St. George's Church in Stary Ladoga. Old Ladoga frescoes - St. George and Co. Frescoes of Orthodox churches

The Baptism of Christ fresco was completed in 1482 by the Italian Renaissance painter Pietro Perugino. It is located in the Sistine Chapel (a church in the Vatican), in Rome. The size of the fresco is 540 cm x 335 cm. The fresco depicts: Christ, John the Baptist, a dove as a symbol of the Holy Spirit, God in a luminous cloud, cherubim and seraphim, two angels, a crowd of people, the Jordan River, a landscape of Rome, Triumphal Arch, Colosseum, Roman Pantheon.

Fresco "Baptism of Rus'".

The fresco was made in 1895, 1896, Vasnetsov, in the Vladimir Cathedral, in Kyiv. The fresco shows the baptism of the people of Kiev in the waters of the Dnieper.

Kyiv FRESCOES. FRESCOES OF SOPHIA OF Kyiv.

In several parts Sophia Cathedral frescoes of the 17th - 18th centuries have been preserved. The frescoes were significantly damaged during the restoration in the 19th century, the original liveliness of color of most of the frescoes of St. Sophia Cathedral has not been preserved. The names of the master artists are unknown.

Fresco "The Descent of Christ into Hell".

"The Apostle Paul" fragment of the fresco of the side altar of Peter and Paul.

Fresco "Family of Yaroslav the Wise" (fragment).

FRESCO OF DIONYSIOUS. FRESCO OF FERAPONTOV MONASTERY.

The fresco depicts St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. It is located in Russia, in the village of Ferapontovo, in the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin, belonging to the Ferapontov Monastery. The fresco was made by the famous Moscow icon painter Dionysius in 1502.

FRESCOES OF THE ASSUMPTION CATHEDRAL.

Cathedral of the Assumption Holy Mother of God(Assumption Cathedral on Gorodok). Russia, the city of Zvenigorod. Only a few fragments of ancient Russian painting have survived. They were discovered in 1918. Presumably, they belong to the hands of one of the masters of the Rublev school.

FRESCOES BY THEOPHANES THE GREEK IN THE CHURCH OF THE TRANSFORMATION OF SAVING.

These frescoes are located in Russia, in the city of Veliky Novgorod, in the Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior. They were made in 1378 by Theophanes the Greek, an outstanding Byzantine master of monumental painting. The Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior is the only place in the world where his monumental works have been preserved. In the photo below: the frescoes of the dome and the eastern wall of the chapel of the Holy Trinity.

Fresco "Ascension". Mirozh Monastery.

The fresco "Ascension" is located in the dome of the Transfiguration Cathedral, part of the Mirozhsky monastery complex, in the city of Pskov, Russia.

Trinity. Fresco by Masaccio.

The fresco was made around 1427 by the outstanding Italian painter Masaccio. It is located in Italy, in Florence, in the church of Santa Maria Novella. In the center of the fresco is the crucified Jesus Christ, supported by God. On either side of them: St. John and the Virgin Mary, on the edges: the donor and his wife. Below: a sarcophagus with the remains of Adam, on which is an inscription that translates as "remember that you are mortal."

Fresco. Transfiguration Cathedral.

Fresco from the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior depicting the apostle. Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral is located in Russia, in the city of Pereslavl. The frescoes in the cathedral were cleaned off and now the interior walls of the cathedral are just white. This surviving fragment was transferred to the State historical Museum in Moscow.

Fresco "St. Paul of Thebes".

A fresco (Coptic icon) is located in the Alexandria Church, in the city of Alexandria in Egypt.

Fresco "Virgin and Child". Rome.

The fresco "Virgin and Child" is in the Basilica of St. Clement, in the church, which is located in Rome.

Frescoes of the Buddha (Bezeklik).

The origin of the frescoes is the Bezeklik area, China, a Buddhist cave monastery. These frescoes are not under the protection of UNESCO and their safety is under threat.

Fresco of Buddha from Mogao Cave.

The fresco is located in China, in the Mogao Cave, one of the largest caves belonging to the Qianfodong complex.

Fresco "White Angel".

Church of the Ascension, Mileshev Monastery, in Serbia.

Fresco "Resurrection of Christ".

The fresco was done in tempera by the Italian painter of the Early Renaissance, Piero della Francesca, around 1460. Its size is 200 cm x 225 cm. The fresco is in the art museum of Borgo Sansepolcro, in Tuscany, Italy.

Frescoes in the Church of the Virgin Mary.

These frescoes are in Rome, in the Church of the Virgin Mary (Santa Maria Antiqua). The period of their appearance is about 565 - 578 years. The frescoes are in disrepair and are under close supervision of restorers. The Church of Santa Maria Antiqua is not always open to visitors.

The interior of the church should not look like "like a Bible for the illiterate" in the words of Gregory the Theologian.

Each temple must have its own face, while observing the laws of canonical painting.

Each individual element of the temple painting is part of an organic, indivisible whole, built on the basis of certain principles. To create a wall painting in a temple, the artist must be combined with the theologian. For example, the hieromonk and painter Dionysius, in his treatise "Erminia or Instruction in the Art of Painting", gives the first advice for an icon painter:

“Whoever wants to learn painting, let him take the first step and practice drawing and drawing without any dimensions for some time, until he gets used to it. Then let a prayer be made for him to the Lord Jesus Christ before the icon of Hodegetria.

Having made a prayer, you can get down to business

1. The painting of the temple starts from the dome and drum of the temple from top to bottom, descending to the main volume of the church quadrangle.
2. Then the painting of the temple altar begins, on the choir stalls and under the choir stalls.
3. The narthex of the temple, the entrance, and the lower multi-figure compositions in the quadrangle are painted.
4. Finally, ornaments are written at the very bottom of the temple.

Starting work from the dome of the temple, the artist seems to show with his work what is the main thing in temple of God, gradually descending in the process of work to the lower, ground level with a height of human height.

For responsible work in a prayerful place, a team of well-working artists is needed.

Artwork materials can combine several types of paint, depending on the composition. For example, some paints can be used for figured compositions, others for ornaments.

fit silicate, oil paints, artistic acrylic.

Let us turn again to the work of Hieromonk Dionysius:

What paints are used for wall painting and which are not used

Icon white, yar from copper, blue paint (lahuri), varnish and arsenik are not used for wall painting, and other paints are all used. However, you need to know about cinnabar that if you paint the outer part of the temple in a place where the wind blows, then do not lay it down, because it turns black, but replace it with light brown paint. If you paint the inside of the temple, then add a little wall white and Constantinople ocher to cinnabar, and it will not turn black.

The main stages in the work on painting the walls of the temple:

Temple painting markings

• Plastering, priming and painting walls;
• wall drawing, tracing;
• execution of linear drawings on the wall;

Image of the main architectural elements

• Drawing panels, backgrounds;
• making paper stencils for drawing ornaments;
• painting with a brush, refinement.

Painting of the dome of the temple, ornaments and images of archangels

• Drawing backgrounds under ornaments and images;
• figurative compositions of saints in decorative design;
• applying gold paint (for example, Keim Soldalit matte paint).

Painting under the choir platform

Architectural elements, ornaments are applied using tracing paper and stencils. Stencils are used for fonts in the Old Church Slavonic language.

Altar painting

Strictly according to the canon sign east walls altar, apse. In the central part is the image of the Lord Almighty seated on the throne, or the image of Christ Communion of the twelve apostles.

IN big temple there may be several altars and thrones. The painting of the altar is most often done with oil paints to achieve natural colors and shades.

Examples of wall painting in Orthodox churches

Annunciation Cathedral (Moscow Kremlin)

The Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin is small in size, because it was intended only for the Grand Duke's family.

The cathedral was built in 1489 by craftsmen from Pskov.

The icon of the Mother of God from the Deesis tier, at the entrance to the cathedral from the western gallery, seems to invite you to enter the church.

Unique surviving murals made by the son of Dionysius, the artist Theodosius, with the brethren. The medieval artel, the nameless brethren, created for us a unique painting, on which the faces look like they are alive.

Artists of those early years were obliged to make their own paint for painting.

Let's return to the monumental, wall painting of the Cathedral of the Annunciation. Three times it was decorated with frescoes in the process of reconstruction.

The painting of the cathedral is called verbose, consisting of cycles. Each cycle consists of detailed plots, which are complicated by the addition of episodes and characters. The wall painting of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Kremlin has been preserved since the time of Ivan the Terrible. There are unique characters not customary to depict in Orthodox churches:

• Greek sages Aristotle (with a scroll on which is written "First God, then the word and spirit, and one with him"), Homer, Plutarch, Menander, Ptolemy, Anaxagoras. Hellenic sages seem to proclaim the birth of Christ.
• Ancient Roman prophetess Sibyl.

Hagia Sophia (Sophia Cathedral), Kyiv

The heart of the Sofia Reserve, an 11th-century Orthodox church in the Ukrainian Baroque style. The temple was built by Prince Yaroslav the Wise and has preserved unique fragments of murals of the 17th-18th centuries, more than 3000 m2.

In ancient times, all the side walls of St. Sophia Cathedral were decorated with water-based paints on wet plaster. In the 17th century, the galleries, towers and choirs were refurbished with adhesive paint. The damaged frescoes were plastered and whitewashed.

The new requirements of the era led to the fact that in the 18th century new oil images were applied on top of the frescoes. A century later, the new oil painting was cleared away. The subjects of the ancient frescoes were repeated.

In a cathedral listed world heritage UNESCO, restoration work has been carried out in our days. Ancient frescoes have been restored, and where they were lost, paintings of a later period have been left.

In Hagia Sophia, blue, deep azure on the walls of the temple is striking. How did the artists on the murals of the temple achieve this in antiquity? Here is what Hieromonk Dionysius writes in his work “ Herminia, or instruction in the art of painting»:

“How to illuminate the walls with azure.

Put the azure on the stove, add a little chenille (), called hinti (indigo), to it so that the azure does not mold on the wall, and how much chenille you put in, mix the same amount of wall white, wipe it all well and collect it in a cup. Then first prime the wall with whitewash welded with linseed oil, then cover with black paint, and finally illuminate with azure. Its reflection is made both on black die and on dark brown paint.

In the temple, created under Yaroslav the Wise, there is a unique fresco "Group portrait of the family of Yaroslav the Wise." On the fresco, Yaroslav holds a model of St. Sophia Cathedral, next to the prince, Yaroslav's wife and Princess Irina. Yaroslav and Irina were followed by sons and daughters in a solemn procession. From this large composition, four figures have been preserved on the south wall of the central nave and two on the north.

According to legend, Prince Vladimir and Princess Olga also stood near the figure of Christ, to whom the princely family is going.

Holy Trinity Ipatiev Monastery

On the banks of the Kostroma River, not far from its confluence with the Volga, the Holy Trinity Ipatiev Monastery was founded in the 15th century with a stone Trinity Cathedral with two side chapels.

The fresco cycle of the Trinity Cathedral covers the walls like a carpet. They are arranged in five tiers and the whole cycle consists of eighty-one compositions. The artel of icon painters, headed by the famous Gury Nikitin and Sila Savin, painted the cathedral in three months in 1685. This grandiose work was done by 18 people! In the imagination, pictures of the unusually selfless work of the artel involuntarily arise. Painting frescoes in the Trinity Cathedral was the final chord of the great master.

Gury Nikitin lived his life as a bean, was an ascetic and an ascetic. In the scribe book of the 17th century, the yard of the icon-bearer Guriy Nikitin is also named, about which there is only one phrase: “It’s good for poor things,” that is, he was a very poor man.

“The smallest of the painters,” as muralists modestly called themselves at that time, painted the walls of churches in many cities, including the Moscow Kremlin: the Assumption and Archangel Cathedrals. In the Kremlin of Rostov Veliky - Assumption and Resurrection Church.

One of the most famous frescoes of the Ipatiev Monastery - " Last Judgment» on the western wall of the Trinity Cathedral. When you enter the temple, you freeze from the amazing sight of this monumental work. This is one of the oldest frescoes in the cathedral and is dated 1654.

The example of the icon painter Gury Nikitin clearly shows what requirements were placed on painters who create frescoes on the walls of churches. At all times, artists working in churches should value their calling.

In our time, when more and more temples appear, there are many orders for such works. Prices depend on the amount of work, the complexity of the images. Of course, one cannot find an ascetic and ascetic like Gury Nikitin today, but it is quite possible to meet a good artist.

At the time of writing, these are the rates:

From 4,000 rubles m2, taking into account sketches and projects, but without preparing walls and scaffolding, and up to 7,000 rubles m2

Cost of materials; (~150 t rub per 1000 m2 of painting)

The inscription on the wall of the Cathedral of the Annunciation in the Kremlin will serve as an inspiration for all artists whose vocation is monumental painting in churches: “First is God, then the word and spirit, and one with him”

All creative success!

How are frescoes made? Master Class

January 21, within the framework of the exhibition of temple monumental painting “We worship Your most pure image, Good One” at the Moscow Academic Art Lyceum Russian Academy Arts, a master class "The experience of fresco painting" and a round table "The problem of professionalism in modern church monumental art" were held. The master class was conducted by a full member of the Russian Academy of Arts, professor of PSTGU and Moscow State Academic Art Institute. Surikov, Evgeny Nikolaevich Maksimov, among whose works is the painting of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior.

FIRST HOUR: Evgeniy Nikolayevich Maksimov, a well-known muralist working in the field of church art, full member of the Russian Academy of Arts, professor, tells how and why he began his artistic career

“The Department of Monumental Art of PSTGU turned 15 this year, and we decided to make an exhibition of objects completed during this time - to bring together everything that was done by students and teachers, as well as to hold a master class and a round table,” says Deputy Head of the Department, Igor Samolygo.

The well-known muralist Yevgeny Maksimov painted an ancient (8th century) Sinai image of the holy martyr Mercury on a horse in front of the visitors of the exhibition. Spectators could observe the work, starting from the laying of the last layer of lime plaster; a drawing made in grisaille in several tones and ending with a graphic decoration of the details of the fresco.

“For 70 years of Soviet power, the secrets of the mastery of church artists, which were traditionally passed from mouth to mouth, were lost. There are no treatises as such, where the subtleties of the work would be revealed. Therefore, any thoughtful copy of the ancient Byzantine model is a deep research work, says Svetlana Vasyutina, a teacher at PSTGU, a member of the union of muralists. “Look, there are at least three or four colors on Yevgeny Nikolayevich’s table, but with their help he paints a painting. For example, we all see an ocher (yellow) cloak for a warrior, but it is written not in yellow, but in reddish-red. The ocher effect is an optical illusion that results from the imposition of layers of paint on top of each other. The talent of the master is to see how the work was built from pure gesso, to understand the relationship of colors with each other. Seeing this sequence is interesting not only for students, but also for us, artists.”

The master class lasted over 8 hours. It was attended by students of the Moscow Art Lyceum, teachers and students of PSTGU and MGAHI them. Surikov, icon painters and art critics.

The surface imitating the wall was prepared in advance using a special technology developed at PSTGU for the educational process. Students do not have the opportunity to train in the temple on real walls. “An imitation of a wall is done in this way,” says Igor Samolygo, “we take a tablet of thick plywood and put a layer of plaster on it - sand, lime, marble chips, so that it absorbs water. Then it dries up and it turns out, as it were, such a wall. To make it suitable for painting, another thin layer of lime is superimposed on top. You can write while the lime remains wet.

When the "wall" is ready, a drawing prepared in advance on the right scale is transferred to it, in this case, a reproduction.

SECOND HOUR: The drawing is pressed into the wet plaster with a pen. A groove appears on the "wall" - a graph, which is clearly visible in side lighting. Evgeny Nikolayevich was helped by the teachers of PSTGU in this matter

The audience came to the master class very patient

You can paint a fresco with water-based paints - only pigment and water are used. "No glue needs to be added," explains Igor Samolygo, "when the lime dries, it itself fixes all the paints applied to the surface of the wet plaster, after drying the surface is not afraid of water and difficult weather conditions."

THIRD HOUR: Evgeniy Nikolaevich began direct work on the fresco

FOURTH HOUR: When the graph is pressed through, the artist makes underpainting - covers large planes with local tonal spots. This stage is preparatory for further work on color.

FIFTH HOUR: When the grisaille (painting over with grey) is finished, the artist takes the pure color and puts it on top of the grey. It turns out that since the bottom is not White list, which completely reflects the light, and a gray lining, then the paint acquires a special, noble shade. That is, to get, for example Brown color, you need to transparently write in red in a dark gray tone. You can mix red with black and you'll get brown too, but it won't have the same depth and complexity as the color created by layering paint.

"The fresco is somewhat close to watercolor," says Igor Samolygo, "where paints can also be layered on top of each other - glazing. But the fresco wins over watercolor by the ability to use white in the work, the role of which is played by lime, having a crystalline structure, it gives the surface a special glow"

The sample all the time stood before the eyes of the master

Due to the optical mixing of colors in a fresco, a very complex color texture can be achieved. Fresco painting is somewhat similar to Impressionist painting - the more ancient examples of fresco painting, the more difficult it is, the more the master uses the possibilities of paint - using the techniques of optical and mechanical mixing of colors," says Igor

Most of the artists brought cameras with them and recorded all stages of the master's work.

SIXTH HOUR: In the dining room of the art lyceum, you could buy tea and eat

SEVENTH HOUR: On last step a description is made, a drawing is specified. Then spaces are written - strikes of white lines, which symbolize the light emanating from the image. The gaps make the face luminous, radiating light.

EIGHTH HOUR: Only the most persistent remained in the audience!

“It is very interesting to look at Maksimov’s work, because he loves to learn,” added Igor Samolygo, “For many years he has been studying samples, different writing techniques and successfully implements them in his work. Few artists have such a deep understanding of the pattern as Evgeny Nikolayevich. Copying copying is different. You can limit yourself to work at a glance - look at the photo and copy it, or you can go deeper - try to find out how it was originally made, how it was intended by the author - this is what we teach our students, then in the process of working on a copy, the artist will be able to master the skill of the author. It seems to pass to him in the process of work.

Ekaterina STEPANOVA

Not just walls

Church architects interfere with artists: leading experts in the field of Christian monumental painting complain about low level modern church architecture.

On January 24, a round table was held at the Moscow Academic Art Lyceum of the Russian Academy of Arts on the topic "The problem of professionalism in modern church monumental art." The discussion was attended by teachers of the faculty of church arts of PSTGU, academicians of the Russian Academy of Arts, specialists in the field of the history of Christian art.

The layout of the temple is an obligatory part of the graduation project of students of the department of monumental art of PSTGU

The low level of modern church architecture often becomes an obstacle in the work of a modern monumental artist who covers the interior spaces of churches under construction with frescoes or mosaics. This disappointing thesis became the leitmotif of most of the speeches made at the last round table.

The architectural volumes of the temple, ceilings and vaults are not just a “canvas” for the church muralist, their proportions, shapes and mutual position themselves dictate compositional solutions to the artist, determine the parameters of the future painting. Often the architect’s mistakes have to be corrected by the icon painter: “We are forced to interfere in the work of the architect or builders, sometimes we even have to force them to change the unfortunate shape of the vault, to remove some element,” says the head of the icon painting school at the Moscow Theological Academy, hegumen Luka (Golovkov). “And we encourage all of our colleagues to follow our lead.”

In general, our Church lacks professional educational institution or the department of church architecture, which could train qualified church specialists in this specific area, just as today the Faculty of Church Arts of PSTGU or the MDA school trains professional icon painters, mosaicists, applied artists - the majority of experts agreed.

Simultaneously with the round table, an exhibition of works by graduates, students and teachers of the Faculty of Church Arts of St. Tikhon University was opened within the walls of the academic art lyceum.

“Since the opening of the exhibition, most often journalists have asked us the same question: does the canon limit the artist’s freedom, are we too conservative, what’s new in church painting? Evgeny Maksimov, the muralist, vice-rector and professor of the Moscow State Art Institute named after V. I. Surikov, head of the department of monumental painting of the faculty of church arts at PSTGU, confessed to the host of the round table. “Art is impossible without canons, neither ancient, nor renaissance, nor ecclesiastical,” Archpriest Alexander Saltykov, dean of the faculty of church arts at PSTGU, answered journalists in absentia, he is not ready to oppose the freedom of creativity to the rules of canonical icon painting. Canon is not a set of rules, but artistic language closely related to theology and liturgical life Orthodox Church. At the same time, as the participants of the round table agreed, in turn, this does not exclude the possibility of the emergence of a “modern” icon-painting style in the future, it’s just that this style cannot be invented, such a style can only appear independently, from experience. creative development and rethinking by the icon painter church tradition, classical Byzantine, eastern and even western iconographic heritage.

Dmitry REBROV

Frescoes of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral.
Built by Vsevolod at the very end of the twelfth century, Dimitrovsky Cathedral was the main princely cathedral, while the Cathedral of the Assumption was an episcopal cathedral.
The cathedral is dedicated to Demetrius of Thessalonica.
Interesting interior decoration of the cathedral, most ancient part it belongs to art historians to the twelfth century.
The frescoes of this cathedral are one of the most remarkable monuments of painting of the pre-Mongolian period.
It is possible that these frescoes influenced the work of Andrei Rublev, especially on the murals of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir. It can also be assumed that the color scheme of the images of Dionysius also has roots in this painting, which was created either at the end of the 12th century or at the very beginning of the 13th century.

Miraculously surviving during the devastation and barbaric renovations, they have come down to us only partially. But very well preserved interesting scenes. Many fundamentally important questions related to their caviarography, style, content and meaning have not yet been resolved.
Today, when the cathedral is open to the public, you can see fragments
the interior decoration of the temple, which, I repeat, has been preserved, unfortunately, completely
A little.
The murals of the 12th century, discovered in 1843, belong to the Last Judgment composition.

In the central vault under the choirs, the figures of 12 apostles-judges on
thrones and angels behind them.

Detail of the fresco "The Last Judgment". Painting on the northern slope of the central nave.

*Apostles and angels, northern slope, fragment, left side.

*Apostles and angels, northern slope, fragment, middle.

*Apostles and angels, northern slope, right side.

Detail of the fresco "The Last Judgment". Painting on the southern slope of the central nave.

*Apostles and angels, southern slope, fragment, left side.

*Apostles and angels, southern slope, fragment, middle.

*Apostles and angels, southern slope, fragment, right side.

In the small vault under the choirs - scenes of paradise:
trumpeting angels, the apostle Peter, leading the holy women to paradise, prudent
thief, "Bosom of Abraham" with the forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and
also the Mother of God on the throne.
The murals of the Dmitrievsky Cathedral are an original version
classical Byzantine style of the late 12th century. They are distinguished
spirituality of images, plasticity of figures, subtle combinations of colors.
The perfect beauty of angelic faces is especially striking.

* Angel. Demetrius Cathedral. Southern slope of the western vault of the central nave.

*Angel. Demetrius Cathedral. Southern slope of the western vault of the central nave.

*Angel. Demetrius Cathedral. Southern slope of the western vault, southern nave.

*Angel. North slope..

*Angel. North slope.

It should also be noted that, unusual for that period, realism in
the image of the apostolic faces with individual features.

*Apostle Peter. Dmitrievsky Cathedral. Western vault of the southern nave, northern slope.

* Apostle Paul. Dmitrievsky Cathedral. Northern slope of the western vault of the central nave.

* Apostle Simon. Dmitrievsky Cathedral. Northern slope of the western vault of the central nave.

*Apostle Thomas. Dmitrievsky Cathedral. Southern slope of the western vault of the central nave.

*Apostle Andrew. Western vault. Southern nave. South slope. Dmitrievsky Cathedral.

* Apostle James. Western vault. Southern nave. South slope. Dmitrievsky Cathedral.

Scenes of paradise: trumpeting angels, the apostle Peter leading the holy wives to paradise, hiccup, "Bosom of Abraham" with the forefathers Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

* Trumpeting Angel Northern slope of the southern nave.

* Apostle Peter, leading the righteous women to paradise. Fragment.

Bosom of Abraham.

* Bosom of Abraham. Left side of the fresco.

* The bosom of Abraham is the right side of the fresco.

* Forefather Abraham with a baby.

* Forefather Jacob.

* Forefather Isaac.

The detailed image of the Garden of Eden is also unusual: trees with palm
branches; a trellis supporting the vines; birds pecking
grape.

*Garden of Eden.

The history of the restoration of frescoes is interesting, from which it will become clear why there are so few authentic frescoes of the 12th century left.

In the 18th century, the frescoes of the cathedral were rewritten in oils. During the restoration of 1839-1843. they were shot down, and the walls were "worn out" for a new "schedule" The new frescoes were performed by Mikhail Safonov from Polesha. When the oil paintings were removed in 1839, authentic frescoes of the 12th century were accidentally discovered under two layers of plaster. In 1840, Archbishop Parthenius reported this to the Synod. In 1843, the Synod considered the report of Parthenius and decided: "To preserve the painting that was accidentally discovered in the Vladimir Dmitrievsky Cathedral ... so that it could be studied exactly to what time it can be attributed." According to the hierarchical chain, they reported to Nicholas I. He gave the appropriate orders, and the artist-archaeologist F.G. arrived in Vladimir. Solntsev. He examined the frescoes, made copies and entrusted the clearing to Safonov under the supervision of Parthenius. The clearing was completed in 1844. Until 1890, no one touched them. But in 1890, according to I.E. Grabar, the frescoes were "refurbished" again.

The first scientific restoration was carried out in 1918 by the All-Russian Commission for the Disclosure and Preservation of Painting Monuments, headed by Grabar. Not all of the frescoes uncovered at that time were preserved. When comparing the recordings of Grabar and what is today, some fragments are missing. Lost. The painting, which I.E. Grabar defined as the result of Safonov's writings.

In 1919 the temple was closed for worship and transferred to the Vladimir Museum.

In 1948-50s. oil painting was made by M. Safonov.

In 1952, when removing the brick "bookmarks", another fragment of the 12th century mural was discovered. - part of the ornament and the sky.

The question of authors-masters is the darkest one. Until now, there is no consensus about either their number or origin. Grabar made the first assumptions. He believed that there were two authors and they were Greeks. This opinion has been disputed by many experts in Old Russian art, since he made mistakes in the attribution of frescoes even at the stage of restoration in 1918. (A.I. Anisimov. "The pre-Mongolian period of ancient Russian painting" M. 1928, pp. 111-119). Therefore, in determining authorship, the opinion of A.I. Anisimov and V.N. Lazarev, who believe that there were at least five masters and that there was a Russian master among them. (N.V. Lazarev. "Russian Medieval Painting" M.1970, pp. 28-42).

* Vault with a fragment of a fresco on the southern slope of the central nave of the western vault.

How to get there:
Address: Vladimir region, Vladimir, Cathedral Square
Bus: direct and transit bus routes from Moscow

Frescoes of Svetitskhoveli Cathedral- these are paintings on the walls of the cathedral, made in the XI, XVI and XVII centuries, and preserved only in fragments. Here you can see a rare scene of the Last Judgment, the figure of St. Christopher, a portrait of Queen Mariam, and so on. In many cases, we now see late frescoes from the era of the decline of Georgian painting.

The frescoes of the cathedral were destroyed and damaged many times. Something was destroyed during the invasions of Tamerlane in the 1380s. In the 16th and 17th centuries, during the invasions, the Persians scraped off the faces on the frescoes, and these scratches are clearly visible even now. In the 1830s, when the visit of Emperor Nicholas I was expected, they were whitewashed so that the cathedral would take on a cleaner and more formal look.

Now there are still a lot of frescoes and listing them is not an easy task. Let us mention the main known.

Pillar

Those who have studied the history of the construction of the temple already know that the temple was built on the site where the sacred cedar grew. The cedar was cut down and turned into a column, which was set directly on its own stump. Or the base of the column was placed directly on the roots - now it's hard to say. For some time unknown to science, this column ceased to be a bearing column and turned into a free-standing column. In the 16th century, it was surrounded by a high stone wall, and it actually turned into a stone tower. In the same century, this turret was painted with frescoes. These frescoes are late and rather mediocre from an artistic point of view.

Three sides of the pillar are painted. From the West - scenes of the resurrection and crucifixion, from the south - the scene of the installation of the Pillar, from the east the same. There are no frescoes on the north side. The icon "Trinity" used to hang there, and in 2017 they hung "Christ Pantocrator".

And here the most interesting, of course, is on the western wall. The wall is divided into 4 sections, the crucifix is ​​depicted in the upper right. On both sides of the crucifix we see something resembling jellyfish. Red and white. Or grey. Since the 1980s, there have been rumors that these are flying saucers. From time to time these rumors are revived. For example, on July 25, 2017, one site published a news item under the heading: In the temple of Svetitskhoveli in the Georgian city of Mtskheta, on a fresco depicting the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, strange objects similar to flying saucers were found. Perhaps this icon is evidence of the existence of extraterrestrial civilizations..

Indeed, it looks a bit like flying jellyfish, although in fact it is a visualization of the biblical phrase " The sun will turn to darkness and the moon to blood when the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.". So the red jellyfish is a blood moon. Although this may be a very subtle reference to the prophet Isaiah:" And the moon will turn red, and the sun will be ashamed, when the Lord of hosts reigns on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem" (24:23).

The image of the sun and the moon is a kind of symbolic convention, but it has firmly entered into Orthodox iconography. Black and red faces were often depicted on icons. For example, on a miniature in the Gospel of Rabula, one of the very early images of the crucifixion (586), they look like this:

Moreover, in Russia they are depicted to this day. Here, for example, is a completely modern carved icon. It even says where the sun is and where the moon is.

The same sun and moon are present on Raphael's famous icon of the Crucifixion with the Virgin Mary, Saints and Angels (1503). Moreover, Raphael has a red moon to the left of the Crucifixion, as in Svetitskhoveli. The moral of all this: the Moon on the image of the Crucifixion is a long-standing and massive phenomenon, and one can not know about it only due to illiteracy.

Last Judgment

Of greatest interest is usually the fresco of the southern wall, where the scene of the Last Judgment is painted. In the Bible, this scene is mentioned by the prophet Ezekiel and in the Apocalypse. Strictly speaking, this is not the Last Judgment, but the Second Coming.

In Russia it is sometimes called "Ezekiel's vision". There are few such frescoes in the world. It is customary to think that they began to appear in the XIV - XV centuries in the era of passion for all sorts of mysticism. According to another version, their appearance is associated with a change in the format of the liturgy, when they began to read the Apocalypse at the service.

The central place on this fresco is occupied by the figure of Christ surrounded by angels and the zodiac circle. Angels are often mistaken for the figures of the apostles (and the author of this text thought so for many years), although these are precisely angels, with wings, and there are not 12, but 10 of them (plus Cherubim and Thrones).

The figure of Christ is the so-called "Christ Pantocrator", specifically the version known in Russia as "The Savior in Power". Modern language it would be called "Savior surrounded heavenly powers". That is, surrounded by angels. The fresco depicts Christ on a throne with the Gospel in his left hand. The Gospel looks like a scroll with text. Usually it says "Come to me, all who suffer ...".

Behind Christ, the red rhombus is a symbol of the earth (the red color symbolizes the earth, and the rhombus symbolizes the four cardinal points). Inside the rhombus, you can see the red wings - these are Thrones, angels of the highest hierarchy. In Georgia they are called sakdari. Usually they are drawn translucent, but here they are red. (Below there are Thrones in a different format, so maybe it's some other hierarchy)

Four figures are visible from the outer side of the rhombus: an eagle, a bull, a lion and a man. This is a reference to the vision from the 4th chapter of the Apocalypse:

Around the throne are four animals full of eyes in front and behind. And the first animal was like a lion, and the second animal was like a calf, and the third animal had a face like a man, and the fourth animal was like a flying eagle.

In the Apocalypse, this in turn is a reference to tetramorph- the beast with four faces from the vision of the prophet Ezekiel. It is sometimes believed that these figures are symbols of the apostles (the theory of Irenaeus of Lyon).

All these figures are inscribed in a circle with the Greek text from the first verses of the 148th psalm:

1 Praise the Lord from heaven, praise him in the highest.

2 Praise him, all his angels; praise him, all his hosts.

3 Praise Him, sun and moon; praise Him, all you stars of light.

This circular inscription is very important, it explains the meaning of the image: around this inscription are the mentioned angels, the sun, the moon and the stars. who praise the Lord.

Next is another outer circle, divided into 13 sections. They have 10 angels, two cherubs and two wheels at the very bottom. The angel at the very top is the Archangel Michael, who is recognized by the white circle in his left hand - these are the symbol of foresight (the so-called Mirror). He is the main one in the angelic hierarchy, therefore, from above. The names of the rest of the angels are difficult to establish. There are many systematizations of angels in the tradition, and which artists adhered to, we no longer know.

The problem here is that there are usually 7 Archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Yehudiel, Barachiel and Jeremiel). There are 10 of them in the circle. It is not clear who exactly was added. It could be the Archangel Sichail.

The two wheels at the bottom of the angelic circle are also Thrones. These are the wheels from Ezekiel's vision. They are almost always visible in the depiction of Christ Pantocrator. For example, Christ also has it in the altar apse. According to the canon, they are drawn like this:

Some wheels are also mentioned in the 7th chapter of the book of the prophet Daniel: "His throne is like a flame of fire, His wheels are a blazing fire."

Around the angels are the 12 signs of the zodiac, the stars, the sun and the moon. This is probably a symbol of the universe or even the "host of heaven", to which stars were sometimes attributed, and sometimes angels. It seems to hint at the power of Christ over the physical part of the Universe. These constellation symbols often confuse viewers due to dubious associations with astrology, but astrology hardly existed in Georgia in those years, so these are probably just astronomical symbols.

The zodiac in Svetitskhoveli is probably the most famous, although not the only one. Similar ones are sometimes found on frescoes and even on the carving of facades (for example, in the Saint-Lazare Cathedral in Autun) and it is in the scene doomsday. Who cares: here is an almost exact copy (of the same 16th century) from the Greek monastery of Dekulu:

It so happened that in our time, the signs of the zodiac excite people a little more than angels, and cause more discussion. There are entire astrological posts where this type of zodiac is given in temples and it is concluded that the church in past eras recognized and respected astrology. In fact, they did not recognize and did not respect, if only because until the 15th century it practically did not exist. In Georgia, such pictures could be understood as poetic images from oriental poetry.

A lot more is drawn around the main circle with angels. This is probably the "Land and Sea Give Up Their Dead" scene. Usually such scenes were drawn not according to the Bible, but according to the work of Ephraim the Syrian “The Word for the Second Coming of Our Lord Jesus Christ”, and everything is so symbolized there that it is almost impossible to decipher the meaning of the image.

Dome

Ezekiel's vision clearly haunted the authors of the Svetitskhovel frescoes. They simplistically repeated it in the painting of the dome, which was preserved rather poorly. It also depicts Christ Pantokrator, figures of a tetramorph beast and wheels (thrones) with cherubs.

Altar niche

And for the third time Pantokrator is depicted in the altar niche. It is the largest and most visible figure in the temple. Jesus holds the Gospel in his left hand, and the gesture right hand sometimes interpreted as an oath. But sometimes as a gesture calling for silence. And on this fresco we again see the wheels, and even with flames. This is a direct reference to the aforementioned fragment from the prophet Daniel. The fresco looks good, but is mostly a 19th century restoration.

Throne of the Patriarch

The stone throne of the patriarch at the far right column is also painted with frescoes. This is a good example of late Georgian painting: instead of grape leaves(as was customary before the 15th century), we see here abstract golden lines, clearly borrowed from Persian culture. An excellent illustration of Georgian painting of the era of decline.