Russia, fell into oblivion. The Byzantine Empire fell under the blows of the conquering Turks, the once Christian countries of Asia Minor and many Slavic states were conquered by Muslims. In these troubles, having survived the Tatar-Mongol invasion, Russia alone survived in essence. After the fall of Byzantium, it was the true center of Orthodox culture.

Oblivion, ruin befell the ancient Russian culture, including icon painting, not as a result of conquest by foreigners, but at the time of the highest rise of Russian statehood under Peter I. Peter's reforms, which turned Russia to the West, rejected cultural heritage Ancient Russia. Russian painting after the Petrine reforms, including church painting, is built on these new Western European principles. And although purely religious respect was preserved in the Europeanized, enlightened Russian society, the very differences between ancient Russian and European painting were perceived by him only as evidence of Russian backwardness and barbarism. Gradually, all this painting, like all pre-Petrine antiquity, fell into oblivion. Ancient art system in a greatly simplified form, it was preserved only in peasant icon painting, the centers of which were several “icon-painting” villages - Palekh, Mstera and Kholuy.

But, fortunately, this oblivion of the ancient national roots was not final in Russia. A hundred years after the reforms of Peter the Great, a new one, created precisely as a result of the reforms, turned to him. Russian culture, Russian intelligentsia.

Interest in ancient Russian culture caused an appeal to its painting. Already in the "History of the Russian State" Karamzin mentions ancient Russian artists, provides information about their works. They become the subject of study for historians, but the true discovery of icon-painting treasures occurred later. The fact is that the people of the 19th century simply did not really see the ancient Russian icon painting. Darkened, covered with dust and soot, frescoes and mosaics that survived in ancient temples, and icons literally became invisible - the main, most numerous part of the ancient Russian heritage. After all, not every church was decorated with frescoes and especially mosaics in antiquity, and icons were necessarily not only in every temple, but also in every house. The reason for this invisibility of the icons is in the special pictorial technique in which they were created. The board on which the icon was to be written was covered with gesso or primed fabric - canvas, and the image itself was applied with tempera primer, i.e. mineral paints. And on top of the image was covered with a layer of drying oil. Drying oil shows color well and, more importantly, perfectly protects the icon from damage. But drying oil has the ability to darken over time, and over 70-100 years it darkened so much that it almost completely hid the painting underneath. In ancient times, in Russia, they knew and used methods for removing darkened drying oil, i.e. ways of "clearing" ancient painting. But these methods were laborious, and over time, the icons began not to be cleared, but “renewed”, i.e. a new image was written over the darkened drying oil. Often, several such renovations were made on ancient icons over the centuries - in this case, the original painting was covered with several layers of inscriptions, each of which was covered with drying oil. Thus in early XIX century, by the time when interest arose in pre-Petrine culture, the icons of the 17th century were already darkening. On all the ancient icon boards, only silhouettes appeared, the contours of the images appearing through the darkened, smoked drying oil.

Among educated people there were a few people who were especially sensitive to art, who managed to feel the artistic power lurking in this blackened painting. Thus, in 1840, the historian Ivanchin-Pisarev, who sowed the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, was able to see the most valuable monument of art in the greatly darkened "Trinity" by Andrei Rublev stored there.

Until the middle of the 19th century, the general idea remained that "arts were established in our fatherland by Peter I." It was not until the second half of the century that such an idea was destroyed. Russian historical science played an important role in this. Particularly significant were the successes she made in the study of ancient literature and ancient literature. It was largely due to this that scientists of that time paid attention to ancient icon painting, which was closely connected with the word, with literature, and were able to assess the exact and deep correspondence of the icons to the literary source. The recognition of artistic significance for ancient painting, the growth of interest in it caused the appeal of wide circles of educated people to the folk environment where this painting, like all pre-Petrine antiquity, still continued to live. For iconography, first of all, such an environment was the environment of the Old Believers, the environment of schismatics, i.e. peasants and merchants, whose ancestors in mid-seventeenth centuries deviated from the Orthodox Church, not accepting some of the innovations undertaken at that time. The Old Believers cherished the ancient icon as free from these innovations, not spoiled by them, highly revered it and retained a peculiar understanding of its beauty. Communication with the Old Believers gave therefore the opportunity to get acquainted with a large number belonging to them, the icons they collected, which in itself was important, as it expanded the understanding of ancient icon painting. But what is even more important - the Old Believers learned to appreciate that “subtlety of ancient writing”, which they themselves appreciated in the icons they collected. They learned from them to see through the darkened drying oil the virtuosic accuracy of the drawing, the harmonious clarity of the composition.

At the end of the 19th century, numerous collections were formed in Russia. The most famous of them are the collections of A.V. Morozov a, I.S. Ostroukhov, in which the icons were no longer collected as ancient monuments, but as works of art. At the end of his life, the famous Tretyakov also began to collect icons, and, realizing the artistic significance of the collection of icons he had collected, he bequeathed it with his painting to the (Tretyakov) gallery.

Naturally, both the owners of icon collections and people close to them had a desire to see what was under the blackened drying oil, to see the ancient painting they had collected in its present form. At the beginning of the 20th century, cleaning of the icons was undertaken. The initiator of these clearings was I.S. Ostroukhov, who by that time was not only the owner of his own icon collection, but also a trustee of the Tretyakov Gallery. Thanks to his knowledge and experience, the performers of this work were also found. Masters-icon painters, natives of ancient icon-painting villages, were involved in it. Knowing well the technology of the icon, remembering the old-fashioned methods, they coped with the task, removed the darkened drying oil from the surface of the icons and later records - they opened the original ancient painting. From that moment began the real discovery of ancient Russian icon painting. As a result of the clearing, or restoration, as we now say, the icons appeared so new and unexpected that even experts were surprised. The myth of the "black icons" has shattered to dust.

Following the first clearings, many others followed: in private collections, museums, and temples, where, in addition, ancient frescoes began to be cleared and uncovered.

The discovery of ancient Russian painting at the beginning of the 20th century, the recognition of its artistic significance, revived the understanding of its true spiritual meaning. But on further destinies both ancient Russian art itself and its comprehension were affected by the great and formidable historical events of the beginning of the 20th century that took place in the country, the transformations as a result of the October events of 1917. The recognition of atheism as a state worldview led to the persecution of the Christian word, to its almost complete withdrawal from popular use, and for a long time made it impossible to study the spiritual meaning of ancient icon painting. It threatened the destruction of the very works of ancient Russian art. Thousands of temples were closed, many of them, including ancient icons, were destroyed.

However, the recognition of icon painting as art, integral part culture played a positive role: museums opened their doors for icons, where ancient icons collected by collectors and icons from closed temples were received. Since the post-war years, when interest in national culture began to revive, the icon as a phenomenon of this culture began to return to museum exhibitions: at first very timidly, but in the 60-80s already quite widely and openly. The processes taking place now in our society have already led to the return of the ancient icon to churches.