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RUSSIAN ICONS
RUSSIAN ICONS
FOURTEEN PLATES
IN
COLOUR
INTRODUCTION
BY PHILIPP SCHWEINFURTH
IRIS
BOOKS
LIST
PLATE
PLATE
(P. 10)
Amberg,
c.
(Coll.
Stroganov School,
c.
1600
PLATE
By Andrej
School of
Moscow,
16*''
century
Paris, France)
c.
1580
Paris, France)
Moscow
School, 1425
Museum, Moscow,
PLATE X
V.Wehrlin,
Rubljev,
(National
V.Wehrlin,
(P. 39)
1550
Ettiswil, Switzerland)
VIII
THE ANNUNCIATION
Russia)
(P. 47)
ST.NICHOLAS
Central Russian School,
(Coll.
16^''
century
JESUS IN
V.Wehrlin,
Paris, France)
School of Novgorod,
(Coll.
V.Wehrlin,
PLATE
IS*''
c.
PLATE
XIII
Central Russia,
(Coll.
1500
(P. 57)
17'*'
century
PLATE
XIV
(P. 61)
c.
1600
1400
c.
School of Moscow,
(Coll. Zolotnitzky,
(P. 31)
THE CRUCIFIXION
School,
century
Paris, France)
VI
Novgorod
(Coll.
(Coll.
School,
15'*'
century
OF THE
LIST
MONOCHROME ILLUSTRATIONS
12*'>
PLATE
ST.
(Detail)
(Russian
(Russian
14t*>
(Coll.
School,
14'''
PLATE
Moscow
century
(Coll.
Dr.
S.
Amberg,
Coll.
now
Coll.
(Coll. Dr. S.
Amberg,
PLATE
PLATE
1400
11 (P.53)
School of
(Coll.
Moscow,
16th century
Richard Zeiner-Henriksen
Jr.,
Oslo,
Norway)
Ettiswil, Switzerland)
6 (P. 33)
16"' century
PLATE5(P.29)
c.
Mid
Ettiswil, Switzerland)
School,
10 (P. 49)
School of Novgorod,
century
PLATE
1400
(Detail of Plate 4)
traits, 16*^
THE GREAT
c.
9 (P. 45)
century
THE ASCENSION
now
Novgorod
Id'!"
ST.BASIL
(P. 41)
Russia)
Russia)
ST.LEONTIUS OF ROSTOV
century
Museum, Leningrad,
Museum, Leningrad,
PLATE
(P. 17)
(P. 37)
century
PLATE
Museum, Leningrad,
Russia)
16'''
century
Servieva Lavra.
Europe: Dr. S.
Amberg,
Ettiswil, Switzerland
Coll.
USA:
/ S.
Zolotnitzky,
New York.
References
Prof. A. J. Asinov,
of Richard Zeiner-Henriksen,
Jr.,
16*''
and
17*'' centuries.
Coloured
Plates.
Icon,
Album
of
LXV
Prague, 1928.
plates,
is
The
by the
Institut
work
for the
monochrome
Byzantin, Paris, and wishes to express his thanks to Prof. Ermoloff and
by Philipp Schweinfurth.
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re<i.5S*
II,'
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PLATE I
THE ARCHANGEL MICHAEL
School of Moscow,
Coll.
Dr.
S.
c.
1550.
2s/i
x //vs
t'n.
Lord*
such
crowned and
is
in full
the
title
of the apocalyptic
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
drawn.
The whole is
The head and
his right
The
it is
The
figure of Satan
is
is
its
wing, go
unusual for a
Moscow, which
cities,
he holds up
left
work
1550 and
the School of
Michael Voyvode
is
On
of
which
Temple.
11
art.
is
is
The
concealed
the Presen-
Russian Icons
It is coming
to be realized
own. At the same time, greater efforts are being made to appreciate
From
the time of
its
painting
is
Greek
picture
to
and
12^^ centuries
13
down
and
easel pictures.
The
as
long as
Russian religious
PLATE II
THE ANNUNCIATION
Stroganov School,
Coll.
The
as
M. Winkler,
salvation of
1600. i2Vi x
world , for
St.
the
it
unto
Luke provided
New
Annunciation
of the
me
too
little
in the
Apocrypha. Although
Thus
12"'- century
Gospel of
life
it
of the
The
10*1*. in.
Germany
Possenhofen,
its
man. At
c.
St.
James. Here
the Annunciation begins with the Prologue in Heaven, the sending forth of the Archangel
Gabriel by
God
Virgin in order to
mission.
Then,
the well.
The
answers
it.
make
still
invisible,
he speaks to the
This
The supreme
The
is
The
left
is
is
frame
is
The
a back-
wrapped
raised
in a great
stars
Holy Ghost
shawl
known
as a
falls
from the
arc of
Heaven,
The
movement on
in dramatic
Three gold
ray of the
divine
fulfil his
which
architectural motives
is
is
figures. Gabriel
is
she
startled Virgin as
messenger.
first
period.
all,
is
The
as a
with great effect on the pale yellow and pink of the background, are arranged with great
taste
and
skill
set off
by the
14
silver of the
frame.
Russian Icons
Romanesque
the
style
with the
rise
succeeding centuries
deepened until
it
it
12^*^
set in
century. In the
by Piero
della
To
of affairs,
we must
look back
and West.
Before they came into contact with the Church, the only form
of
art familiar
West was
come down
to us
The
in the figures
of the Church
saints. It
was these
figures,
suddenly
new
of the
West European
between a
image
it
arises
in the Eastern
from the
16
poor in
spirit,
PLATE III
THE VIRGIN OF KORSUN
School of Moscow,
Coll.
The
ancient
became the
fact that St.
Greek
x. y'^i*.
in.
Vladimir had been baptized and married to one of the Emperor's daughters
there in 988, In later times, ancient ritual objects, and especially icons believed to be very
old,
kaja,
i.
e. of
as
Korsun, continued
The
adjective <korsuns-
to
of those venerable originals, in particular certain types of icon in which the Virgin
is
re-
The Mother
is
of
is
the
art.
Church,
is
is
elevated above
no
God,
all
saints
in tunic
The
and cloak
like
Church
incarnate
Logos
an adult and
is,
in the
as a rule,
18
-4
V7
in
Russian Icons
since they could take the place of the written scriptures for the
illit-
erate mass. Five centuries later, Bonaventura, the Franciscan, said the
it
ginning of independent
artists
had been,
for the
who
them, and
most
way on
laymen (Bonnano
part,
explicitly des-
of affairs
liturgist,
civis Pisanus).
must be granted
the
who made
to the
state
Bonnanus
in the
left
who
adorn
in the East
The Emperors
now on the other,
state
now on one
side,
been declared null and void, but the iconolaters already triumphed
in the Eastern
20
*-'-^;."-;-
PLATE IV
THE ASCENSION
School of Moscow,
if^century. 28
x.
2 nit.
in.
Coll.
is
represented in an unvarying
iconographical scheme, the earliest exrarhples of which are to be seen in the Rabula Gospel
600.
Humble
Ampullae
utmost
historical importance.
They
are small
flask.
They
contained the
oil,
believed
be miraculous and healing, from the lamps which burned perpetually in the sacred places
of Palestine.
number
Monza, which
tin,
of
of
gifts,
in the
Lombard
number
of
at the exhibition of
Cathedral treasury
art
monumental
Queen
Monza.
at
little
by Constantine and Theodosius, which were destroyed in the Persian and Arab invasions
of the 7"* century.
The Ascension
icon derives, by
way
of a Byzantine model,
type, the difference being that the Virgin, symbolizing, in the midst of the Apostles, the
earth,
Russian
artist
is
is
is
introduces a decorative motive in the rugged rocks which form the back-
ground, in which
felt.
In the two angels he has the opportunity of setting off the beautiful white of classical
painting in contrast to the sonorous group of the Apostles, the crimson of the Virgin,
is
shod.
22
IV
Russian Icons
work of
the
St.
to
The image
vacillated.
who
inter-
The
East,
Theodore Studites as a new chapter in ChristoSince the image stands witness, no less than Scripture, to the
Damascene and
logy
St.
human
by the Incarnation,
it
was held
its
to be as sacred as Scripture.
position if
it
guarantee of
its
and treatment,
proved
The
its title
But the
to sacred-
in
lity
figure as sanctified
it
effects
the Divine* could convey to the beholders the mystery of the Incarnation,
and sense
a higher
In these circumstances,
icon
is
it is
hardly to be wondered
Western
artist
features.
at if the
Russian
picture.
24
The
The
PLATE V
JESUS IN THE TEMPLE AT JERUSALEM
School of Novgorod, 75'* century. 2iyt x
Coll.
77
tn.
remarkable 15* century icon from Novgorod shows the twelve-year-old Jesus in the
Temple
at
What
first
scribes, to
strikes the
which
eye
is
the
added, very
is
The
without transition,
youthful Jesus
is
scarlet,
The
seat
is
enthroned goes
back to the semi-circular, stepped seat of the bishop and clergy in the apse of churches,
and
is
in a
a huge, tower-like structure sets off the figure of Jesus, which stands out against
colour.
The
is
Holy
its
of Holies.
light
red
curtain and a green roof continue the red-green contrast of the lower half of the picture,
but
its
the
skill
rich
vivacity
is
mosaics in fact
;
Jesus in
we
can see
and sensitiveness of the School of Novgorod, which largely simplified the extremely
its
it
way
this
icon
it
we
comes out
it is
in the School of
Novgorod,
in the
two groups
of scribes
which
actually descends
from them,
in the
same way as
26
Russian Icons
more the
vital
and enquiring
more
it
spirit
painting,
alienated
from
its
religious purpose.
The
its
faithful to its
It
its
religious
purpose. Secular painting, which began under Peter the Great and
his
of imports.
The
It
at first
was responsible
works of
had met
in
k:kst thing
ordinary
artistic aspect,
closely,
and ende-
Church,
art,
objects.
The
to
whom
he
artistic instinct
of those
who made
Thus
icon was
in 1924,
and
vitality,
and hence
to the
28
'^""
^1%
r^
t
.>
F
i^Bu
r^
'.
PLATE
VI
THE CRUCIFIXION
South Russian School,
c.
1600. 18 x 14
in.
its
beautiful rhythm,
the Apostle John, here figured as a youth, and the faithful centurion at the foot of the Cross.
30
VI
Russian Icons
governing the moving figure (which even gave Diirer trouble) everything
is
come
models.
and
15**^
Thus we
centuries, in close
find in the
Pompeiian
frescoes,
is
and which
is
(c.
is
1360-1430),
so beautiful a
works of
art,
first
in 1910,
It
may
rarity
Here we can
the West, even in
as
realize
its
how
different old
Russian
art is
from
that of
32
it.
'^
PLATE
VII
THE TRANSFIGURATION
Central Russian School, 1 6** century. 63 x 5 j
Coll.
In the 14
whether the
created
^'^
century,
light
when
the
fall
of Constantinople
was not
question
in.
it
victory of those
could be
made
torrent of light
34
who
visible
this
had
was expressed
its
in the icons
by the
VII
Russian Icons
Archdeacon
Paul of Aleppo,
Makarios of Antioch, on
Patriarch
Whether
as
it is
in the
Near East
where
as
many many
is
as
never so huge
80 icons
may
It
36
-^*f
PLATE
VIII
THE ANNUNCIATION
North Russian,
Coll. V.
The
c.
1580. 2 nit x
icon of the Annunciation with the antique velum stretched across the background,
shows
771/a in.
a deviation
38
red,
VIII
Russian Icons
one being called the Royal Door, because Christ the King
largest
it
is
it
lit.
Then
it is
which
opened,
gist
from the
St. John
to the tongs
altar
which was
of Isaiah.
There
which
are
The
last
as the
icons.
is
may
be as
much
in proportion to
There
are smaller, portable screens with folding panels for domestic devo-
The
His
left,
to
His
right, St.
St.
Paul, in the
40
same
as
On
Enthroned
St.
attitude.
To
these seven
PLATE IX
School,
1425. 5<$V3x
National Museum,
^<^'/4 in.
Moscow
Andrej Rubljev's Trinity icon, painted about 1425, derives directly from Byzantine
models.
of the
states
thatRubljev painted
copies of
it
who
Abraham
visited
in the plains of
Hundred Chapters
at
Moscow
declared
it
art.
The
With
this
to
art,
many
of the
in the original.
In 1425,
all
future
as the
Mamre,
Mamre. None
this
but from the personages in the picture, and goes back to classical painting.
Nothing could be more misleading than the comparison between Rubljev and Fra
Angelico, which
art.
Rubljev
Byzantine
art
art historians
well versed in
West European
The
common to
to his
own
42
practice.
IX
Russian Icons
which must always occupy the seven
figures,
screen, others
may
The whole
is
Russian deisus or
tchiriy
hierarchy).
":
row of
series
prayer or intercession,
left,
decisis^
The
Russian Gbspodipomilut)
in
separate icons
of the
central panels
it,
of the
festivals
come
Adam
to
Under
the deesis
comes the
fifth,
it
into
the church
is
dedicated, or to
Thus Andrej
district.
saints or
which
church
special veneration
is
which
festivals to
is
paid in the
on the
near
The
is
wooden
picture space,
The
is
its
above the
portrait painting,
turn overlaid with dark green; on this the faces are modelled
The
rise
of wood
same
Moscow.
is
is
space
on
Here, beside icons of Christ and the Virgin, there are the so-
ciation.
name
is
is
is
the
medium;
Ixvened with
44
in the shadows.
made
[ I
f 13
J'\
!?
V I
Ki ij
PLATE X
NICHOLAS
ST.
i6 *^ century. g2 x 6g in.
Coll. Ashberg, National Museum, Stockholm, Sweden
Central Russian,
is
one
of the
in his life
most venerated
saints in Russia.
He
is
46
sea, for
which reason he
is
the
Russian Icons
which replaces intoxicating liquor during fasts. In addition to the darkgreen ground, the ochre, the various shades of red vermilion, scarlet
When
varnish
and
a bluish
dark purple.
(olifa)
of boiled linseed
at first
later,
Where no
disappeared.
which
oil,
eflfect.
This
became indistinguishable
in time.
when
The drawing
of a
stencil.
century.
was they
years ago.
There
The
fifi:y
late, in
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
extremely
and
as screens. It
were made,
at a
was not
time
when
until
much
The
first artists'
The
church inventories
17*^ century.
later that
enum-
end of the
16^^
and
in the early
48
10
PLATE
XI
THE NATIVITY
Novgorod School,
Coll.
The
c.
1400.
many
and contain
x /dva
details
Death
in.
USA.
festival icons
21^12
The
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
flute
message
boy playing a
at the side,
We
is
the dark
women, and
the Shepherd.
50
XI
Russian Icons
confined to iconographies and technical details, and like the
way of art
history.
little
Mount
for
an
art
developed into
later
works such
as those
Sandrart or Houbraken.
The
after
a great efflorescence
their products,
of
Moscow
style.
however, are
degenerated
difficult to distinguish.
aft:er
the
16*^^
work and
The imperial
rigid in execution
it
art
became
and adopted
come
The contemporary
engravings.
to Russia
took
its
name from
its
by
It
initiator
The icons
somewhat unpleasantly hybrid style through the imitation of Western models, but
the old, valuable style was maintained among the peasants, who
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.
54
classical form.
xn
PLATE
XIII
17*'' century,
j/x 23 in.
USA.
we
first
Bishop of Jerusalem.
To
who
attempted to overturn
is
hacking
off
St.
James,
with a sword.
56
XIII
Russian Icons
district
of Vladimir;
it
was
It
also perpetuated
latter that
The
58
by the persecuted
N.
S.
sect
of
Leskoff took
Sealed Angel*.
12
PLATE XIV
The
Divine
Wisdom
15*'' century.
i6^ii'xi4
is
see
St.
On
in.
USA.
in
Constantinople
Holy Wisdom,
the
is
Wisdom
God
a church de-
of
God we
didly enthroned, robed in scarlet, with the attributes of the Byzantine Emperors, a sceptre in
To
right
and
left,
stand the Virgin holding a round shield with the figure of Christ Emanuel, and
the Baptist with a scroll.
Above
St.
at
St.
John
is
the
Preparation of the
reversed
way
as in
its
composition and
its
beautiful colouring.
accompanied by explanatory
which only
attains
its full
effect
subject.
60
texts.
all
These solemn
icons in Russian
inscriptions
its
com-
sacred
XIV
AUTUMN
1953
COLLEGE LIBRARY
Date Due
Due
Due
Returned
Returned
"
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