How the ancient Vladimir icon of the mother of God lives in the temple. Old Russian art

These icons have protected Russia for centuries. They stopped armies, healed the sick, and saved them from fires.

1. Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God

According to legend, the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God was painted by the evangelist Luke himself. It was brought to Russia at the beginning of the 12th century as a gift to Prince Mstislav.

The icon was recognized as miraculous after it three times withdrew the invaders from Moscow.

Now the icon is in the church-museum of St. Nicholas in Tolmachi at the Tretyakov Gallery.

2. Icon "Trinity"

The famous icon "Trinity" was painted by Andrei Rublev in the 15th century for the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral. Over the 600 years of its existence, the icon has been renovated five times, but after the restoration in 1919, the author's layer was rediscovered.

Now the icon is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

3. Kazan Icon of the Mother of God

The Kazan icon of the Mother of God was found on the ashes in 1579 after the Mother of God appeared three times in a dream to the girl Matrona. Today, the Kazan Icon of the Mother of God is one of the most popular in Russia. It is believed that it was her patronage that helped Pozharsky's militia to expel the Poles from Moscow.

Of the three miraculous lists, only the St. Petersburg one has survived to our time, now it is stored in the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg.

4. Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God

It is generally accepted that the Tikhvin Icon of the Mother of God was found in Tikhvin in 1383. The icon is revered as miraculous. According to legend, it was her intercession in 1613 that helped save the Tikhvin Assumption Monastery from the invasion of the Swedes.

Now the icon of the Tikhvin Mother of God is in the Tikhvin Assumption Monastery.

5. Smolensk Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos

The Smolensk Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos was brought to Russia in the 11th century. Many miracles were attributed to her, including the salvation of Smolensk from the invasion of Batu Khan in 1239.

There are many copies of the Smolensk icon, but the prototype was lost during the occupation of Smolensk by German troops in 1941.

6. Iberian Icon of the Mother of God

The Iberian icon in the 9th century was kept in the house of a pious widow, who saved it from destruction by lowering it into the sea. Two centuries later, the icon appeared to the monks of the Iberian Monastery on Mount Athos.

In the 17th century, a copy of the miraculous icon was brought to Russia. Today you can bow to the image in the Novodevichy Convent.

7. Don Icon of the Mother of God

Don Icon Mother of God - bilateral, on the back the Assumption of the Mother of God is depicted. The authorship of the icon is attributed to Theophanes the Greek. According to legend, the Cossacks presented this miraculous icon as a gift to Dmitry Donskoy before the Battle of Kulikovo in 1380.

To date, the icon is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery and leaves it every year on September 1 (August 19, old style). On this day, the image is transported to the Donskoy Monastery for the celebration of the festive service.

8. Icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos

The Icon of the Sign of the Most Holy Theotokos dates back to the 12th century. In 1170, when Andrei Bogolyubsky besieged Velikiy Novgorod, during the procession along the walls, the icon was pierced by a random arrow. The icon wept, and the troops of Bogolyubsky fled in horror.

Until now, the image is kept in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Veliky Novgorod.

9. Kursk-Root Icon of the Mother of God

The icon was found in the forest near Kursk on the day of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos in 1295. In place of the acquired image, a spring immediately began to spring.

According to legend, after the Tatar-Mongol raid, the icon was cut in half, but as soon as its parts were combined, it miraculously “grown together”.

In 1920, the Kursk Root Icon of the Mother of God was taken out of Russia by the Wrangel army. Since 1957, it has been kept in the Cathedral of the Sign of the Synod of Bishops in New York.

10. Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God

The exact date of the writing of the Feodorovskaya Icon of the Mother of God is unknown, but the first mention dates back to the 12th century. The icon is considered miraculous, it was saved from the fire several times, and in 1613 nun Martha blessed her son Mikhail Romanov with this icon when he was elected to the kingdom.

You can bow to the miraculous icon in the Epiphany-Anastasia convent in Kostroma.

11. Pskov-Pechersk icon "Tenderness"

The icon "Tenderness" is a copy of 1521 from the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God. According to legend, the Pskov-Caves icon protected Pskov from the siege of the Polish King Stephen in 1581.

Now the icon is in the Assumption Cathedral of the Pskov-Caves Monastery.

12. Saint Nicholas (Ugresh icon)

The Ugresh icon appeared to Dmitry Donskoy on his way to Kulikovo Field in 1380. Later, a monastery was founded at that place, in which the image was kept until the closing of the monastery in 1925.

Now the miraculous icon is in the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

13. Icon "Savior of Eleazar"

The manifest image of the Savior of Eleazar was acquired in November 1352. The icon was recognized as miraculous, and the tree on which the icon was found was walled up in the vault of the temple built at the place where the icon was found.

Since August 2010, the icon of the Savior of Eleazarovsky has been kept in the Savior-Eleazarovsky Monastery near Pskov.

14. Icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (Nikola Mozhaisky)

The icon was painted in the first half of the 17th century from the famous carved sculpture depicting Nicholas the Wonderworker with a sword in his hands. In 1993-1995, the icon was restored, revealing the lower layers of paint.

Now the image is in the Church of the Descent of the Holy Spirit in Mozhaisk.

15. Icon of the Mother of God of the Seven Arrows

The revealed image of the Icon of the Mother of God of the Seven Arrows was found in the bell tower in Vologda. Long years parishioners walked along it, mistaking it for a floorboard. The image was recognized as miraculous during the cholera epidemic in 1830.

To date, the revealed image has been lost, but one of famous lists, the myrrh-streaming icon "Seven Arrows", is located in the Church of the Archangel Michael in Moscow.

16. Icon of the Holy Matrona of Moscow

Matrona of Moscow was canonized only in 1999, but her icon, painted in the 21st century, has already been recognized as miraculous. The list contains a particle of the cover and relics of the saint.

You can bow to the shrine in the Intercession Monastery in Moscow.

17. Icon of Blessed Xenia of Petersburg

Blessed Xenia of Petersburg was canonized in 1988, but they began to venerate the blessed one during her lifetime.

Most famous image is located in the Smolensk Church in St. Petersburg, where everyone can bow to him.

18. Icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord

The icon of the Transfiguration of the Lord was painted in 1403. For a long time Theophanes the Greek was considered its author, but recent studies have shown that an unknown icon painter of the same period painted the icon. The creation of the image is associated with the restoration and re-consecration of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Pereslavl-Zalessky.

Since the 20th century, the famous icon has been kept in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

19. Icon of St. Spyridon Trimifuntsky

One of the miraculous images of Spyridon Trimifuntsky is located in the Church of the Resurrection of the Word on the Assumption Vrazhek. Inside the icon is an ark with the relics of the saint.

20. Icon of St. Basil the Blessed in prayer to Christ

The icon was painted in late XVI century for the Cathedral of the Intercession-on-the-Ditch, which is better known as St. Basil's Cathedral.

The icon is still kept on same place and is one of the oldest images of the temple.

21. Savior Not Made by Hands Simon Ushakov

The Icon of the Savior Not Made by Hands was painted by Simon Ushakov in 1658. The icon painter was criticized for the uncharacteristic depiction of the face of Christ, but later this particular image became the most popular in Russia.

Now the icon is kept in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

22. Icon of the Savior in the Force by Andrey Rublev

The icon of the Savior in Strength was painted by Andrei Rublev and his apprentices for the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir in 1408.

The icon can be seen in the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

23. Icon of Seraphim of Sarov

One of the most revered icons of Seraphim of Sarov is kept in the Danilov Monastery in Moscow. The image is an exact list from the cell icon of Shegeumena Tamar and contains a rosary, part of the saint's mantle and part of the stone on which he prayed for a thousand days.

Back in school we were taught not to take things seriously religious art. Well, what is there - they did not know the perspective, they could not realistically depict a person and so on. Dyakon Kuraev, in his lecture on icon painting, recalls fun facts about the Soviet idea of ​​icons.

I discovered Russian icons in the Tretyakov Gallery. I think if the right to painting is recognized only for realism, it is impossible to appreciate the beauty of the icon.

Upon closer examination, icons turned out to be a completely new art for me. Moreover, it is absolutely self-sufficient on the one hand and simple on the other.

Russian icon painting, a bit of history.

The Russian (Byzantine) icon appeared on the ruins of ancient art. By the 9th century, after a period of iconoclasm, the ancient tradition in the east had ceased to exist. A completely new art appeared, far from the ancient tradition - icon painting. It originated in Byzantium and continued to develop in Russia.

However, with the acquaintance of Russia with Western European art, although icon painting continued to exist, it was no longer considered the limit of perfection. The Russian elite fell in love with baroque and realism.

In addition, icons in the Middle Ages were covered with drying oil for preservation. And she darkened over time. In addition, often a new image was superimposed on top of the old image. More often icons were hidden in salaries. As a result, it turned out that most of the icons were hidden from view.

Old Russian art was reopened in late XIX century, and at the beginning of the 20th century experienced real recognition.

This was the period when people began to show interest in the ancient national art and the technique of restoration appeared. Opened I world as a result of the restoration of images that shocked contemporaries.

Perhaps this is what gave impetus to the development of Russian abstract art. The same Henri Matisse, examining the collection of Novgorod art in 1911, said: “ french artists should go to study in Russia: Italy gives less in this area.

Images of the Mother of God

One of the greatest Byzantine icons exhibited in the Tretyakov Gallery is the icon of the Vladimir Mother of God.

It was created in Byzantium and came to Russian soil in the 12th century. Then Prince Vladimir Andrey Bogolyubsky built for her

The image of the Mother of God with the baby clinging to her belongs to the type of the Tenderness icon. Such images began to spread in Byzantine and Russian art in the 11th-12th centuries. Then there appeared "Canon for weeping Holy Mother of God ". In Western tradition it is called Stabat mater.

“About your terrible and strange Christmas, My Son, more than all mothers, the former Az was exalted: but alas for Me, now seeing You on a tree, I break apart in the womb.

Glory: I see My womb in my arms, in them I hold the Child, from the tree, accept, pure things: but no one, alas, will give this to me.

And now: Behold, My Light, sweet, Hope and My Good Life, My God has died away on the Cross, I break apart in the womb, Virgin, groaning, saying.

The image of the Mother of God with the Child in the “Tenderness” type reinforces the text of the canon.

Another beautiful icon on the same theme of “tenderness” is the Don Mother of God Theophanes the Greek, also located in the Tretyakov Gallery.

More ancient image the Mother of God can also be seen in the collection of the Tretyakov Gallery.

This icon is called Orant A. There are many similar images in the catacombs and early Christian churches. Here the main meaning is given to the descent to earth of the son of God through the Mother of God. In this interpretation, Mary is the "gate of light" through which grace comes into the world. In other words, the pregnant Mother of God is depicted here.

Images of the Holy Trinity

Another icon that no generation of those who have seen it admires is the trinity of Andrei Rublev. To understand and appreciate the beauty of this work, I also propose to plunge into the history of the issue.

The trinity: father, son and holy spirit was still in the Hellenic tradition - the cult of the god Dionysus. I don’t know whether it migrated to Christianity from there, or from somewhere from the east, but this idea is much older than the New Testament and the creed.

The New Testament trinity (God the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit) could not be depicted in the Orthodox tradition. This would be contrary to the concept of an eternal, incomprehensible and triune God: " No one has ever seen God". You can only depict the Old Testament trinity.

To be fair, despite the canonical ban, imagesNew Testament Trinitywidespread to this day. Although the definition Great Moscow Cathedral 1667 such images prohibited.

In the Catholic tradition, the New Testament trinity was often depicted.

The image of the Old Testament trinity was based on the legend of Abraham.

The book of Genesis describes an episode when God appears to Abraham in the form of three angels.

“And the Lord appeared to him at the oaks of Mamre, when he was sitting at the entrance to the tent, during the heat of the day. He lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, three men stood before him. Seeing, he ran towards them from the entrance to the tent and bowed to the ground, and said: Master! if I have found favor in Your sight, do not pass by Your servant; and they will bring some water and wash your feet; and rest under this tree, and I will bring bread, and you will refresh your hearts; then go; for you are passing by your servant... And he took butter and milk and a calf cooked, and set it before them, while he himself stood beside them under a tree. And they ate” (Gen. 18:1-8)

It is this plot that is depicted as the Holy Trinity, it is also called "hospitality of Abraham."

In early images, this story was depicted with maximum detail: Abraham, his wife Sarah, an oak tree, Abraham's chambers, a servant slaughtering a calf. Later, the historical plan of the image was completely replaced by the symbolic one.

There is nothing superfluous in Andrei Rublev's Trinity. Only three angels who are perceived as one. Their figures form a vicious circle. It was the Rublev Trinity that became the canonical image and served as an example for subsequent generations of icon painters.

Methods and techniques of icon painting, reverse perspective

For a correct understanding of icon painting, one must keep in mind that icon painters did not seek to depict reality. They had another task - to depict the divine world. This is where the techniques that are not characteristic of realistic painting come from.

An example is the use of reverse perspective. (This is when the lines to the horizon do not converge, but diverge).

However, this was not always used, but only when the artist wanted to emphasize the special proximity of the object to us. Parallel perspective is also used in the icon - when the lines do not converge on the horizon, but run parallel.

An interesting icon of the workshop of Theophan the Greek "Transfiguration".

It also depicts events taking place at different times.

I love this icon very much, it's hard for me to tear myself away from it.

Here is depicted the Transfiguration of the Lord on Mount Tabor. Divine light emanates from Jesus, the apostles Peter, James and John the Theologian fell down below. Above the prophets Moses and Elijah. Above them, the angels who bring them to this place. Under the mountain of a group of apostles, one group goes up the mountain, the other goes down the mountain. These are the same apostles depicted at different times.

WHAT WERE BRINGING: 18 works of art, including 12 icons.

Despite the rather small number of works (the exhibition occupied only one hall), the project fully justifies its name "Masterpieces of Byzantium". Almost every exhibit here is truly a masterpiece. Firstly, their antiquity is impressive - we can see objects here from the end of the 10th to the beginning of the 16th century. Secondly, they are all very beautiful and, as they say, excellent in their own way. artistic level. Surviving after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, carefully preserved during the Ottoman rule over Greece and neighboring Orthodox lands, now they are not only objects of worship or paintings, but also evidence of the tragedies of history.

A typical example is the 14th-century Crucifixion icon (with Hodegetria on the back) - one of the finest examples of Byzantine art of the Palaiologos era. Graceful subtle writing, pleasing to the eye harmony of gold and azure - and at the same time the faces of the saints have been barbarously destroyed.

WHERE: The Athenian Byzantine and Christian Museum shared its exhibits with Moscow.

He, alas, is known only to connoisseurs, and tourists arriving in Athens for antique art, is often forgotten. However, it is one of the most interesting museums in the city. Founded in 1914, it was originally housed in a small villa once owned by socialite, the wife of a Napoleonic officer, the Duchess of Piacenza. By the end of the 20th century, the mansion, which stood in the middle of a luxurious park, clearly no longer contained all the huge collections of the Byzantine Museum. By the 2004 Olympics, the museum was opened after reconstruction - under the lawns and flower beds of the park, in the thickness of the earth, there were three underground floors, while the mansion remained untouched on the surface. The colossal underground space is filled with sacred art of the Byzantine and post-Byzantine period. And its visitors will probably not notice that some things have flown to Moscow.

However, the absence of the famous "St. George" of the XIII century in the permanent exhibition will clearly catch the eye of visitors to the Athens Museum. This unusual icon is made in relief technique. Orthodox artists usually did not do this, but this work was created during the Crusades, under the influence of Western European masters. But the frame is familiar, canonical - from brands.

Another important exhibit of the exhibition, by the way, placed by the curators in the most spectacular place in the hall, is a large-scale icon of Our Lady of Kardiotissa. This epithet is translated from Greek as "Heart" and is a variant of the iconography of "Glykophilus" ("Sweet kiss"). When you look at the masterpiece, you understand that this canon of the image received such tender nicknames not in vain: the Baby so affectionately pulls his hands to the Mother, so sweetly presses his cheek against her that you almost forget that in front of us is an object of worship, and not a sketch from life . The name of the icon painter has also been preserved (this is not very common for Rus', but the Greek masters often signed their works). Angelos Akotantos lived and worked in Crete, which at that time was under the rule of the Venetian Republic. He is considered one of the most important Greek painters of the 15th century.

Probably from the Constantinople workshops of the end XIV-beginning XV century there is an icon that will be curious to all owners of the name "Marina", popular in Russia. The fact is that St. Marina of Antioch is rarely depicted in traditional Orthodox art. The late Paleolog icon, in which the saint appears in a bright red maphoria and with a crucifix (a symbol of martyrdom) in her hand, comes from the church of St. Gerasimos in Argostolion on the island of Kefalonia and is one of the oldest surviving images of the great martyr.

OTHER MEETINGS: in addition to this museum, Greek private collectors took part in the exhibition in Moscow. You understand, to see things from such collections is a unique chance.

From the collection of E. Velimesis - H. Margaritis comes a small but very exquisite icon "John the Baptist Angel of the Desert" of the 16th century. This plot is also familiar to Russian icon painting - John the Baptist is depicted with wings, his own severed head lies on a dish at his feet, and on the other side an ax is stuck between the trees. However, the subtlety and harmony of writing will suggest that this beauty comes from those lands where the icon-painting tradition, founded in Byzantine icon-painting workshops, has not disappeared for centuries.

From the Benaki Museum in Athens, founded in 1930 by the millionaire Emmanuel Benakis, the oldest piece of the exhibition arrived - a silver processional cross created at the end of the 10th century. Fine engravings of figures of Christ and saints can be seen on this double-sided piece of jewelry. In addition to John Chrysostom, Basil the Great and other popular saints, a rare saint, Sisinius, is depicted on the cross. From the inscription on the hilt it is known that he was the patron saint of the customer of this cross.

PLACE: the exhibition is located in the main building of the Tretyakov Gallery in hall number 38 (usually Malyavin and the Union of Russian Artists). The curators of the exhibition especially emphasize that in the neighboring halls there is a permanent exposition of ancient Russian art. And, having enjoyed the Athens exhibition, it is worth taking two steps and seeing what they were doing at the same time in the northern corner of the Orthodox lands.

TICKETS: no need to buy in advance. The exhibition takes place in a hall located among the permanent exhibition, and to get to it, you just need to buy an ordinary admission ticket to the museum. Good news for those who are tired of besieging the site with online ticket sales for an exhibition of masterpieces from the Vatican in the nearby Engineering Building (which was recently extended until March 1).

Free visit days at the museum

Every Wednesday entrance to permanent exhibition"Art of the 20th century" and temporary exhibitions in ( Crimean Val, 10) is free for visitors without a guided tour (except for the exhibition "Ilya Repin" and the project "Avant-garde in three dimensions: Goncharova and Malevich").

Right free admission expositions in the main building in Lavrushinsky Lane, the Engineering Building, the New Tretyakov Gallery, the house-museum of V.M. Vasnetsov, museum-apartment of A.M. Vasnetsov is provided on the following days for certain categories of citizens:

First and second Sunday of every month:

for students of higher educational institutions of the Russian Federation, regardless of the form of education (including foreign citizens-students of Russian universities, graduate students, adjuncts, residents, assistant trainees) upon presentation of a student card (does not apply to persons presenting student trainee cards) );

for students of secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (from 18 years old) (citizens of Russia and CIS countries). On the first and second Sundays of each month, students holding ISIC cards have the right to visit the exhibition “Art of the 20th Century” at the New Tretyakov Gallery free of charge.

every Saturday - for members of large families (citizens of Russia and CIS countries).

Please note that conditions for free access to temporary exhibitions may vary. Check the exhibition pages for details.

Attention! At the ticket office of the Gallery, entrance tickets are provided with a face value of "free of charge" (upon presentation of the relevant documents - for the above-mentioned visitors). At the same time, all services of the Gallery, including excursion services, are paid in accordance with the established procedure.

Museum visit in holidays

Dear visitors!

Please pay attention to the opening hours of the Tretyakov Gallery on holidays. The visit is paid.

Please note that entry with electronic tickets is carried out on a first-come, first-served basis. With return policy electronic tickets you can check on .

Congratulations on the upcoming holiday and we are waiting in the halls of the Tretyakov Gallery!

Right preferential visit The Gallery, except as provided for by a separate order of the Gallery's management, is provided upon presentation of documents confirming the right to preferential visits:

• pensioners (citizens of Russia and CIS countries),
• full cavaliers of the Order of Glory,
• students of secondary and secondary special educational institutions (from 18 years old),
• students of higher educational institutions of Russia, as well as foreign students studying in Russian universities (except for student trainees),
• members of large families (citizens of Russia and CIS countries).

Right of free admission The main and temporary expositions of the Gallery, except for cases provided for by a separate order of the Gallery's management, are provided for the following categories of citizens upon presentation of documents confirming the right to free admission:

• persons under the age of 18;
• students of faculties specializing in the field of fine arts of secondary specialized and higher educational institutions of Russia, regardless of the form of education (as well as foreign students students in Russian universities). The clause does not apply to persons presenting student cards of "trainee students" (in the absence of information about the faculty in the student card, certificate is provided from educational institution with the obligatory indication of the faculty);
• veterans and invalids of the Great Patriotic War, participants in hostilities, former underage prisoners of concentration camps, ghettos and other places of detention created by the Nazis and their allies during World War II, illegally repressed and rehabilitated citizens (citizens of Russia and the CIS countries);
• military servicemen of the Russian Federation;
• Heroes Soviet Union, Heroes of the Russian Federation, Full Cavaliers of the "Order of Glory" (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• disabled people of I and II groups, participants in the liquidation of the consequences of the disaster on Chernobyl nuclear power plant(citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• one accompanying disabled person of group I (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• one accompanying disabled child (citizens of Russia and CIS countries);
• artists, architects, designers - members of the relevant creative Unions of Russia and its subjects, art historians - members of the Association of Art Critics of Russia and its subjects, members and employees Russian Academy arts;
• members of the International Council of Museums (ICOM);
• employees of museums of the system of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the relevant Departments of Culture, employees of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and ministries of culture of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation;
• museum volunteers - entrance to the exposition "Art of the XX century" (Krymsky Val, 10) and to the Museum-apartment of A.M. Vasnetsov (citizens of Russia);
• guide-interpreters who have an accreditation card of the Association of Guide-Translators and Tour Managers of Russia, including those accompanying a group of foreign tourists;
• one teacher of an educational institution and one accompanying a group of students of secondary and secondary specialized educational institutions (if there is an excursion voucher, subscription); one teacher of an educational institution with state accreditation educational activities when conducting an agreed training session and having a special badge (citizens of Russia and the CIS countries);
• one accompanying a group of students or a group of military servicemen (if there is an excursion voucher, subscription and during a training session) (citizens of Russia).

Visitors of the above categories of citizens receive an entrance ticket with a face value of "Free".

Please note that conditions for preferential admission to temporary exhibitions may vary. Check the exhibition pages for details.

From the very beginning of his collecting activity, the founder of the museum, P.M. Tretyakov, was planning to create a “public (folk) art museum”, the collection of which would reflect the “progressive movement of Russian art,” according to Pavel Mikhailovich himself. He devoted his whole life to the realization of this dream.

Pavel Mikhailovich acquired the first icons in 1890. His collection consisted of only sixty-two monuments, but according to the Russian scientist, historian Nikolai Petrovich Likhachev (1862-1936), P.M. Tretyakov's collection was considered "precious and instructive."

At that time, private collectors, collectors of icons were known in Moscow and St. Petersburg - I.L. Silin, N.M. Postnikov, E.E. Egorov, S.A. Egorov and others. Tretyakov buys icons from some of them. On a fair note famous artist and art historian, director of the Tretyakov Gallery Igor Emmanuilovich Grabar (1871-1960), Tretyakov differed from other collectors in that “he was the first among collectors to select icons not according to plots, but according to their artistic significance, and he was the first to openly recognize them as genuine and great art , having bequeathed to attach his icon collection to the Gallery.

Savior in power

The will was executed in 1904 - the icons acquired by P.M. Tretyakov, was included in the gallery's exposition for the first time. It was organized by Ilya Semyonovich Ostroukhov (1858-1929) - an artist, a member of the Gallery's Council, and a well-known collector of icons and paintings (after his death, in 1929, the collection entered the Gallery's collection). To arrange a new icon hall, he invited scientists Nikodim Pavlovich Kondakov (1844-1925) and Nikolai Petrovich Likhachev, who developed the concept, were able to scientifically systematize and group monuments for the first time, and publish a catalog.

Unknown icon painter, late 14th century. Deesis tier ("Vysotsky")
1387-1395
Wood, tempera
148 x 93

The famous Russian artist Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov (1848-1926) became the designer of this exposition. According to his sketches, showcases imitating icon cases were made in the Abramtsevo workshops - all the icons collected by Tretyakov were presented in them. A similar display of icons did not exist then in any Russian art museum. (It should be noted that some icons were exhibited as early as 1862 in the Moscow Rumyantsev Museum and in 1890 in Historical Museum, but icons were exhibited then as church antiquities, and not as works of art. They were not restored, they were dark, dirty, with the loss of the paint layer).

Andrey Rublev
Savior in power
1408

It is noteworthy that the opening of the hall of ancient Russian icon painting in the Gallery took place in the early years of the 20th century - the period of the birth of restoration work in Russia, when professional scientific study of ancient Russian art began.

In 1918, despite the tragic post-revolutionary events, the “Commission for the Preservation and Disclosure of Monuments” was organized. ancient painting in Russia". This commission was headed by the then director of the Tretyakov Gallery I. E. Grabar. The commission took up the systematic discovery of ancient monuments, expeditionary and exhibition activities.
In 1929-30s, after restoration exhibitions, by the decision of the then government, it was decided to turn the Tretyakov Gallery into largest museum Russian art, to the center for the study cultural heritage ancient period our history. In those years, our museum received many monuments of ancient Russian art from the most different sources, including from reformed museums and private collections. These receipts basically formed the current collection of ancient Russian art in the Gallery.

In the mid-1930s, a scientific department of ancient Russian art and a restoration workshop were created in the Gallery. A new exposition was opened, in which the principles of the historical and artistic display of monuments were observed, the main centers, stages and trends in icon painting of the 12th - 17th centuries were presented.
A number of valuable icons, sometimes very ancient ones, came to the Gallery as a result of expeditions to the Russian North and central regions conducted by the Gallery's employees in the 1960s and 70s.

Now the collection is already more than six thousand items of storage. These are icons, fragments of frescoes and mosaics, sculpture, small plastic, objects of applied art, copies of frescoes.

In pre-Petrine Rus', almost all painting was exclusively religious in nature. And we can rightfully call all painting iconography. All the striving for the beautiful, the craving for beauty, the impulse and aspiration to the heights, to the realm of the spirit towards God, found their resolution in church icons. In the skill of creating these sacred images, the most talented representatives of the gifted Russian people have reached the true heights of the world sound.

Unknown icon painter, mid-16th century
"Blessed is the army of the heavenly king..." (Church Militant)
Mid 16th century
wood, tempera
143.5 x 395.5

The heyday of Russian icon painting as such falls precisely on the pre-Petrine era. Experienced in the process
their development, several bright and amazing in form and masterful embodiment of the religious and theological tasks that they faced, Russian icon painting after the Petrine era fell into decay, continuously degraded, finally turning into handicraft works of handicraftsmen. At the beginning of the 20th century talented artists Nesterov, Vasnetsov and others tried to bring Russian icon painting out of the stagnant position in which it was, but whole line objective and subjective reasons, did not allow a genuine revival of this holy art to occur and did not create anything that could stand on a par with immortal creations spiritual painting of pre-Petrine Rus'.

In terms of its very tasks, in terms of its very purpose, icon painting is fundamentally different from the worldly portraiture that is close, it would seem, and similar to it. If a portrait necessarily implies the existence of a certain nature, which the artist accurately reproduces, trying not to shy away from portrait resemblance, then the icon painter, whose task it is to reproduce a sacred image or some specific theological thought, clothed in the most intelligible incarnation for those who pray, can, according to his talent, understanding, to a certain extent evade the “original icons” approved by church practice and give his own solution to the problem that confronted him.

Unknown icon painter, early 13th century. Deesis: Savior, Mother of God, John the Baptist
First third of the XIII century.Wood, tempera.61 x 146

From this it becomes clear the importance that the ancient church rules attached to the personality itself and the behavior of the icon painter while working on the icon. So, in the famous collection of Resolutions of the Council of 1551, known under the name “Stoglav”, the requirement is given that the icon painter should be “humble, meek, reverent; lived in fasting and prayer, keeping with all fear the purity of soul and body. In the same "Stoglav" we will find a certain requirement for the indispensable adherence to the ancient "originals of icons", so that the sacred images created again do not break with the traditions established from ancient times and are immediately familiar and understandable to every prayer.

The main beginning, which is embedded in the work of the icon painter, is a sincere religious inspiration; the artist knows that he is faced with the task of creating for the mass of believers an image, an icon intended for prayer.

Russian icon painting developed its own definite and firmly defined style in the 14th century. This will be the so-called Novgorod school. Researchers see here a direct correspondence to the artistic dawn of the Byzantine era of the Palaiologos, whose masters worked in Rus'; one of them famous Feofan A Greek who painted between 1378 and 1405. some Novgorod and Moscow cathedrals, was the teacher of the brilliant Russian master of the XIV-XV centuries. Andrei Rublev.

Andrey Rublev. Trinity.

Rublev and his followers belong to the Moscow school. His work is the next step in comparison with Theophanes the Greek, whose works are typical of the Novgorod school and its variety, the more archaic Pskov.

The Novgorod school is characterized by large massive figures of saints, with big size the icons themselves. They were intended for vast and majestic temples, generously erected by the rich and pious population of the "lord of great Novgorod." The tone of the icons is reddish, dark brown, bluish. The landscape - stepped mountains and the architecture of buildings - porticos and columns - are largely close to the true nature of the territory of Alexandria and adjacent areas, where events from the life of the saints and martyrs depicted on the icons took place.

Unknown icon painter, Novgorod school
Fatherland with selected saints.
Early 15th century
wood, tempera
113 x 88

Unknown icon painter, XIV - early XV century
Nikola with life.
Late 14th - early 15th century
Wood, tempera
151 x 106

The type of faces of the saints and the Mother of God is also not Russian: oblong, “byzantized”. This characteristic detail later, in the Moscow school, it more and more takes on a Slavic connotation, finally turning into typical Russian round faces in the works of the brilliant “tsarist painter” of the 17th century, Simon Ushakov and his school.

Magnificent, brilliant Byzantium, whose capital Tsargrad, according to all historians and memoirists, was the richest city in the world, and its emperors considered themselves as earthly representatives of the Almighty God, demanding almost divine worship. Naturally, with the help of icons, they sought to strengthen their authority and strength. Saints of the Byzantine school, for the most part, just like their reflections that later passed onto the walls of Novgorod cathedrals and monasteries, are severe, punishingly strict, majestic. In this sense, the amazing frescoes of Theophanes the Greek will be characteristic, which (leaving aside all the differences in epochs and methods) involuntarily resemble the severely restless figures of Michelangelo's Roman frescoes.

In the middle of the 17th century, the famous “royal iconographer” Simon Ushakov became famous in Russia, personifying the new Moscow school, reflecting the splendor and wealth of the life of the Moscow royal court and the boyar nobility that had stabilized after the Time of Troubles and foreign intervention.

The works of this master are distinguished by their special softness and roundness of lines. The master seeks to express not so much and not only inner spiritual beauty, but external beauty and, we would even say, the “beautifulness” of their images.

Researchers, not without reason, see Western influence in the work of this school, and first of all, “Netherlands Italianizing masters of the second half of the 16th century.”

royal doors
Mid 15th century

If the works of Ushakov and his comrades were mainly intended for churches, then the need of wealthy people for a beautiful “measured” icon for home prayer was satisfied by the Stroganov school, most famous masters which: The Borozdin family, Istoma Savin, Pervusha, Prokopy Chirin, fully represented in the gallery, are quite close to the Ushakov school in their artistic credo. Not surprisingly, most of them great success worked in Moscow.

Unknown icon painter of the 12th century. Savior Not Made by Hands. (right)
Second half of the XII century.Wood, tempera.77 x 71

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