Masterpieces of Byzantium. Masterpieces of Byzantine art are displayed at the Tretyakov Gallery
Yesterday in Tretyakov Gallery The exhibition “Masterpieces of Byzantium” opened as part of the year of cross-cultural communications between Russia and Greece. The presented icons, illustrated manuscripts and small plastic objects from museums and private collections in Greece belong to different eras (from the 10th to the 16th centuries), stylistic movements and territorial schools and give an idea of the diversity and richness of the artistic heritage of the great Eastern Christian empire.
The uniqueness and value of the exhibition is difficult to exaggerate. Firstly, Byzantine art is represented in domestic museums rather poorly, and attention to this rich and interesting culture in our country is undeservedly little. (This reflects both the prejudice of the Soviet era against the spiritually and churchly oriented heritage, and the difficulty for the average, poorly prepared modern viewer to perceive this sophisticated, refined and sublime art).
Secondly, each of the presented objects is an absolute masterpiece, each is an eloquent witness to the depth of philosophical understanding of existence, the height of theological thought and the intensity of the spiritual life of contemporary society.
The earliest item shown in the exhibition is a beautiful silver processional cross from the late 10th century, engraved with images of Christ, Our Lady and saints. The severity of lines and perfection of proportions characteristic of the era are complemented by the grace of finely drawn engraved medallions depicting Christ Pantocrator, the Mother of God and saints.
TO XII century refers to the red background icon “The Raising of Lazarus”, a masterpiece of the so-called “Comnenian Renaissance”. Harmony of proportions, sophistication and plasticity of gestures, full-bodied, three-dimensional figures, expressive sharp glances - character traits era. This is a time of return to the ancient principles, from which, however, Byzantine art, unlike Western European art, never radically parted. Therefore, in relation to Byzantium, such periods of special interest in the aesthetics of antiquity can be called “renaissances” only conditionally.
In this context, the icon of the Holy Great Martyr George is very interesting, representing a rare example of the interpenetration of Western and eastern traditions. The relief image of the saint in the middle belongs to the so-called “crusader art” of the 13th century, when Constantinople was under the rule of Western knights for almost a century, and craftsmen from Europe arrived in the eastern capital. The genre of painted relief itself, characteristic of Gothic imagery, has a rounded, slightly profiled volume, somewhat provincial expressiveness of the figure with big hands and head, local, bright colors are obvious features of “barbaric” art. However, the shining gold background and the more refined painting of the hallmarks betray the hand of a Greek master. In the hagiographic images in the margins, the jeweler’s fractional forms, graceful plasticity of figures, more nuanced coloring, sustained in the colors of the center, and subtle elongated facial features are striking.
The back of the icon with the image of the holy martyrs Marina and Irina again returns us to the “crusader” expressiveness with emphasized, large facial features, “talking” hands and expressive glances. However, the radiance of golden “lights” in the robe of Christ reveals the author’s unconditional admiration for the capital’s Constantinople models.
Among all the masterpieces in the exhibition, the magnificent double-sided icon of Our Lady Hodegetria and the Crucifixion from the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens, dating from the 14th century, is especially impressive. The monumental half-length image of the Mother of God with the Child in her arms is made in the best traditions of the capital Constantinople school of the Palaiologan era. This is the statuesque figure of Mary, an elegant silhouette standing out against a golden background, and the grace of gestures, and Her exquisitely beautiful features: almond-shaped eyes, a thin nose, a small round pink mouth, a swollen, girlish oval of the face. It would be almost earthly, sensual beauty, if not for the radiance of another world, piercing this perfect face with rays of gaps, illuminating it with spiritual light.
Since the middle of the 14th century, painting reflects new theological teachings and spiritual experience Hesychast monks, followers of St. Gregory Palamas, about uncreated divine energies. It is this light, the harmony of silence that transforms the sharply expressive composition of the crucifixion of Christ on the back of the icon into a supramundane and supra-emotional image, full of silent sorrow and prayerful burning. Against a luminous golden background, the figure of the grieving Virgin Mary in shining blue robes resembles a candle with a flame directed upward. It is important to note that with all the elongation and refinement of the proportions, the ancient basis of the entire artistic system of the Byzantines breathes in every detail: for example, the pose of the Apostle John bowed in tears echoes the curve of the body of Christ, which gives the static composition movement and vibration.
Dating back to the turn of the 14th and 15th centuries is a large icon of the holy martyr Marina, painted, of course, in the same late Palaeologian tradition as “Our Lady Hodegetria with the Twelve Feasts” of the second half of the 14th century. The finest golden spaces permeate these images, the light vibrates and enlivens, spiritualizes the images.
The exhibition also features several post-Byzantine icons painted after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. Crete became a major artistic center at this time, but gradually Greek icon painting lost the monumental expressiveness and spiritual intensity of images that distinguished the works of their predecessors.
In the image of Our Lady Cardiotissa of the first half of the 15th century, one can already feel the tendency towards an ornamentalization of a grid of spaces, towards the complexity of poses, at the same time unnaturally deployed, broken, and frozen.
The icon of St. Nicholas, made around 1500, is distinguished by the obvious influence of Italian Renaissance art in the field of color and interpretation of folds. The iconography of the saint on the throne, which became widespread in post-Byzantine art, is interesting.
Both the manuscripts and the objects of decorative and applied art brought to the exhibition are unique. Together with magnificent icons, they immerse viewers in the sublime and refined world of Byzantine imagery. They seem to reconstruct before our eyes reflections of that splendor that was born from the ancient idea of beauty, oriental expression and Christian spiritual fullness.
The main thing in this art, as in this exhibition, is the state of supermundane soaring and jubilation of the spirit, permeating every image, every testimony of that amazing country, where theology was not the lot of a select minority, but the basis of the life of the empire, where the royal court sometimes lived like a monastery. charter, where metropolitan refined art could appear both in remote regions of northern Italy and in cave temples Cappadocia. We had the good fortune to touch the unknown facets of this cultural continent, from which the vast tree of Russian art at one time grew.
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about the author
Art critic, specialist in Byzantine painting, curator of exhibition projects, founder of his own gallery of contemporary art. Most of all I love talking and listening about art. I am married and have two cats. http://arsslonga.blogspot.ru/
The cross year of Russia and Greece ends with a cultural project that starts today at the Tretyakov Gallery - the exhibition “Masterpieces of Byzantine Art”. Unique monuments of the X-XV centuries, collected from Greek museums and private collections. Visitors will be able to imagine the history of the great empire and trace the mutual influence of the traditions of Eastern and Western Christian art.
Artifacts of the Vanished Byzantine Empire. The earliest is a church cross from the 10th century. Contemporary of the Baptism of Rus'. In the center there is another metal, not the original one. The insert appeared when a relic, a piece of the Holy Cross, was torn out from here.
“You and I see the two hands of the great martyr, which are raised to Christ. And his figure is clearly visible here, voluminous. It almost seems to come out from the surface of the icon, from the plane of the icon to us, to those praying,” says exhibition curator Elena Saenkova.
The curator of the exhibition is at the “volumetric” icon - these appeared in the 13th century, after the arrival of the crusaders. Two Christian worlds collided: Western and Eastern. The carving technique, clothing, even the shield at the feet of St. George are European, and the painting technique is Byzantine.
And these are not all the surprises from Byzantine masters. Double-sided icons are a rarity. For example, this one, from the end of the 14th century, depicts the crucifixion of Christ on one side, and the Mother of God on the other. Such icons are also called processional, that is, they participated in church services, celebrations, religious processions. But the most interesting thing is that art historians suggest that they were located in a special way inside the temple. One side was facing the worshipers, that is, here. And the other side - inside the altar, towards the clergy.
The dried edges, lost colors in places, and in some places the deliberately knocked-off faces of saints are more shocking than the restored images. These icons breathe time, live in every crack, in spite of all the conquerors of Byzantium.
“When the Turks took Constantinople, they began to destroy the decoration of churches, disfigure icons: they gouged out the eyes and faces of saints,” says Fedra Kalafati, an employee of the Byzantine and Christian Museum.
The unique 18 exhibits came from museums and private collections in Greece. This visit is a return visit: in the fall of 2016, an exhibition of Russian icons was held in Athens. The cross year of Russia-Greece has already ended on the calendar, but is actually closing now.
The Gospel manuscript of the 14th century is in a precious setting, with rich miniatures, perfectly preserved text and notes in the margins. The base is calfskin of the finest quality.
Nearby is an even less familiar “air” - an embroidered cover for the Holy Gifts. It was used during the Liturgy. Judging by the pattern, they covered wine. Even the threads retain their brightness from Byzantine masters, because the dyes were created from natural pigments. Cinnabar is red, lapis lazuli is blue, ocher is flesh-orange. The palette is small, but how skillfully the artists handled it.
“Looking at these icons is a great pleasure for the eye, because this is the finest painting, the finest work with paint, with color, with gold,” says director of the State Tretyakov Gallery Zelfira Tregulova.
And also - details. It would seem that this is a canonical image of the Mother of God with the Child, but how humanly and playfully the sandal slides off one of Christ’s feet.
New exhibition at the Tretyakov Gallery - “Masterpieces of Byzantium”. These are eighteen exhibits from Greek museums. Their age ranges from the end of the 10th century to the beginning of the 16th century, when the Eastern Roman Empire no longer existed and the name Byzantium did not yet exist. The rarest examples of icon painting are located next to the halls of ancient Russian art. So you can immediately compare the works of the founders of the style and their students, including the greatest of them, Andrei Rublev.
Voltaire believed that Byzantine culture as a whole was a collection of pompous phrases and descriptions of miracles that dishonored the human mind. It was during the era of enlightenment, as is commonly believed, that all the myths about Byzantium, about its despotism, superstition, greed, and moral decay were born. As you know, it’s not worth fighting myths. We need to study. Exhibition Byzantine masterpieces- a most useful subject of study, the head of state showed interest in it.
The exhibition “Masterpieces of Byzantium” is designed with the asceticism of a monastic cell. But, as you know, everything that is truly worthwhile is not very impressive. Usually, before filming, correspondents always check with the exhibition curator to give the operator an assignment: what must be filmed and what can be skipped. But this time, Culture News was advised to remove all exhibits. There are no secondary works here.
“First half of the 14th century. "Crucifixion" is a double-sided icon. This is truly a masterpiece. Constantinople masters, capital work. Look how minimalism artistic means maximum expressiveness is achieved! There's gold here, we see different shades of blue and different shades of ocher. Nothing else. Look at the richness of color,” says exhibition curator Elena Saenkova.
At this exhibition you can see both brilliant examples of icon painting created in Constantinople workshops for the capital's cathedrals, and images painted in the quiet of monastic cells for small provincial churches. There are also those, looking at which you cannot say that this is an icon.
“Holy Great Martyr George. This is actually a sculpture made of wood, painted, surrounded by the marks of the great martyr. The tradition of painted relief is not typical for Byzantium. This is the first meeting between Byzantium and the West,” explains Elena Saenkova.
Those who think that an exhibition about the art of Byzantium has opened at the Tretyakov Gallery are mistaken. This exhibition is not about art or even about Byzantium itself. It is about something immeasurably greater, which neither the crusaders who ravaged the empire in early XIII century, nor the Ottomans, who captured Byzantium in the middle of the 15th century. Byzantium was truly understood only in Russia.
“The peculiarity of this exhibition is not only that Byzantine art is displayed in the gallery halls for the first time. For the first time, we have the opportunity to really experience the origins of everything that we call Russia, Rus', Holy Rus',” says Natalya Sheredega, head of the ancient Russian art department of the Tretyakov Gallery.
Vladimir Putin, who visited Mount Athos last summer for the celebrations dedicated to the millennium of the Russian presence on the Holy Mountain, was among the first exhibits shown a small icon presented at the exhibition. Director of the Tretyakov Gallery Zelfira Tregulova says: the stylistic features of the icon were later adopted by Russian icon painters.
An even more ancient monument of Byzantium is a processional silver cross from the end of the 10th century. It was then that Rus' adopted Christianity. Perhaps Saint Prince Vladimir baptized his people with the same cross.
The exhibition showcases five centuries of brilliant Byzantine culture. There are exhibits here that formally demonstrate its decline. For example, the icon of St. Nicholas was painted 50 years after the fall of Byzantium. But in reality, Byzantium is alive and not only in the monuments of icon painters who left for Crete after the collapse of the empire. First of all, it is alive in the culture of Rus' - the heir of Byzantium.
The exhibition “Masterpieces of Byzantium” is a great and rare event that cannot be missed. For the first time, a whole collection of Byzantine icons was brought to Moscow. This is especially valuable because it is not so easy to get a serious idea of Byzantine icon painting from several works located in the Pushkin Museum.
It is well known that all ancient Russian icon painting came out of the Byzantine tradition, that many Byzantine artists worked in Rus'. There are still disputes about many pre-Mongol icons about who painted them - Greek icon painters who worked in Rus', or their talented Russian students. Many people know that at the same time as Andrei Rublev, the Byzantine icon painter Theophanes the Greek worked as his senior colleague and probably teacher. And he, apparently, was by no means the only one of the great Greek artists who worked in Rus' at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries.
And therefore, for us, the Byzantine icon is practically indistinguishable from the Russian one. Unfortunately, science never developed precise formal criteria for determining “Russianness” when we talk about art until the middle of the 15th century. But this difference exists, and you can see this with your own eyes at the exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery, because several real masterpieces of Greek icon painting came to us from the Athens “Byzantine and Christian Museum” and some other collections.
I would like to once again thank the people who organized this exhibition, and first of all the initiator and curator of the project, researcher at the Tretyakov Gallery Elena Mikhailovna Saenkova, the head of the department of ancient Russian art Natalya Nikolaevna Sharedega, and the entire department of ancient Russian art, which took an active part in the preparation of this unique exhibition.
Raising of Lazarus (12th century)
The earliest icon on display. Small size, is located in the center of the hall in a showcase. The icon is a part of a tyabl (or epistilium) - a painted wooden beam or large board, which in the Byzantine tradition was placed on the ceiling of marble altar barriers. These chapels were the basis of the future high iconostasis, which arose at the turn of the 14th-15th centuries.
In the 12th century, the 12 great holidays (the so-called Dodekaorton) were usually written on the epistyle, and the Deesis was often placed in the center. The icon that we see at the exhibition is a fragment of such an epistyle with one scene of “The Raising of Lazarus.” It is valuable that we know where this epistyle comes from – from Mount Athos. Apparently, in the 19th century it was sawn into pieces, which ended up in completely different places. In recent years, researchers have been able to discover several parts of it.
The Raising of Lazarus. XII century. Wood, tempera. Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens
The Raising of Lazarus is in the Athens Byzantine Museum. Another part, with the image of the Transfiguration of the Lord, ended up in the State Hermitage, the third - with the scene of the Last Supper - is located in the Vatopedi monastery on Athos.
The icon, being not Constantinople, not a metropolitan work, demonstrates that highest level, which Byzantine icon painting reached in the 12th century. Judging by the style, the icon dates back to the first half of this century and, with a high probability, was painted on Mount Athos itself for monastic needs. In painting we do not see gold, which has always been an expensive material.
The traditional gold background for Byzantium is replaced here by red. In a situation where the master did not have gold at his disposal, he used a symbolic substitute for gold - the color red.
So here we have one of the earliest examples of red-background Byzantine icons - the origins of a tradition that developed in Rus' in the 13th-14th centuries.
Virgin and Child (early 13th century)
This icon is interesting not only for its stylistic decision, which does not quite fit into the purely Byzantine tradition. It is believed that the icon was painted in Cyprus, but perhaps an Italian master took part in its creation. Stylistically, it is very similar to the icons of Southern Italy, which for centuries was in the orbit of the political, cultural and religious influence of Byzantium.
However, Cypriot origin cannot be ruled out either, because at the beginning of the 13th century, completely different stylistic styles existed in Cyprus, and Western masters also worked alongside the Greek ones. It is quite possible that the special style of this icon is the result of interaction and a peculiar Western influence, which is expressed, first of all, in the violation of the natural plasticity of the figure, which the Greeks usually did not allow, and the deliberate expression of the design, as well as decorative details.
The iconography of this icon is curious. The Baby is shown wearing a blue and white long shirt with wide stripes that run from the shoulders to the edges, while the Baby's legs are bare. The long shirt is covered with a strange cloak, more like a drapery. According to the author of the icon, before us is a kind of shroud in which the body of the Child is wrapped.
In my opinion, these robes have a symbolic meaning and are associated with the theme of the priesthood. The Child Christ is also represented as a High Priest. Connected with this idea are the wide clave stripes running from the shoulder to the bottom edge - an important distinctive feature of the bishop's surplice. The combination of blue-white and gold-bearing clothes is apparently related to the theme of the coverings on the altar throne.
As you know, the Throne in both the Byzantine church and the Russian one has two main covers. The lower garment is a shroud, a linen cover, which is placed on the Throne, and on top is laid out precious indium, often made of precious fabric, decorated with gold embroidery, symbolizing heavenly glory and royal dignity. In Byzantine liturgical interpretations, in particular, in the famous interpretations of Simeon of Thessaloniki at the beginning of the 15th century, we encounter precisely this understanding of two veils: the funeral Shroud and the robes of the heavenly Lord.
Another very characteristic detail of this iconography is that the Baby’s legs are bare to the knees and the Mother of God is clasping Him with her hand. right heel. This emphasis on the heel of the Child is present in a number of Theotokos iconographies and is associated with the theme of Sacrifice and the Eucharist. We see here a echo with the theme of the 23rd Psalm and the so-called Edenic promise that the woman’s son will bruise the tempter’s head, and the tempter himself will bruise this son’s heel (see Gen. 3:15).
Thus, the bare heel is both an allusion to the sacrifice of Christ and the coming Salvation - the embodiment of the high spiritual “dialectic” of the well-known Easter hymn “Trampling on Death.”
Relief icon of St. George (mid-13th century)
Relief icons, which are unusual for us, are well known in Byzantium. By the way, Saint George was often depicted in relief. Byzantine icons they were made of gold and silver, and there were quite a lot of them (we know about this from the inventories of Byzantine monasteries that have reached us). Several of these remarkable icons have survived and can be seen in the treasury of St. Mark's Basilica in Venice, where they were taken as spoils of the Fourth Crusade.
Wooden relief icons are an attempt to replace jewelry with more economical materials. What attracted me to wood was the possibility of the sensual tangibility of a sculptural image. Although sculpture as an icon technique was not very widespread in Byzantium, we must remember that the streets of Constantinople, before its destruction by the crusaders in the 13th century, were lined with ancient statues. And the Byzantines had sculptural images, as they say, “in their blood.”
The full-length icon shows Saint George praying, who turns to Christ, as if flying from heaven in the upper right corner of the center of this icon. In the margins is a detailed life cycle. Above the image are shown two archangels who flank the not preserved image of the “Prepared Throne (Etymasia)”. It introduces a very important time dimension into the icon, recalling the coming Second Coming.
That is, we are not talking about real time, or even the historical dimension of ancient Christian history, but about the so-called iconic or liturgical time, in which the past, present and future are intertwined into a single whole.
In this icon, as in many other icons from the mid-13th century, certain Western features are visible. During this era, the main part of the Byzantine Empire was occupied by the crusaders. It can be assumed that the person who ordered the icon could have been connected with this environment. This is evidenced by the very non-Byzantine, non-Greek shield of George, which is very reminiscent of shields with the coats of arms of Western knights. The edges of the shield are surrounded by a peculiar ornament, in which it is easy to recognize an imitation of Arabic Kufic writing; in this era it was especially popular and was considered a sign of the sacred.
In the lower left part, at the feet of St. George, there is a female figurine in rich, but very strict vestments, which falls in prayer at the feet of the saint. This is the unknown customer of this icon, apparently the same name as one of the two holy women depicted on the back of the icon (one is signed with the name “Marina”, the second martyr in royal robes is an image of St. Catherine or St. Irene).
Saint George is the patron saint of warriors, and taking this into account, it can be assumed that the icon ordered by an unknown wife is a votive image with a prayer for her husband, who in this very turbulent time is fighting somewhere and needs the most direct patronage of the main warrior from the rank of martyrs.
Icon of the Mother of God and Child with the Crucifixion on the back (XIV century)
The most artistically remarkable icon of this exhibition is the large icon of the Mother of God and Child with the Crucifixion on the reverse. This is a masterpiece of Constantinople painting, most likely painted by an outstanding, one might even say, great artist in the first half of the 14th century, the heyday of the so-called “Palaeologian Renaissance”.
During this era, the famous mosaics and frescoes of the Chora Monastery in Constantinople, known to many under the Turkish name Kahrie-Jami, appeared. Unfortunately, the icon suffered greatly, apparently from deliberate destruction: literally a few fragments of the image of the Mother of God and Child have survived. Unfortunately, we see mostly late additions. The crucifixion scene is much better preserved. But even here, someone purposefully destroyed the faces.
But even what has survived speaks of the hand of an outstanding artist. And not just a great master, but a man of extraordinary talent who set himself special spiritual goals.
He removes all unnecessary things from the Crucifixion scene, concentrating attention on the three main figures, in which, on the one hand, one can read the ancient basis that never disappeared in Byzantine art - stunning sculptural plasticity, which, however, is transformed by spiritual energy. For example, the figures of the Mother of God and John the Evangelist seem to be written on the border between the real and the supernatural, but this line is not crossed.
The figure of the Mother of God, wrapped in robes, was painted in lapis lazuli, a very expensive paint that was literally worth its weight in gold. Along the edge of the maforia is a golden border with long tassels. The Byzantine interpretation of this detail has not survived. However, in one of my works I suggested that it is also connected with the idea of the priesthood. Because the same tassels along the edge of the robe, also complemented by golden bells, were an important feature of the robes of the Old Testament high priest in the Jerusalem temple. The artist very delicately reminds of this intercom The Mother of God, who sacrifices Her Son, with the theme of the priesthood.
Mount Golgotha is shown as a small hill; behind it is visible the low city wall of Jerusalem, which on other icons is much more impressive. But here the artist seems to be showing the scene of the Crucifixion at a bird's eye level. And therefore, the wall of Jerusalem appears in the depths, and all attention, due to the chosen angle, is concentrated on the main figure of Christ and the framed figures of John the Evangelist and the Mother of God, creating the image of a sublime spatial action.
The spatial component is of fundamental importance for understanding the design of the entire double-sided icon, which is usually a processional image, perceived in space and movement. The combination of two images - the Mother of God Hodegetria on one side and the Crucifixion - has its own high prototype. These same two images were on both sides of the Byzantine palladium - the icon of Hodegetria of Constantinople.
Most likely, this icon of unknown origin reproduced the theme of Hodegetria of Constantinople. It is possible that it could be connected with the main miraculous action that happened to Hodegetria of Constantinople every Tuesday, when she was taken to the square in front of the Odigon monastery, and a weekly miracle took place there - the icon began to fly in a circle in the square and rotate around its axis. We have evidence of this from many people - representatives of different nations: Latins, Spaniards, and Russians, who saw this amazing action.
The two sides of the icon at the exhibition in Moscow remind us that the two sides of the Constantinople icon formed an indissoluble dual unity of the Incarnation and the Redemptive Sacrifice.
Icon of Our Lady Cardiotissa (XV century)
The icon was chosen by the creators of the exhibition as the central one. Here is a rare case for the Byzantine tradition when we know the name of the artist. He signed this icon, on the bottom margin it is written in Greek - “Hand of an Angel”. This is the famous Angelos Akotantos - an artist of the first half of the 15th century, of whom quite a lot remains big number icons We know more about him than about other Byzantine masters. A number of documents have survived, including his will, which he wrote in 1436. He did not need a will; he died much later, but the document was preserved.
The Greek inscription on the icon “Mother of God Kardiotissa” is not a feature of the iconographic type, but rather an epithet - a characteristic of the image. I think that even a person who is not familiar with Byzantine iconography can guess what we're talking about: we all know the word cardiology. Cardiotissa – cardiac.
Icon of Our Lady Cardiotissa (XV century)
Particularly interesting from the point of view of iconography is the pose of the Child, who, on the one hand, embraces the Mother of God, and on the other, seems to tip over backwards. And if the Mother of God looks at us, then the Baby looks into Heaven, as if far from Her. A strange pose, which was sometimes called Leaping in the Russian tradition. That is, on the icon there seems to be a Baby playing, but He plays rather strangely and very much not like a child. It is in this pose of the overturning body that there is an indication, a transparent hint of the theme of the Descent from the Cross, and, accordingly, the suffering of the God-Man at the moment of the Crucifixion.
Here we meet with the great Byzantine drama, when tragedy and triumph are combined into one, a holiday - this is both the greatest sorrow and at the same time a wonderful victory, the salvation of mankind. The Playing Child foresees His coming sacrifice. And the Mother of God, suffering, accepts the Divine plan.
This icon contains the endless depth of the Byzantine tradition, but if we look closely, we will see changes that will lead to a new understanding of the icon very soon. The icon was painted in Crete, which belonged to the Venetians at that time. After the fall of Constantinople, it became the main center of icon painting throughout the Greek world.
In this icon of the outstanding master Angelos, we see how he balances on the verge of turning a unique image into a kind of cliché for standard reproductions. The images of light-gaps are already becoming somewhat mechanistic; they look like a rigid grid laid on a living plastic base, something that artists of earlier times never allowed.
Icon of Our Lady Cardiotissa (XV century), fragment
Before us is an outstanding image, but in a certain sense already borderline, standing at the border of Byzantium and post-Byzantium, when living images gradually turn into cold and somewhat soulless replicas. We know what happened on Crete less than 50 years after this icon was painted. Contracts between the Venetians and the leading icon painters of the island have reached us. According to one such contract in 1499, three icon-painting workshops were to produce 700 icons of the Mother of God in 40 days. In general, it is clear that a kind of artistic industry is beginning, spiritual service through the creation of holy images is turning into a craft for the market, for which thousands of icons are painted.
The beautiful icon of Angelos Akotanthos represents a striking milestone in the centuries-long process of devaluation of Byzantine values, of which we are all heirs. The more precious and important becomes the knowledge of true Byzantium, the opportunity to see it with our own eyes, which was provided to us by the unique “exhibition of masterpieces” in the Tretyakov Gallery.
Angel. Fragment of the icon “Great Martyr George, with scenes from his life. Great Martyrs Marina and Irina (?).” Two-sided icon. XIII century. Wood, carving, tempera. Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens. Photo courtesy of the Tretyakov Gallery press service.
Date of: February 8–April 9, 2017
Place: Lavrushinsky lane, 10, room 38Curator: EAT. Saenkova
Participating museums: Byzantine and Christian Museum, Benaki Museum, collection of E. Velimezis - H. Margaritis
Compound: 18 exhibits: 12 icons, 2 illustrated manuscripts, liturgical objects - processional cross, air, 2 katsei
An interesting exhibition opens at the Tretyakov Gallery. It will feature works of Byzantine and post-Byzantine art from museums and private collections in Greece. These are monuments from the end of the X century, which give an idea of the different periods of Byzantine art. The art of Byzantium is a priceless treasure of the world, especially important for the development of Russian culture. The exhibition “Masterpieces of Byzantium” is located next to the halls of the permanent exhibition of ancient Russian art of the 11th–17th centuries, which allows the viewer to trace parallels and see the features of the works of Russian and Greek artists.
« At the exhibition, each of the works is a unique monument of its era. The exhibits provide an opportunity to present the history of Byzantine culture and trace the mutual influence of the traditions of Eastern and Western Christian art. The earliest monument in the exhibition is a silver processional cross from the end of the 10th century with images of Christ, the Mother of God and saints engraved on it.
The art of the 12th century is represented by the icon “The Raising of Lazarus,” which embodies the sophisticated, refined style of painting of that time. The collection of the Tretyakov Gallery contains the icon “Our Lady of Vladimir” from the same era, created in Constantinople in the first third of the 12th century and then brought to Rus'.
One of the most striking exhibits of the exhibition is a relief with the image of the Great Martyr George with scenes from his life. It serves as an example of the interaction between Byzantine and Western European masters, which laid the foundation for the phenomenon of the Crusader workshops - a most interesting page in the history of the 13th century. The wood carving technique in which the figure of St. George is made is not typical for Byzantine art and was obviously borrowed from Western tradition, while the magnificent frame of stamps was created in accordance with the canons of Byzantine painting.
The icon of “The Virgin and Child,” painted at the beginning of the 13th century, presumably by a Cypriot master, demonstrates another way of mutual influence between medieval art of East and West. In the artistic culture of this period, associated with the revival of the empire and the Palaiologan dynasty, the movement towards ancient traditions was perceived as a search for one’s cultural identity.
The mature style of art of the Palaiologan era belongs to the double-sided image “Our Lady Hodegetria, with the Twelve Feasts.” The throne prepared” at the end of the 14th century. This icon is a contemporary of the works of Theophanes the Greek. Both artists use the same artistic techniques; in particular, the thin lines piercing the faces of the Mother of God and the Child, symbolizing the energies of divine light. This image is obviously a copy from the miraculous Constantinople icon of Hodegetria.
Several objects tell about the wealth of decorative and applied art of Byzantium, including a katsea (censer) with the image of the Great Martyrs Theodore and Demetrius and an embroidered air (cover) for the Holy Gifts. The artists’ technique was particularly virtuosic, decorating manuscripts with complex, exquisite ornaments in headpieces, initials and miniatures with images of evangelists. The level of their skill is demonstrated by two Gospel codes - the 13th and early 14th centuries.
The post-Byzantine period is represented by three icons of Greek masters who left for Crete after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. These works allow us to trace the synthesis of creative findings of European art and the traditional Byzantine canon.
The Byzantine artistic tradition stood at the origins of the formation of the art of many peoples. From the very beginning of the spread of Christianity in Kievan Rus, Greek artists and architects passed on to Russian craftsmen the skills of temple construction, fresco painting, icon painting, book design, and jewelry art. This cultural interaction continued for many centuries. From the 10th to the 15th centuries, Russian art went from apprenticeship to high mastery, preserving the memory of Byzantium as a fertile source, long years spiritually nourished Russian culture." - reports the press service of the Tretyakov Gallery.