Russian Icons 1st Edition- by Vladimir Ivanov (1990).pdf

RUSSIAN ICONS

r

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA

LIBRARIES

COLLEGE LIBRARY

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

LYRASIS

2011 with funding from

IVIembers and Sloan Foundation

http://www.archive.org/details/russianiconsOOschw

RUSSIAN ICONS

RUSSIAN ICONS FOURTEEN PLATES

IN

COLOUR

TWELVE FULLPAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

INTRODUCTION BY PHILIPP SCHWEINFURTH

IRIS

BOOKS

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS NEWYORK TORONTO

THE IRIS BOOKS EDITOR: DR. HANS ZBINDEN ALL PLATES COPYRIGHT (1953) BY IRIS VERLAG LAUPEN (BERNE) PRINTED BY THE POLYGRAPHISCHE GESELLSCHAFT LAUPEN (BERNE) SWITZERLAND SWISS EDITION: IRIS VERLAG LAUPEN (BERNE) FRENCH EDITION: LIBRAIRIE PLON, PARIS

OF THE COLOUR PLATES

LIST

PLATE

PLATE

(P. 10)

I

THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL School of Moscow, (Coll. Dr. S.

Amberg,

c.

(Coll.

Stroganov School,

c.

1600

M.Winkler, Possenhofen, Germany)

PLATE

By Andrej

School of

Moscow,

16*''

century

Paris, France)

c.

1580

Paris, France)

Moscow

School, 1425

Museum, Moscow,

PLATE X

III (P. 19)

V.Wehrlin,

Rubljev,

(National

THE VIRGIN OF KORSUN (Coll.

V.Wehrlin,

PLATE IX (P. 43) THE HOLY TRINITY

PLATE II (P. 15) THE ANNUNCIATION (Coll.

(P. 39)

North Russian School,

1550

Ettiswil, Switzerland)

VIII

THE ANNUNCIATION

Russia)

(P. 47)

ST.NICHOLAS Central Russian School, (Coll.

16^''

century

Ashberg, National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden)

PLATE XI (P. 51) THE NATIVITY

PLATE IV (P. 23) THE ASCENSION School of Moscow, 17* century (Coll.

JESUS IN

V.Wehrlin,

Paris, France)

PLATE V (P. 27) THE TEMPLE OF JERUSALEM

School of Novgorod, (Coll.

V.Wehrlin,

PLATE

IS*''

South Russian School,

c.

PLATE

PLATE VII (P. 35) THE TRANSFIGURATION A.Wegener, Essen, Germany)

XIII

Central Russia, (Coll.

1500

(P. 57)

17'*'

century

George R. Hann, Pittsburgh, USA)

PLATE

XIV

(P. 61)

THE DIVINE WISDOM Novgorod

Central Russian School, 16"> century (Coll.

c.

New York, USA)

THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN

1600

(Private Coll., Paris, France)

1400

c.

School of Moscow, (Coll. Zolotnitzky,

(P. 31)

THE CRUCIFIXION

School,

George R. Hann, Pittsburgh, USA)

PLATE XII (P. 55) BAPTISM OF CHRIST

century

Paris, France)

VI

Novgorod (Coll.

(Coll.

School,

15'*'

century

George R. Hann, Pittsburgh, USA)

OF THE

LIST

MONOCHROME ILLUSTRATIONS

PLATE 1 (P. 12) OUR LADY OF VLADIMIR Byzantine Icon, 11'^ or

12*'>

PLATE ST.

(Detail)

2

(Russian

(Russian

14t*>

(Coll.

School,

14'''

PLATE Moscow

century

(Coll.

Dr.

S.

Amberg,

School with Novgorod

Coll.

now

Coll.

(Coll. Dr. S.

Amberg,

PLATE

PLATE

1400

11 (P.53)

THE RAISING OF LAZARUS

.

School of (Coll.

Moscow,

16th century

Richard Zeiner-Henriksen

Jr.,

Oslo,

Norway)

Ettiswil, Switzerland)

6 (P. 33)

THE DESCENT FROM THE CROSS School of Dionysius, Early 16'^ century (Russian

16"' century

George R. Hann, Pittsburgh, USA)

PLATE5(P.29)

c.

Mid

(Formerly Ostrouchov Collection, Moscow,

Ettiswil, Switzerland)

School,

10 (P. 49)

School of Novgorod,

HEAD OF ST.GEORGE THE MARTYR Novgorod

century

George R. Hann, Pittsburgh, USA)

PLATE

1400

(Detail of Plate 4)

traits, 16*^

SAINTS FLORUS AND LAVEUS

THE GREAT c.

9 (P. 45)

(Formerly Tretiakov Gallery,

PLATE 4 (P. 25) ST.GEORGE THE MARTYR School,

century

THE ASCENSION

now

Novgorod

Id'!"

(Troice-Servieva Lavra, Russia)

George R. Hann, Pittsburgh, USA)

ST.BASIL

(P. 41)

Sacristy of the Lavra of St. Sergius,

Russia)

PLATE 3 (P. 21) RESURRECTION Novgorod

8

Russia)

ST.LEONTIUS OF ROSTOV

century

Museum, Leningrad,

Museum, Leningrad,

PLATE

(P. 17)

SAINT BORIS AND GLEB School of Suzdal,

(P. 37)

School of Novgorod, Early 16^ century

century

(Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia)

PLATE

7

GEORGE AND THE DRAGON

Museum, Leningrad,

Russia)

PLATE 12 (P. 59) THE SACRED FACE (OUR LORD OF THE WET BEARD) School of Moscow, (Coll.

16'''

century

Ashberg, National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden)

LIST OFTHE COLLECTIONS AND MUSEUMS CONTAINING THE ICONS REPRODUCED IN THIS BOOK Russia: National

Museum, Moscow / Russian Museum, Leningrad /Tretiakov Gallery, Moscow /Troice-

Servieva Lavra.

Europe: Dr. S.

Amberg,

Ettiswil, Switzerland

/

Ashberg, National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden

Coll.

V. Wehrlin, Paris, France / A.Wegener, Essen,

/

Germany / M.Winkler, Possenhofen, Germany /

R. Zeiner-Henriksen, Oslo, Norway.

USA:

George R. Hann, Pittsburgh

/ S.

Zolotnitzky,

New York.

References

Prof. A. J. Asinov,

Our Lady of Vladimir, Translated by Princess N. G. Yaschiwill and T. N. Rodzianko,

•Materials touching the History of Icon Painting». Seminarium Collection

of Richard Zeiner-Henriksen,

Jr.,

Kondakovakianum, Prague, 1928.

Oslo. Russian Icons of the

16*''

and

17*'' centuries.

Coloured

Plates.

N. D. Kondako'v : The Russian

Icon,

Album

of

LXV

coloured plates. Seminarium Kondakovakianum,

Prague, 1928.

All the coloured

plates,

with the exception of plate IX, which

is

reproduced from the Piper facsimile,

have been reproduced directly from the originals. In the research and the photographic greatly helped his staff for the

The

by the

Institut

work

for the

monochrome

plates the editor of this

book has been

Byzantin, Paris, and wishes to express his thanks to Prof. Ermoloff and

kind assistance which was given him by them.

iconographical notes to the coloured plates are

by Philipp Schweinfurth.

i

*F^

re-<

PLATE I THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL School of Moscow, Coll.

Dr.

S.

«The dread Vojvode leader of the

c.

1550.

2s«/i

x //vs

t'n.

Amberg, Ettiswil, Switzerland hosts of the

representation of the Archangel Michael,

Lord*

— such

crowned and

is

in full

the

title

of the apocalyptic

armour, galloping towards

the spectator on a horse shod with gold, a cloud as his stirrup and a trumpet issuing from his

mouth. In

his battle

with Satan,

who

is

tumbling into the abyss with the ruins of

he holds a lance and swings a censer with a book.

drawn.

The whole is The head and

his right

powerful in movement and vigorous in colouring, and superbly

The

of Byzantine art, since

«

it is

The

figure of Satan

is

is

its

wing, go

unusual for a

double-faced and recalls devils in medieval Western

general character of the painting points to a date about

Moscow, which

cities,

he holds up

left

neck of the horse, and more especially the shape of

back to the Sassanid peacock-dragon, the Senmurv.

work

hand, while with the

1550 and

the School of

further confirmed by the high quality of the drawing and colouring.

Michael Voyvode»

is

a church banner, painted

by a chalk ground saturated with lime. tation of the Virgin in the

On

on canvas, the web

of

which

the reverse of the banner there

Temple.

11

art.

is

is

The

concealed

the Presen-

•^

Russian Icons

NATURE AND MEANING OF THE ICONS

It is coming

to be realized

more and more clearly that the old Russian

icons belong, both in form and significance, to an artistic category of their

own. At the same time, greater efforts are being made to appreciate

and define their distinctive quality.

From

the time of

its

origins in the 11*^

to the 18*^ century, the traditional art

which could be compared * Icon,

painting

is

Greek

«

picture

»

to

and

12^^ centuries

of the icon* produced works

Western European painting

originally used both for murals

called '^ikona^ or '^obra^^, pi. ) came in rather It

was they

years ago.

underlying the painting could be executed by means

There

The

fifi:y

late, in

that gave rise to a degenerate

the 16^^ and 17*^ century.

form of the icon, in which

only those parts were fully executed on the prepared panel which

could be seen through the case -namely the faces and hands -all the rest

being covered by wrought metal. It is

part of the difference

art that local schools are

between Russian and West European

extremely

difficult to distinguish in old

Russian painting. Literary sources give very scanty information on the subject. In the chronicles, only the great screens are mentioned,

and

as screens. It

were made,

at a

was not

time

when

until

much

The

first artists'

so-called Stroganovsky School at the

The

church inventories

exact knowledge of the icons they

erated had already been lost.

17*^ century.

later that

enum-

signatures occur in the

end of the

16^^

and

in the early

extant manuals of painting are almost exclusively

48

10

PLATE

XI

THE NATIVITY Novgorod School, Coll.

The

c.

1400.

many

and contain

x /dva

details

Death

in.

USA.

George R. Mann, Pittsburgh,

Nativity, the Baptism of Christ and the

festival icons

21^12

of the Virgin belong to the twelve

The

from the Apocrypha.

Nativity,

which includes

the tidings to the shepherds and the adoration of the Magi, radiates the joy of the Christ-

mas hymns

in

which

shepherds' flutes Nativity.

The

>

;

it

is

said that the angels'

for that reason a

flute

Virgin of the Nativity, always reclining,

cave symbolizes the Passion. Joseph, sitting

message

boy playing a

at the side,

We

is

«

interrupted the sound of the

always figures in icons of the particularly graceful

see the bathing of the Child by the attendant

;

the dark

women, and

being tempted to confusion by the devil in the guise of Thyrsus

the Shepherd.

50

XI

Russian Icons confined to iconographies and technical details, and like the

Athos Painting- Book », give very

way of art

history.

little

useful information in the

There was no foundation of any kind

literature such as arose in Italy after the

Mount

«

for

an

art

Byzantine evacuation, with the

notes of Ser Ristoro d'Arezzo and Ghiberti's Commentaries, and

developed into

later

works such

of Vasari, van Mander,

as those

Sandrart or Houbraken.

The

oldest schools of Kiey, Vladimir

and Suzdal declined

after

the Tartar invasions in the middle of the 13*^ century. Novgorod, on the other hand, the Russian Florence,, which the Tartars failed to reach,

became the centre of

a great efflorescence

of the icon in a popular

Here the Byzantine models were modified, becoming more purely decorative. At the same time there existed in the 14'^'^ and 15^^ century another highly-developed school in Moscow, which followed the Byzantine models more faithfully. There can be no doubt that special workshops existed in other large Russian cities; and very vigorous

their products,

of

Moscow

style.

however, are

degenerated

ostentatious with metal

difficult to distinguish.

aft:er

the

16*^^

work and

The imperial

and 17^ centuries;

rigid in execution

it

art

became

and adopted

undigested elements of Western style which had

come

way of German and Dutch book

The contemporary

engravings.

to Russia

Stroganovsky School, however, skilfully perpetuated the tradition.

took

its

name from

its

Russian North and the

by

It

patron, Stroganov, the coloniser of the Far

initiator

of the conquest of Siberia.

The icons

of the Stroganovsky School, with a technique approaching that of miniature and a lavish use of gold, date from 1580 - 1620. After Peter

somewhat unpleasantly hybrid style through the imitation of Western models, but the old, valuable style was maintained among the peasants, who

the Great, the official art of the icon declined into a

practised the art of the icon as a kind of

52

«

cottage industry

»

in the

11

PLATE XII BAPTISM OF CHRIST School of Moscow,

c.

1500.

Coll. S. Zolotnitzky,

In

this beautifully

New

12^13

x /o'a

York,

in.

USA.

harmonious Baptism, personifications of the sea and the River Jordan

can be seen in the Jordan, freely conceived in

54

classical form.

xn

PLATE

XIII

THE DEATH OF THE VIRGIN Central Russia, Coll.

17*'' century,

j/x 23 in. USA.

George R. Hann, Pittsburgh,

In the Death of the Virgin,

we

see the figure of Jephonias,

the bier with the body of the Virgin, surrounded by the the

first

Bishop of Jerusalem.

To

who

attempted to overturn

mourning Apostles and

punish him, an angel

is

hacking

off

St.

James,

both his hands

with a sword.

56

i

XIII

Russian Icons district

of Vladimir;

the «01d Believers ».

it

was

It

also perpetuated

was from the

the subject of his famous legend:

latter that

«The

. »

58

by the persecuted

N.

S.

sect

of

Leskoff took

Sealed Angel*.

12

PLATE XIV

THE DiyiNE WISDOM Novgorod School, Coll.

The

Divine

Wisdom

15*'' century.

i6^ii'xi4

George R. Hann, Pittsburgh,

(1^ Corinthians. 1. 30)

is

an appellation given to the Son of

by the Byzantine theologians. Hence the Hagia Sophia dicated to Christ.

see

St.

On

the icons picturing the

«

in.

USA.

in

Constantinople

Holy Wisdom,

the

is

Wisdom

God

a church de-

of

God » we

Sophia, personifying an attribute of the Godhead, as an independent being, splen-

didly enthroned, robed in scarlet, with the attributes of the Byzantine Emperors, a sceptre in

her hand and a circular nimbus round her head.

To

right

and

left,

in dark robes, there

stand the Virgin holding a round shield with the figure of Christ Emanuel, and the Baptist with a scroll. «

Above

St.

Sophia appears Christ, while

at

St.

the top there

John is

the

Throne » surrounded by angels. The throne of St. Sophia is seen in perspective, in the same way as in an icon of the Novgorod School which is

Preparation of the

reversed

remarkable for the firmness of In the same

way

religious painting are

plete the picture,

as in

its

composition and

its

beautiful colouring.

Byzantine frescoes and easel pictures,

accompanied by explanatory

which only

attains

its full

effect

subject.

60

texts.

all

These solemn

icons in Russian inscriptions

by the statement in words of

its

com-

sacred

XIV

PLATES AND TEXT PRINTED BY THE POLYGRAPHISCHE GESELLSCHAFT LAUPEN (BERNE) IN

AUTUMN

1953

COLLEGE LIBRARY Date Due

Due

Due

Returned

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