Phenomenon of Christian Art Through the Prism of Ancient Russian Art (original) (raw)
The Russian- Orthodox icon painting and its repercussions on the Russian art of the 20 th century
Edebiyat Fakultesi Dergisi, 2007
The paper aims to introduce an art historical phenomenon, which appears in Russia in the beginning of the 20th century. The early years present plurality of art movements in Russian and in Europe. Efforts have been made to constitute a true art of Russia. To do so, the traditional/religious art and folk art, mainly of the peasants, were reconsidered. The accumulation and study of works of folk art already began by the mid-19th century. By this time, an increasing interest had emerged concerning icons and folkloric elements, found in arts and crafts. Kasimir Malevich, Marc Chagall, Vladimir Tatlin are among the leading figures who vigorously defended a re-investigation of these art forms. They elaborated genuine features of icon painting and adapted to their contemporary art conceptions and compositions. Accordingly these leading figures are to be mentioned in brief. Russian Avant-garde artists, Constructivists, Suprematists with their non-objective art show re-percussions of traditional particularly religious art modelled after the Byzantine tradition.
The paper aims to introduce an art historical phenomenon, which appears in Russia in the beginning of the 20th century. The early years present plurality of art movements in Russian and in Europe. Efforts have been made to constitute a true art of Russia. To do so, the traditional/religious art and folk art, mainly of the peasants, were reconsidered. The accumulation and study of works of folk art already began by the mid-19th century. By this time, an increasing interest had emerged concerning icons and folkloric elements, found in arts and crafts. Kasimir Malevich, Marc Chagall, Vladimir Tatlin are among the leading figures who vigorously defended a re-investigation of these art forms. They elaborated genuine features of icon painting and adapted to their contemporary art conceptions and compositions. Accordingly these leading figures are to be mentioned in brief. Russian Avant-garde artists, Constructivists, Suprematists with their non-objective art show re-percussions of traditional particularly religious art modelled after the Byzantine tradition.
This text tries to draw a general view of the development of the Christian Orthodox art in the 16 th and 17 th centuries. The author represents in brief the main monuments and artists during the above period on the Balkans as well as the interactions between different cultures in historical context. Special interest is given to the art appeared on Mount Athos and the role of Patriarchate of Constantinople as a political and spiritual factor in the Ottoman empire and their influence in the Trans-Danubian principalities. Most of the existing bibliography on this subject is presented and analyzed. In his critical reading of the available publication E. Moutafov suggests for instance that it is more accurate to speak about Cretan painters on Mount Athos, rather than about the presence of a Cretan school in the artistic processes there. On the hand, when
The Mystery of the Bulgarian Church Paintings Touching God; book presentation by prof. Valeria Fol
This book is the first attempt ever made to present the Bulgarian church paintings in their original theological context as well as in the broader comparative perspective of the iconography characteristic of the East and the West The chosen approach, which seeks to construe the religious topics and their respective iconographic interpretations in their logical interconnection, prevents fragmentation which is otherwise inevitable if emphasis is laid on individual images, scenes, festive cycles, eras or regions. The comparison, both diachronic and synchronic, allows for displaying, with maximum clarity, the common traits in the Christian art in general, the specific traits of the Orthodox iconography – which sphere includes rarely studied traditions such as the Ethiopian, Syrian, Romanian, Georgian and Armenian – and the unique Bulgarian features in the depiction of certain Biblical stories, theological concepts or apocryphal (and indeed, heretical) topics. The main instrument through...
This paper is an attempt to highlight and reflect on several interrelated issues that seem to be very important in terms of working out a relevant theological approach to the wide variety of artistic expression, particularly as far as theoretical aesthetics is concerned. I shall focus on some most characteristic ideas developed in 20 th century Russian religious philosophy that may appear to be significant not only for the Orthodox tradition of spirituality and thought in which they are rooted, but for other Christian traditions as well. As for the Russian Orthodoxy, it should be pointed out from the very outset that the relationships between theology and art have always been rather uneasy, and in fact confined to the theology of church arts, icons in particular. Based on the teachings of the Saint Fathers, the Russian Orthodox tradition has always been extremely rich in artistic creativity within the sphere of church arts; however, up to the present moment it has been quite reluctant in acknowledging deep spiritual dimensions of secular arts. There were, of course, many attempts towards religious evaluation of literature, painting, music or poetry, but the gap between " sacred " and " secular " art has always been present and articulated by the Church. I would not say, however, that it is typical of the tradition as such; rather, it was historically and, in some cases, spiritually determined, inasmuch as the primary concern of the Church is to keep people away from the temptations of the flawed world. The tradition, however dominated by certain prescribed norms or rules, is an " open system " , and its evolution is characterized by a dialectic of the canonical and the heuristic principles, the static and the dynamic. In Russia, it was not until the beginning of the 20 th century that the theoretical heritage of Orthodox iconology started being philosophically and aesthetically deepened and in some ways reassessed in the works of a number of prominent thinkers, so that it became possible to consider the challenge of overcoming the traditional gap between " religious " and " non-religious " spheres of creativity by means of developing a fundamental theoretical basis for the interpretation of art. In the present-day Russia, with the growing interest in theological evaluation of art and literature, this is one of the most crucial issues, as well as it has been in the West. The following observations, though covering just a few general and purely theoretical points, might provide, I hope, an outline of what could be called iconological thought in Russian religious aesthetics, how I view it, both rooted in and different (in terms of subject and treatment) from what is known as the theology of Icon. 1. Image/Icon as a Category of Religious Consciousness This is something that would, perhaps, seem quite natural to Western thought, whereas, for some reason, it is not a common way of reflecting upon the icon in Russia. In fact, the image has always been one of the central categories of Orthodox religious consciousness, a category linking together theology, aesthetics and anthropology. The concept of the Divine image that constituted the basis of understanding personal relationship between God and man was, at the same time, the major idea underlying patristic iconology: an icon is always an expression of the Divine image as an ontological reality present in human nature. However, the question arises: how is such an expression possible? From the very beginning, the image (εικων) has, therefore, two inseparable dimensions: ontological and epistemological, i.e. the nature of the image as revelation of the Divine is accounted for by the fact that it is an immanent structure, or category, of consciousness; and vice versa: cognition and experience of the Divine through the image is possible only because its ontological nature is asserted. It was precisely the categorical aspect of the image that Fr. Pavel Florensky, one of the greatest Russian religious thinkers, stressed in his
Roczniki Humanistyczne, 2019
Vladimir the Great's Baptism of Rus' in 988 has opened a qualitatively new chapter in the history of the Eastern Slavonic state; this event accelerated the Christianisation of Old Rus' which took on a dual character: symbolic and practical. The symbolic aspect has crowned Rus' long-term multilayered contacts with Christianity, while the practical one has normalized relations with the Byzantine Empire and initiated the ripening of an Eastern Slavonic way of religious feeling. The adaptation to Christianity among different strata went at different speeds according to their literacy, habits, and temper. Elite, unlike the commons, was the most receptive to changes. The cultural and social changes that have reached the Old Rus' under the influence of Christianity differed from those that had taken place in the Roman Empire in their kind, scope and pace. Constantinople and Rome have had centuries of philosophical, political and artistic tradition, while Kiev relied among other on the tradition of solar and ancestral cults, and on the spread of fortified towns. In Constantinople and Rome the dissonance between pagan and Christian aesthetics played into the hands of the pagan culture, while in Kiev the cultural gap was so extensive that it rendered any comparison point
The Esoteric Christianity and Artistic Language of Alexander Ivanov
A. Simsky. The Esoteric Christianity and Artistic Language of Alexander Ivanov // History of Art and Rejected Knowledge: From the Hermetic Tradition to the 21st Century. Proceedings ..., p. 206-217, 2018
Alexander Ivanov (1806–1858) was a Russian academic artist who spent the larger part of his career in Rome working on a large-scale canvas entitled “The appearance of the Messiah”. Before embarking on this endeavor, however, he first had to complete a smaller painting, a representation of “Noli me tangere” (1835), which was received with great acclaim in Saint Petersburg. During the last decade of his life he started a major project entirely of his own, namely a large set of sketches for murals which covered all the important episodes of the Gospel, together with theologically linked Old Testament stories. These sketches, which evinced a novel artistic language, are collectively referred to as the Biblical Studies. In this paper, I shall put forward an account of Ivanov’s spiritual journey, which led him to the creation of this vibrant epic, filled with light and magic.
The Icon of Resurrection: the Transformations in the Russian Art of the 16 th-17 th Centuries
The article deals with the problem of Easter iconography. The changes that have taken place in the Russian art of the 16 th-17 th centuries are examinated. During this time, new samples for Russian icon painters have appeared. These are Western European engravings and Bibles with illustrations. The images from there are borrowed by Russian artists. This is how an engraving is copied from the cycle of illustrations of the Apostolic Creed. This creed is different from the Orthodox one. The fifth illustration includes dogma, that is not named in the Orthodox creed. There are different stages of image change. They correspond to the understanding of engraving by Russian icon painters. Firstly, the icon painters interpret the engraving and arrange the images differently from the composition of the engraving. Secondly, they create icons as an exact copy of the engraving. Finally, they create a multi-figure image with a central dominant. This new image is associated in culture with the ancient image of Anastasis, or rather, it is defined as its detailed version. Therefore, the ancient icon of Anastasis is connected with a new context. This makes it difficult both to understand the icon and the history of the "Descent into Hell" image. Only by taking into account the transformation of the icon can we talk about the meaning of the ancient image.
About Conservation and Innovation in Orthodox Ecclesial Art
2009
History is often hidden by appearances as well as by insignificant details of reality, of the present. That’s why a thorough research of every ‘stone’ of the history’s ‘wall’ is always necessary, in order to reveal the real cultural values behind the shadowed corners. The discovery of the 18 Century Image of the ‘Virgin Mary Hodighitria’, hidden beneath another religious image, but without any style (probably from the beginning of 20 century), represents an example of the above. In another hypostasis, a 19 century icon of ‘Oranta Virgin Mary’ is an edificatory example of the evolution and the influences the religious painting has supported, by adding a human reflection to Virgin Mary and Jesus faces. We face a optimistic ‘drop’ of human being, magisterially mixed with the sacred being, that came to life by the inspired and creational gesture of the icon painter. In the first case we find an intentional hiding of a cultural value from some dangers, or it can be purely ignorance. In t...
Diakrisis. Yearbook of Theology and Philosophy, 2021
The aim of this article is to present a personal reflection regarding the theoretical/philosophical relation between the generally accepted theological grounding of icon painting and other contemporary artistic endeavours to integrate the religious feeling-of Christian-Orthodox inspiration. This reflection is based on a mixture of ideas from different thought-frameworks which have as common ground the need for speculating on issues such as 'tradition understanding', 'personal expression', 'art and religiousness', exactly those key-themes that are constituting the fundamental threads of my argumentation. Hence, my appeal to authors like Lucian Blaga, Leonid Uspensky, Martin Heidegger, Paul Evdochimov, and Christos Yannaras. The point of departure for my study is the powerful and unavoidable conflict between the need for personal artistic interpretations of religious themes-expressed through contemporary artistic techniques and the application of contemporary metaphysical modelings-and the need for attaching oneself to an 'authentic' tradition of religious experience and to a community with deep roots in history. My all-round thesis is that this conflict cannot be, at least, clarified by choosing, from the artistic point of view, between two extremes: contemporary secular art on the one hand, and sacred, canonical art on the other hand, but by finding conceptual common pathways.
Paintings Beyond the Boundaries of the Canon: Bulgarian Churches and Monasteries XVII – XIX Century
Venets: The Belogradchik Journal fоr Local History, Cultural Heritage and Folk Studies , 2015
Traditions in the decoration of Christian temples on the Bal-kans are largely related to strictly established rules, deriving from Byzantium and developed in the theological ranges in the empire. The holy fathers like John of Damascus and Theodore the Studite announced themselves in defense of veneration of the icons (overcoming the crisis of persecution), something more – their theological insights and logically consistent studies give the possibility to artists to express their feelings and conceptions but taking into consideration the ecclesiastical rules – canons. The article explores process of breaking the boundaries of canon set by Church Fathers as a result of unpreparedness, ignorance and total aesthetic decline after Ottoman invasion. It is appeared various levels of naive art and breaking of the canon established
Palladian Tradition of Studying Christian Architecture in the Art History Heritage of Nikolay Lvov
SWS International Scientific Conference on Arts and Humanities - ISCAH, 2021
The overall theoretical problem of the study is systematization of art history methods and approaches involved in description and analytics of ancient Christian architecture within the frame of the European XVI–XVIII centuries aesthetic thought. The specific challenging issue the article addresses is the role of Palladian art history and art criticism tradition played in formation of national school of Christian architecture studies and architectural art criticism in Russia. The object of the study is the heritage of art history investigations, performed by Russian architect, polymath and art-lover Nikolay Lvov, the author of the album “Moscow Antiquities” (1797), based largely on the example, principles and patterns found in the famous “L’Antichità di Roma” by Andrea Palladio (1554). The hypothesis of the study is that Nikolay Lvov used creatively Andrea Palladio’s art history and art criticism methods for conducting personal original research and implementation of his own enlightenment program for Russia. The confirmation of this hypothesis would provide evidence of the impactful influence of Palladio’s book in the context of development of studies of Christian sanctuaries as well as attraction of public interest to local Christian sanctuaries. The main objective of the study is to define the role of Palladian art history and art criticism tradition in Nikolay Lvov’s attempt to reconstruct medieval Moscow architecture as well as to assess consequently the influence of Nikolay Lvov’s heritage on developing scientific studies of architecture history and public awareness of Christian sanctuaries in Russia. The research design is based on a complex approach to the net of phenomena under study. The methods involved in the study include multimodal analysis and interpretation of historic data as well as historical reconstruction. The results of the investigation reveal the decisive role of “L’Antichità di Roma” by Andrea Palladio in establishing the public interest in the archeological, historic, aesthetic and culturological study of local sanctuaries both in Western Europe and Russia. The Palladian art history tradition stipulated a suite of various enlightenment projects and popular educational editions, dedicated to Christian and national architectural and cultural heritage, a valuable part of which was represented in “Moscow Antiquities” by Nikolay Lvov.
Visual Thought in Modern Orthodoxy: Art History as Theology
Journal of Visual Theology / Визуальная теология, 2023
In this paper I will discuss the visual category of "reverse perspective", i. e., the principle of constructing pictorial space in the icon. I will show that in Russia one of the most basic terms in Western art history, i. e., perspective, was thoroughly reworked, even turned on its head as suggested by the terminology, in order to serve a project of modern Orthodoxy. The main proponent of the theory of "reverse perspective" was Florensky, who in his essay of that title, written in 1919, uses several different definitions of the term. In the first section of the paper, I will mention briefly six such definitions, all of which are still current in contemporary scholarship. In the second and third sections, I will suggest a possible theologically-grounded elaboration of one of Florensky's ideas of what constitutes "reverse perspective". According to the interpretation proposed here, "reverse perspective" becomes the visual analogue of two basic Christian dogmas-that of a timelessly eternal God and that of "theosis" or "deification". In the last section, I will give a short background to the relationship between art history and theology, which lies at the heart of my approach.
Jesus in History, Thought and Culture, 2003
A brief account of the evolution of the image of Jesus in Russian culture and thought from the beginning of Chrisgianity until 2000s.