Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. Kirillov
Now it is difficult to imagine the former beauty of the interior of the Assumption Cathedral. By the luxury of decoration, it stood out not only among the rest of the temples of the monastery, but also belonged to the number of the richest in Russia. The very remoteness of the monastery had, as it were, an additional attractive force. Rich contributions flocked to him not only in money, but also in precious utensils, icons, sewing, books, vestments. The decoration of the cathedral can be judged from the earliest surviving inventory of the monastery in 1601, in which every thing is told in a capacious, figurative language of that time. Particular attention is paid to the four-tiered iconostasis, the icon frames of which were decorated with pearls, precious stones, hryvnias, tsats, crowns; only the faces and hands of the images remained open. A number of embroidered icons-shrouds were placed under the local icons. Each icon had a "holiday" and "everyday" veil on the same subject. Above the local row, on a bar painted with various herbs on a red background, 21 icons of the deesis row stood close to each other. A description of the decorations for the icons has been preserved: “In the deesis, seven images of the hryvnia are silver, gilded, basmy, and they have 18 stones with pink flowers, and a pearl shell, and 14 images of the hryvnia are silver, gilded, basmyan, and 84 hryvnias are twisted, silver, gilded, and 6 ponage... yes, 11 icons are carved into bones... In the deesis, there are 19 wooden, gilded candlesticks.
Above the deesis icons were 25 holiday icons. The iconostasis ended with a prophetic row: half-length images of the prophets were grouped 2-3 on each board. The tabla of the upper tiers were carved and gilded. The walls and pillars of the church were surrounded by rows of icons in icon cases carved, painted, gilded, overlaid with cut tin on colored mica. And here, shrouds were placed at the icons, in total there were about forty of them in the cathedral. Choirs, lecterns, cabinets, benches, skinny candles - everything was decorated with paintings and carvings. There was practically not a single undecorated thing. The cathedral was illuminated by six chandeliers of various devices.
The iconostasis in the Assumption Cathedral was considered at that time one of the largest in Russia. The creation of such grandiose ensembles was initiated by Andrei Rublev, who in 1408 painted more than 80 icons for the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir with his artel. The Rublevsky iconostasis for a long time became a model for newly created iconostases in large cathedral churches. Quite a few similar iconostases were created in the 15th century, but only the iconostasis from the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery survived in its most complete form. Its nearly five hundred year history is full of events. Already 40 years after they were painted, all icons began to be upholstered with silver gilded basma settings, which have remained to this day on deesis and holiday icons. In 1630, another tier of 25 icons was added - forefathers. Although the icons for the Assumption Cathedral were created in Moscow at the expense of the noble boyar Vasily Ivanovich Streshnev, they were painted by the Vologda icon painter Zhdan Dementiev, known for his work in the Vologda Sophia Cathedral. Later, in 1645, the original royal gates were replaced with new ones, granted by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich, in a magnificent silver gilded chased frame of excellent Moscow work, which has survived to this day. Well-preserved salaries of the same design were then also given to local icons.
The iconostasis was significantly altered in the 18th century (after 1764). In 1757, the ancient table construction, in which the icons stood close in rows on decorated beams, was replaced by an ordinary carved gilded iconostasis by Vasily Fedorovich Dengin, a Vologda carving master, which has survived to this day. In the 19th century, the already inexpressive carving was re-gilded, putting another thick layer of soil. During the reconstruction of the iconostasis, many local icons were given chased silver chasubles. A significant part of the ancient icons did not fit in the new iconostasis, and they were removed. Only 15 of them were left in the festive row, 16 in the deesis row, and the prophetic row was removed entirely, since its long boards did not fit into the new scheme for arranging icons. It was impossible to do without a prophetic row at all, therefore, under the icons of the local row in "pedestals", instead of shrouds, half-figured images of the prophets were written on special inserted boards. The timid painting, apparently, was made by monastic icon painters in a handicraft style.
For a long time, the ancient icons removed from the iconostasis stood in the altar, and then they gradually began to be taken out of the monastery and the trace of many was lost. The monuments that remained in the iconostasis were greatly changed by numerous renovations and did not attract much attention. Only one icon of 1497 remained in the local row - "Rejoices in You", the other two are now in the Tretyakov Gallery, including the temple's main icon "Assumption". The rest of the icons now standing in the local row belong to a later time: " Burning bush"by the 16th century," Trinity "," Presenting the Queen "to XVII century etc.
At the end of the 1960s, they began to restore the icons of 1497 from the Assumption Cathedral. It lasted several years and is now completely finished. During this time, icons of 1497, which belonged to the Assumption Cathedral, got there in difficult ways, were discovered in various museums. As a result, it turned out that about 60 icons survived, of which 34 were in place, in Kirillov.
Unusual in itself is such a large number of works of the XV century, originating from one monument. Icons created by first-class artists have become a huge contribution to the general treasury of ancient Russian art. Two icons of 1497 from the Assumption Cathedral - the temple "Assumption" and "Hodegetria" for a long time were attributed either to Rublev himself or to artists of his circle. They bear comparison with glorified masterpieces. The iconostasis was created by a group of artists. Those who painted the temple "Assumption", "Rejoices in You", the festive icons "Entrance to Jerusalem", "Nativity of Christ", "Meeting", really followed the traditions of Rublev's art. The images created by them are spiritualized and lyrical, the painting is exquisite in Moscow style.
The Assumption iconostasis is extremely interesting. It can be used to judge the complex processes of development of ancient Russian painting. At the end of the 15th century, there was a tendency to smooth out the features of different schools of icon painting, and a common Russian style was taking shape. And, perhaps, nowhere can this process be traced so clearly as on the icons from the Assumption Cathedral. In addition to the "Moscow" there is another group of icons, for example, holiday icons - "Crucifixion", "Descent of the Holy Spirit", "Transfiguration", "Assumption", in which the features of Novgorod painting are felt - the severity of the images, the emphasized silhouettes, the juiciness is abundant spaces used by artists. It is even more interesting that in some icons the features of Moscow and Novgorod painting are merged into one, for example, in "Baptism", "Descent into Hell", in deesis icons - "The Apostle Peter", "Martyrs Dmitry and George", "John the Baptist", and some of the icons from these conditional groups in the iconostasis were created by the same artists. A special, uniquely individual group includes deesis icons "John the Theologian", "Andrew the First-Called", saints, holiday icons on the theme of the Passion of the Lord.
All the icons of the ensemble are characterized by the perfection of the drawing, the richness and sophistication of color, and the virtuoso mastery of the composition. The iconostasis provides the richest material for studying the individual characteristics of the work of ancient Russian artists. Disclosures recent years showed what a grandiose artistic phenomenon is the Kirillov icon painting of 1497.
For a long time the cathedral did not have wall paintings, and the iconostasis served as the main decoration element of its interior. The walls of the cathedral, both outside and inside, were plastered and whitewashed.
The cathedral was painted only in 1641. This is reported by an annalistic inscription in a ligature that goes along the southern, western and northern walls above the tier of towels: "By the grace of the Father, by the haste of the Son and the fulfillment of the Holy Spirit, this Holy Cathedral Church of the Assumption, the Most Holy Theotokos, was signed in the summer of 7149 from the birth of Christ 1641 under the power of the pious sovereign tsar and Grand Duke Mikhail Feodorovich of All Russia and his son, under the right-believing Tsarevich Prince Alexei Mikhailovich, under the great lord Varlaam, Metropolitan of Rostov and Yaroslavl and under Abbot Anthony, built according to the promise of the Sovereign Tsar and Grand Duke Mikhail Feodorovich of All Russia, deacon Nikifor Shipulin to the glory and honor of the glorious Trinity To God the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit and the Most Pure Mother of God and all the Saints forever, amen."
This is how the inscription, now partially lost, was read in 1773. The customer for the painting, Nikifor Shipulin, is a prominent figure in the state administration. In 1625, he served as a deacon for Patriarch Filaret, father of Mikhail Fedorovich, then in various orders. Repeatedly carried out the responsible assignments of the king. So, in 1633, the tsar sent him, along with the governors Dmitry Cherkassky and Dmitry Pozharsky, near Smolensk to replace the boyar Shein. The money for signing the cathedral and the porch (500 rubles) Nikifor contributed back in 1630. A few years after the end of the painting, he took the vows in the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery and after his death was buried on the cathedral porch. There is an assumption that Nikifor Shipulin, together with his son, is depicted in the mural of the cathedral in a composition illustrating one of the psalms. Indeed, here an old man and a young man dressed in princely or boyar clothes fall to the throne of Sophia. There are no similar images in other illustrations of the same text in Russian painting of the 17th century. If the assumption is correct, then we have a rare example of a lifetime portrait for that time.
Only in 1930, during restoration work, the end of the text of the chronicle was revealed: "Lyubim Agiyev and his comrades painted the iconic wall letter." We love Agiev, or Ageev - the city's royal icon painter from Kostroma, one of the best Russian mural painters of the middle of the 17th century. In 1643, together with masters from different cities, he painted the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, being one of the four highly paid icon painters.
The murals of 1641 were damaged during repair work in the second half of the 18th century. Attachments to arches and pillars hid part of the compositions, which violated the integrity of some thematic cycles, other compositions turned out to be disfigured by new masonry. The figures of the Saints located on the slopes perished during the shattering of the windows, and neighboring compositions also suffered. The openings punched in the western and southern walls of the cathedral in connection with the construction of extensions also destroyed some of the compositions. After sealing the wide cracks that had formed by that time on the walls and vaults, white stripes of putty cut the wall paintings in different directions. It became inevitable to update the paintings.
In 1838, the original painting was oiled and overlaid with a layer of oil recording of rather crude writing. The revivalists had to, if necessary, change the damaged compositions somewhat and finish the surfaces of the butts. In this form, the murals of the Assumption Cathedral stood until our time.
The first trial disclosure of ancient painting in the cathedral was carried out in 1929 by the restorer P. I. Yukin. Restoration work was resumed only in 1970 and is still ongoing.
During the restoration, it turned out that in most cases the record of the 19th century quite accurately follows the drawing of ancient painting. Therefore, already now, before the full disclosure of painting, we can judge the system of decoration of the temple and partly about the composition of individual scenes. The scheme of painting the upper part of the cathedral is quite traditional: in the dome - the Almighty Savior, in the piers of the windows of the drum - 8 forefathers in height, at the base of the drum - 12 round medallions with half-figured images of the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel, in the sails of the evangelists. Below, the so-called proto-evangelical cycle unfolds, containing scenes from the life of the Mother of God, even lower are illustrations of the Akathist to the Mother of God. All these scenes are read in the course of the sun, starting on the southern wall from the iconostasis and making several turns in the central space of the temple, and then in its corner rooms. Such a system for placing plots is somewhat reminiscent of the system for painting the cathedral of the Ferapontov Monastery. The same pattern brings to mind the placement in the lunettes of multi-figured compositions glorifying the Mother of God: "Assumption of the Mother of God", "Protection", "Rejoices in You". On the whole, the theme of the Mother of God dominates almost undividedly in the painting of the Assumption Cathedral. Only in the southwestern room are presented a few events of the earthly life of Christ.
There is also a composition that is not connected with the neighboring plots and is not included in any cycle. It depicts the King of Heaven on a throne, at the foot of which lie prostrated warriors and an old man, a young man and a wife in boyar clothes are kneeling. This is an illustration of the 44th psalm, which contains a doxology to the King. The thematic isolation of the scene reinforces the assumption, first expressed by the restorer S. S. Churakov, that here we have a family portrait of the owner of the mural.
In the northwestern room of the cathedral there are scenes of the Last Judgment and some symbolic compositions that are not entirely clear in meaning.
Judging by the exposed areas, the style of painting is monumental and traditional. Here there is still no "carpet" and some crushed compositions, characteristic of later monuments of wall painting. Innovations in the field of iconography and interpretation of forms only slightly affected this painting. Due to the high quality of writing and relatively good preservation, the wall paintings of the Assumption Cathedral, after their full disclosure, will become one of the central monuments of Russian monumental painting of the middle of the 17th century.
In 1554, a chapel of Vladimir was added to the cathedral from the north side. This is a small pillarless temple, covered with a peculiar system of stepwise rising arches. This type of ceiling is best known from the monuments of Pskov. In the external decor, the aisle of Vladimir reproduced in miniature the forms of the Assumption Cathedral - the same three tiers of kokoshniks, the same belts of patterned masonry. The desire to follow local models, in particular the model of the Assumption Cathedral, is generally very characteristic of Kirillov's construction. The chapel was erected over the grave of Vladimir Ivanovich Vorotynsky at the expense of his widow. In the future, it became the family burial vault of the Vorotynsky princes.
The construction of small side-altar churches at the monastery cathedrals is a fairly typical phenomenon for the middle of the 16th century. Usually they were placed over the coffin of the founder of the monastery or one of his subsequent abbots, who, after death, was worshiped as a locally revered, and sometimes all-Russian Saint. The erection of a chapel over the coffin of one of the secular feudal lords was an absolutely exceptional phenomenon at that time, especially since there was no temple over the grave of Cyril at that time. The furious reaction to this event of Ivan the Terrible is known, who turned to the monastic brethren with a message full of bitter reproaches: “And you, lo and behold, there is a church over Vorotynskoye! .."
The chapel of Vladimir has not been preserved in its original form. In the 18th century it was covered with a hipped roof, ancient small arched windows were replaced by large rectangular ones, and the entrance from the north side was destroyed. Now its facades are partially restored.
The existing onion dome, covered with a wooden plowshare, was made in 1631. This date can be read on the inscription pierced on the forged valance encircling the dome from below. The head and the valance, preserved almost unchanged from the first half of the 17th century, are of unique value.
Inside the Vladimir chapel big interest represent carved stone slabs inserted into the walls with inscriptions about the burial of the Vorotynsky princes. The pattern of the plates is not the same. The most ancient plate, placed on the western wall to the right of the entrance from the side of the porch, contains a record of the burial of the brothers Vladimir and Alexander Ivanovich and the transfer of the ashes of Mikhail Ivanovich and his son Login Mikhailovich from Kashin in 1603. His other son, Ivan Mikhailovich, who was a very prominent figure in the political life of Russia at the beginning of the 17th century, is also buried here. One of the candidates for the Russian throne, after being elected to the throne of Mikhail Romanov, he led a deputation sent to him in Kostroma with a proposal to accept the royal crown. Later, he served as the first governor and ruled Moscow during the tsar's absence. In the 17th century, the Vorotynskys became related (according to female line) with the royal house. The last of the Vorotynsky princes, Ivan Alekseevich, died in 1679. During restoration work in 1971-1972, the remains of stone and brick sarcophagi were found, in which some of the Vorotynskys were buried. The lid of the sarcophagus of Alexei Ivanovich Vorotynsky with a beautifully executed carved inscription has a special artistic value.
The iconostasis of the church of Vladimir was remade several times. The one that still exists today dates back to 1827. The iconostasis was designed, cut and gilded by the Vologda craftsman Ivan Sirotin. At the same time, he used part of the carving of the upper tier of the iconostasis of the church Saint Cyril. The icons were painted very soundly by the Cyril icon painter Ivan Kopytov, who came from a family of hereditary monastic servants.
By the end of the 16th century, the construction of the now existing northern porch dates back. Until the end of the 18th century, the porch, longer than now, covered not only the northern, but also the entire western wall of the cathedral. However, this is not the oldest structure. Before her, the cathedral had two separate stone porches that did not interlock with each other from the same western and northern sides, which most likely appeared in the middle of the 16th century. Only minor traces have been preserved of them, by which it can be judged that they had a complicated gable coating (that is, in the form of gable roofs composed of each other). The porch of the end of the 16th century in the monastery inventory is characterized as "the building of the elder Leonid". Elder Leonid Shirshov was considered one of the main persons in the monastery, and in 1595-1596 he even headed the monastery. He probably led the construction, and the monastic masons from the patrimonial peasants became the executors. The built porch, unlike the earlier ones, was interpreted as a single building, united by a common shed roof. Its walls were cut by wide arched openings, visible from the outside even now. In 1650, the openings were replaced with small windows. In 1791, the porch on the western side was broken and a bulky entrance extension was built in its place, covering almost the entire western facade of the cathedral. Its forms - flat architraves with a somewhat clumsy pattern, an abundance of profiles and rafters - date back to baroque architecture and are archaic for the end of the 18th century. Buildings of this period similar in decor, most likely erected by local masons' artels without the participation of an architect, have been preserved in neighboring Belozersk.
The northern and western porches were painted immediately after their construction, at the end of the 16th century. Since the porches had wide arched openings open from the outside, the painting was concentrated on the sides of the entrances to the cathedral and to the chapel of Prince Vladimir. Therefore, it can also be considered as an external painting of the cathedral. It is not known who painted these murals, but we know that a little earlier, in 1585, the monastic Holy Gates, located under the church of John of the Ladder, were painted by Elder Alexander and his disciples Emelyan and Nikita. The murals on the Holy Gates and porches of the Assumption Cathedral are, perhaps, the first murals on the territory of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery.
These first paintings of cathedral porches have not been preserved. In 1650, after the laying of large arched openings, the porch walls were re-decorated with mural painting. "And the icon painters of Yaroslavl, Ivan Timofeev, son, nicknamed Makar, and Savastyan Dmitriev, son and comrades, wrote on the porch on the large windows with wall writing in wall writing, they were given 220 rubles from the skill to the deposit to 30 rubles in the 157th year." This entry from an archival source does not mention the fate of the previous frescoes on the porch. Apparently, they were knocked down along with the plaster. Sevastyan Dmitriev is a famous master who took part in the painting of the Assumption and Archangel Cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin, the Assumption Cathedral in Rostov, who was repeatedly called to the tsar for various icon-painting works. The customer for the painting was the boyar Fyodor Ivanovich Sheremetev. It is known that he participated in the calling of the young Mikhail Fedorovich to the kingdom, then became a person close to the king, an active politician. In extreme old age, he died in the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery, where he took the vows shortly before his death. At his own expense, the painting of the Church of Cyril, which has not come down to us, was completed in 1642.
Only two compositions survived on the western porch: "The Assumption of the Mother of God" and one of the scenes of the "Apocalypse". They are distinguished by a general lightness of the color scheme, soft combinations of cold tones. Despite the traditional nature of the compositions, the artist sought to enrich the impression of the viewer with a careful drawing of details, a variety of forms of architecture, postures, and folds of clothing. The figures, small in size, densely fill the field allotted to them, their poses are dynamic.
The same features can be seen in the painting of the northern porch. The complex shape of the cross vaults forces the authors to be inventive in the placement of compositions, but they confidently cope with a difficult task. In the upper part of the vaults are depicted trumpeting angels, the righteous in white robes, coming to the throne of the Most High, the "King of kings and the Lord of lords" sits. The devil is working below - people worship the Babylonian harlot. Satan puts marks on the foreheads of his followers. On the very top of the vault, the army of the righteous rides on white horses, the defeated enemies-sinners fall down, where the hellish flame is burning, ready to receive them. Placing one scene in different planes often gives an interesting spatial solution, a known depth of space arises. The feeling of space is generally characteristic of the authors. So, in the scene of the death of ships, changing their sizes gives a hint of a linear perspective.
Many scenes are distinguished by their vitality, even if they are borrowed from Western European engravings: the townspeople look at the death of their native city, chests with good things stand at their feet, sailboats sail on a stormy sea, workers reap ears of corn with sickles. Alien samples, reworked in the spirit of traditional icon painting, have become a way of approaching real life.
The frescoes of the porches are separated by the time of writing from the frescoes of the cathedral's quadrangle by an insignificant gap, but they differ significantly in style, testifying to the development of new trends in Russian monumental painting.
Simultaneously with the interior paintings of the porches, small compositions were performed in four icon cases above its entrances and in the zakomaras of the cathedral. Of these, only "Trinity" and "Metropolitan Jonah and Kirill Belozersky in prayer to the Mother of God" remained, and even those are very poorly preserved. This work was attended by Joseph Vladimirov, a friend and like-minded person of Simon Ushakov, known for his treatise on icon painting. Joseph was probably a member of Sevastyan Dmitriev's brigade.
How strong the local architectural tradition was in Cyrillic construction can be seen from the example of the Epiphanius Church, built in 1645 next to the Vladimir Church over the tomb of Prince Fedor Andreevich Telyatevsky. It was built by an artel of rural masons from the patrimony of the Kirillov Monastery, headed by Yakov Kostousov. The size of the church is only slightly larger than the church of Vladimir. Its general composition, the constructive solution of the vaults and the main elements of decor almost exactly repeat Vladimir Church. Its architecture is much closer to the 16th than to the 17th century. The monument is quite well preserved to this day. Later distortions are mainly reduced to the construction of a four-pitched roof instead of the previously existing roofing over three tiers of kokoshniks.
The interior of the Epiphany Church has changed relatively little. She was not scheduled. The primary four-tiered iconostasis survived without significant alterations; only two icons were lost in the lower row on the sides of the northern door. Of course, to complete the picture of how the temple of Epiphanius looked before, along with these icons, those that once hung on the whitewashed walls are now missing. A prominent place was occupied to the right of the entrance by the tomb of Prince Telyatevsky under the cover of scarlet cloth. Color saturation had a purely emotional impact, creating a special atmosphere, far from everyday life. A certain role in this colorful variety was also assigned to chandeliers, lampadas, candlesticks, and their patterned design. Judging by the description, the large chandelier was German-made: "... a little thing with a carved animal image and a ring in its mouth."
We do not know the names of the artists of the iconostasis, but judging by the fact that several years later, in 1649, Terenty Fomin, a Vologda resident, painted the iconostasis for another monastery church, Evfimiya, that the Vologda artist could also decorate Church of Epiphany. The icons of this temple are also close to the prophetic row from the Assumption Cathedral, which in 1630 was also painted by the artist from Vologda Zhdan Dementyev. Both the ancestral cathedral icons and the iconostasis from the Church of Epiphanius are characterized by craftsmanship, rigidity of forms, monotony of silhouettes and gestures.
The iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral was created approximately in 1497 simultaneously with the construction of a stone church. The 15th century is a classic time in the development of the Russian iconostasis. At this time, new rows of icons appear in it, it acquires an amazing architectural order. - and totaled almost 60 icons.
The iconographic features of the icons of the “Kirillovsky” complex allow us to conclude that their creators were guided by the iconostases of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir and the Trinity Cathedral in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. An artel invited to the monastery worked on the creation of this large-scale complex, which included three leading icon painters associated with different artistic traditions: Moscow, Novgorod, possibly Rostov.
The style of each of the three masters who created the Kirillovsky iconostasis was most clearly manifested in the painting of holiday icons. In the icons "The Nativity of the Mother of God", "The Entrance of the Mother of God into the Temple", "The Presentation" one can clearly feel the features of the Dionysian trend - one of the leading ones in Moscow art of the late 15th - early 16th centuries. A characteristic feature of the handwriting of this master are bright contrasting colors - first of all, cinnabar is a bright red mineral pigment, and azurite is a pigment. of blue color which was worth its weight in gold. The murals in many churches dedicated to the Mother of God are filled with heavenly blue. Blue and blue colors mean the infinity of the sky, a symbol of another, eternal world and are considered the colors of the Virgin Mary, who combined both the earthly and the heavenly. In creating the icons of the “Kirillovsky” iconostasis, the artist used pure azurite, without any admixture of other pigments, and also added crushed glass to the paint, which repels light and increases the brightness of the blue color.
The icons "Baptism", "Annunciation", "Transfiguration", "Assumption of the Mother of God", painted by the "second" artist, whose works combined the features of the Moscow and Novgorod traditions, are characterized by more strict architectural forms, the correct proportions of the figures and careful study of the folds of clothes. Another feature of this master's writing is a special color scheme: the addition of white to almost all colorful mixtures gives opacity.
An example of the work of the "third" master of the Assumption complex is the icon "Assurance of Thomas". The style of this icon painter is distinguished by simple archaic architecture, bright but harmonious colors. The letters of the faces are filled with dense golden ocher, which noticeably distinguishes them from the cold, strongly lightened faces on the icons belonging to the “second” master.
As a result of the joint work of icon painters associated with different artistic movements, a grandiose classical ensemble of ancient Russian painting arose. The iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery gives an idea of the process of formation of the all-Russian style of icon painting at the turn of the 15th-16th centuries.
Initially, the icons were placed on bars-shelves called tablas. On these bars, the icons stood like on shelves, close to each other without any separators.
Over time, the appearance and arrangement of the iconostasis changed, rows of icons appeared and disappeared. In the middle of the 16th century, icons of the local rank, and then the deesis, festive and prophetic ones, were covered with silver gilded basma frames. The salaries were made as generous donations came in, as well as with money from the monastery, by one group of hired craftsmen using monastery matrices. By the end of the 16th century, the iconostasis was formed, consisting of small, the size of a "span", that is, a hand, inlaid icons in precious salaries. Later, the iconostasis was replenished with one more row - the forefathers, in which the icons of the Old Testament saints are located. The cathedral also appeared, partially replacing the precious basma, chased silver salaries on the icons of the local row, made by royal jewelers.
In the 18th century, the design of the iconostasis was changed. The ancient painted tabla was replaced with a gilded wooden iconostasis frame with the same number of icons in the upper tiers, which did not fit many of the ancient images and they were transferred to the altar of the cathedral. The iconostasis frame of the middle of the 18th century can be seen in the interior of the temple now. It contains photocopies of icons. The original images are kept in four museum collections - in the Tretyakov Gallery, the State Russian Museum, the Andrei Rublev Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art, 34 images are in the collection of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve and are presented in the exhibition "Old Russian Art of the XV-XVII centuries" in Archimandrite Corps.
The iconostasis construction of the 18th century is stylistically sustained in transitional forms from baroque to classicism. The iconostasis still has four tiers, but the order of the rows, in comparison with the original iconostasis, has been changed. The ancient prophetic row was completely removed by 1764, since its wide boards did not fit into the symmetrical and monotonous structure of the iconostasis. Half-figured images of the prophets were placed on pedestals under local icons at the base of the iconostasis. At the end of the iconostasis in the 19th century, they placed a picturesque Crucifixion with forthcoming and gilded sculptures of angels.
The bottom row of icons is local. It is the most inconsistent in composition. Here are placed the most revered and donated by sovereigns images with rich salaries. In addition to icons, the local row includes the Royal Doors, the doors to the diakonnik and the altar. The local row after the reconstruction of the iconostasis began to have eight images. Among them is the icon of Our Lady Hodegetria, which is located to the right of the Royal Doors. On the left is the image of the Savior, behind it is the temple image “Assumption of the Mother of God” (“Cloud Exodus”) of the late 15th century.
The next row of the iconostasis is festive. It includes icons on the themes of the twelve main church holidays, as well as plots of the Passion cycle and other events that tell about the earthly life of Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary. The festive row of the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery is the largest of those preserved from the 15th century.
The third row is called the Deesis, this is the core of the iconostasis composition of the 15th century. Its main content is the theme of the Second Coming, Doomsday and the coming salvation of mankind. Translated from the Greek "deisis" means prayer, petition. In the central part of the rank, the Lord Almighty is depicted, having risen to the Judgment. On either side of the Savior, the Mother of God and John the Baptist, the archangels Michael and Gabriel, the apostles Peter and Paul, bowing to Him in prayer, could be followed by other saints interceding for the forgiveness of sinners. Their location was carried out in a certain hierarchy - archangels, apostles, saints, martyrs, reverends. The Deesis rank is an image of the Heavenly Church, standing before the throne of the Almighty in constant prayers for the salvation of the human race. The deesis of the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery has been completely preserved.
The top row of the iconostasis is the forefathers. As part of the high Russian iconostasis, a row that includes images of the Old Testament righteous, otherwise called forefathers, appeared in the second half of the 16th century. An icon is usually placed in the center of this rank. New Testament Trinity or the Fatherland, where the three faces of God are visibly depicted - the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. The forefathers are depicted in full growth, in a turn to the central image, with unfolded scrolls, on which prophecies about the coming of Jesus Christ are inscribed. The plane interpretation of the faces contrasts with the somewhat overweight figures of the saints, the volume of which is conveyed with the help of lightened folds of clothes. Copper basma frames, made in the 17th century, cover the margins, backgrounds and haloes of the icons.
Large-scale research and restoration of the icons of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery began in the 1960s. Thanks to the work of restorers, the unique monuments of icon painting from the Assumption Cathedral were discovered and introduced into scientific circulation.
The restoration of the iconostasis frame was carried out in 2012-2013. The restoration artists of the scientific restoration workshop carried out work to remove dirt, mold, and a thick layer of compressed dust. Also managed to save all the old gilding. Broken fragments of carved decor were glued together and returned to their place.
Upon completion of the restoration of the iconostasis frame, reproductions of icons were mounted in it and wooden carved Royal Doors were installed. The Royal Doors of 1645 from the Assumption Cathedral, which were put into the monastery by Tsar Mikhail Fedorovich Romanov, can be seen in the exhibition "Old Russian Art of the 15th-17th Centuries", located in the Archimandrite's Building.
GIOLarchitectural monument (federal)
Assumption Cathedral with porches- the central temple of the architectural ensemble.
Encyclopedic YouTube
1 / 5
✪ Flights over the Northern Thebaid. Film 10. Kirillo-Belozersky Dormition Monastery
✪ Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve. 4K.
✪ Flights over the Northern Thebaid. Film 6. Trinity-Gleden Monastery
✪ Museum of frescoes of Dionysius - Ferapontov monastery, Vologda region
✪ Krasnokholmsky Nicholas St. Anthony Monastery
Subtitles
There are not so many places in Russia where the foundation of a monastery was predetermined by a miracle. In 1397, on instructions from Holy Mother of God, who was in his vision, Archimandrite Kirill of the Simonov Monastery arrived in the vast region of ancient Beloozero, and here, on the deserted shores of Lake Siversky, among dense forests, laid the foundation for the monastery, which later became known as Kirillo-Belozersky. “Kirill, get out of here, go to Beloozero, there is a place prepared for you where you can be saved” - these words of the Mother of God were heard by the Monk Kirill, praying in his cell of the Moscow Simonov Monastery. Along with the wonderful voice came a bright light. In amazement, the monk looked at the window of the cell, and he sees: a great light is shining from the Belozersky midnight side. Together with the monk Ferapont, their interlocutor and friend, they set off. From Mount Maura, which is next to Kirillov, the monks saw a wonderful place on the shores of Lake Siverskoye and immediately recognized Kirill in it as the land where he was to settle. And so, on a hill near the lake, they put up a cross and dug a dugout for themselves in a steep slope. It was in 1397. Now, over the dugout and the cross, there are stone vestibules marking the place where the monastery began. Time passed and a secluded settlement in the then wild forest began to grow. Residents of neighboring villages came to them and many remained, seeking the salvation of their souls in Orthodox faith and prayer. Now - Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery - the second largest fortress in the world and the largest monastery in Russia. Patriarch Nikon told Patriarch Macarius of Antioch: “In our country there are three very rich monasteries, great royal fortresses. The first is the monastery of St. Trinity; he is bigger and richer than the others. The second is the monastery of St. Cyril Novy, in whose courtyard we stopped; he is known under the name of Kirillo-Belozersky, that is, from the White Lake. They say that the lake dominates the monastery, but by the power of God and the care of the saint does not harm him; its water is white as milk. The monastery is larger and stronger than the Trinity, for its three huge walls are built, as they say, from huge wild stones. In its present state, Kirillov Belozersky in honor of the Dormition of the Mother of God, the men's cenobitic monastery - namely, its full historical name - contains three huge complexes - the ancient Assumption Monastery founded by Cyril, which gave the name to the entire monastery, Ioannovsky Monastery, which together with the Assumption is formed as follows called the Old City and the New City - the site on which the modern traveler finds himself in the first place, entering through the gates of the Kazan Tower. All these walls and towers, inspiring surprise in front of the skill of ancient architects, were built here around the 1650s-70s. These buildings arose here thanks to the contributions of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich the Quietest. However, the flowering of the monastery began even earlier, first with the labors and educational activities of St. Cyril and his followers, then the growth of the monastery was associated with the name of Ivan the Terrible. In December 1528 the monastery was visited by Grand Duke Vasily with his wife Elena Glinskaya. They prayed here for childbearing, because for a long time God did not send them children. And now, a year and a half after this pilgrimage, a son was born to the princely couple - John IV. On this occasion, his father sent money to the monastery for the construction of the Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist. Here it is, now under restoration. To the right of St. John's Church is the church of St. Sergius of Radonezh, and in the depths, behind them, in the shadow of the huge Blacksmith's Tower - a small hospital ward. The entire complex of the Ioannovsky Monastery has now been transferred Orthodox Church, here is a functioning male monastery. But not only the Ioannovsky Monastery with the Church of the Beheading of John the Baptist reminds us of the Terrible, who visited the St. Cyril Monastery four times. Close to the ancient fraternal building adjoins the gate church of John of the Ladder and Theodore Stratilates. It was built in honor of the heavenly patrons of the children of Ivan the Terrible. This temple and the surrounding buildings separate the New City already known to us from the very heart of the monastery - the Assumption Monastery. A wooden church on this site was built during the time of St. Cyril himself. This cathedral acquired its modern look only in the 18th century, and is amazing not only in architecture, but also in the fact that it is “overgrown” with smaller temples from all sides. Here is the miniature Vladimirskaya Church, and the Church of Epiphanius, and the Church of Cyril Belozersky, where even now his relics lie under a bushel. Every day the monks and inhabitants of the monastery perform prayers here to the monk, asking him for the spiritual protection of the monastery and all of Russia. Now the abbot, three hieromonks, a hierodeacon and two monks live in the monastery. Neighboring churches - the Archangel Gabriel with a bell tower and the Entry into the Temple of the Most Holy Theotokos with a refectory chamber - are among the most ancient in the monastery, after the Assumption Church. Their massive stone walls and the appearance hanging over the pilgrim inspire respect for the ancient builders who created these architectural masterpieces almost five hundred years ago. But first of all - the Kirillov monastery is a monastery. And these temples were built here not for quantity, they were needed. In the years of prosperity, the number of brethren amounted to three hundred monks and novices, not counting workers, white clergy and peasants who lived in the monastery. The sanctity of the place attracted and good people, and bad ones. Many saints who labored in the Vologda, Novgorod and Arkhangelsk lands came from here - from Kirillov. The first Russian tsar, Ivan the Terrible, before his death took the vows as a monk of the Kirillo-Belozersky monastery, taking the new name of Jonah. The monastery was attacked by the Polish-Lithuanian invaders in 1612, but were repulsed. The monastery served both as a defensive outpost and a place of exile - princes, boyars, their relatives, archers, abbots, archimandrites, and all the same Patriarch Nikon, who was proud of the Kirillov monastery - all of them were prisoners of this fortress. Someone was buried in the local cemetery, and some asked to be buried under the porch, so that those entering the temple trampled on their ashes with their feet, such was the humility of these people. Here, in the New City, mills creaked, millstones rustled, the smell of fresh monastery bread was everywhere ... Carts scurried around, archers poked at the pilgrims who wanted to climb into every corner of the fortress. From the windows of the prison they looked at all this, the disgraced shackles clinking. Northern monastic chants to the glory of the Mother of God and St. Cyril merged with the ringing of bells and the splashing of the lake. The monastery, which arose from a wonderful vision and a small dugout on a hillside - no more, no less - the creation of all of Russia, of all its eras, rulers and people. And once here, without words and deep digging in history, you will be able to understand that this is an eternal and close miracle to every Russian person.
Story
The first building of the Assumption Cathedral was wooden; it was built in 1397 by an artel of woodworkers. But since the church was small and dilapidated over time, after the death of Cyril, during the management of the monastery by Abbot Tryphon, a new Assumption Church was built. It was also wooden and "decorated with icons and other beauties." This building burned down during a strong fire between and 1497.
The current building of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery is one of the first stone buildings in Belozerye. The existing cathedral was built in 1497 by an artel of Rostov masters, after the wooden Assumption Church of the monastery burned down. It is believed that two predecessor temples were also created by Rostov architects. Subsequently, the cathedral was repeatedly rebuilt, in the 20th century it was actively restored (restoration continues in May 2011).
Architecture
The Assumption Cathedral (cubic, four-pillared, single-domed) is one of the three northern Russian cathedral churches built by the Rostov artel at the end of the 15th century. The second cathedral was preserved in the Ferapontov Monastery, and the third, on Kamenny Island, was blown up under Stalin. All three monuments have much in common, because they continue the traditions of early Moscow architecture (the medieval architecture of the Moscow Principality).
The study of the Assumption Cathedral allows you to get an idea of the architecture of North-Eastern Russia before the influence of the Italian school on it. Distinctive features are manifested in scale, proportions, volumetric composition and details.
Restoration
In 1924, a local museum was organized, the decision to establish which was made in 1919. In 1920-1930, the architect V. V. Danilov worked on the study and restoration of the monuments of the monastery. In 1958, under his leadership, an 18th-century partition was dismantled, dividing the space of the northern porch into two compartments. As a result, fragments of murals of the 17th century, which were under late masonry, were rediscovered.
From 1953 to the present, architects-restorers of the TsNRPM (former TsNRM, VPNRK) have been studying and restoring the monuments of the monastery. The leading role here belonged to the architect S. S. Podyapolsky. For the complex of the Assumption Cathedral in 1963, he developed a "Draft Restoration Project", which included proposals for the northern and western porches. In the same project, a graphic reconstruction of the original appearance of the Assumption Cathedral and the northern porch was developed, which later required only minor corrections. A more significant evolution was made by the restorer’s views on the general direction of restoration work, if we compare the provisions of the “Draft Design” with the corresponding section of the “Draft Design for the Restoration and Adaptation of the Architectural Complex of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery” of 1975, developed in collaboration with N. V. Kamenev. In an earlier project, it was proposed to restore the helmet-shaped dome of the cathedral, the covering of the cathedral by kokoshniks, the original covering of apses, etc., but in a later project these proposals do not appear. It was considered more expedient to carry out a "limited" restoration of the cathedral "with the elimination of the most rough later layers", "with the maximum exposure of the artistic features of the interior while maintaining the later additions, the head of the 18th century and the pitched roof."
Since 1957, the production of repair and restoration work in the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was carried out by the Vologda SNRPM, which since 1971. joined the association "Rosrestavratsiya". During this time, the following main repair and restoration work was carried out on the Assumption Cathedral and the porches:
- a partial vertical layout of the cathedral was carried out;
- the ancient form of the crenate completion of the drum windows and the “shoulders” of their openings have been restored;
Since the late 1960s, work on the study and restoration of the iconostasis and monuments of ancient icon painting, originating from the Assumption Cathedral, was carried out by a group of VNIIR specialists, headed by O. V. Lelekova. Since 1970, the uncovering of the murals of the Assumption Cathedral and the complex of restoration measures associated with this has been systematically carried out by a team of restorers from the Rosrestavratsiya association, headed by I.P. Yaroslavtsev. By 1981, the murals of the dome and drum of the cathedral were completely restored.
In connection with the ongoing restoration work, numerous items of interior decoration (kiots, lamps, etc.) were transferred to the museum's storerooms for storage.
Iconostasis and shrines
Assumption Cathedral is a treasury of monuments of easel and monumental church painting of the XV-XVII centuries. Among them are the iconostasis, interior paintings of the cathedral and the northern porch. The collection of works of arts and crafts deserves attention.
The five-tier iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral of the 18th century has almost completely survived to this day. The ancient icons of this iconostasis were scattered for a long time. Of the 60 surviving icons of the XV-XVIII centuries, 33 were in Kirillov, and the rest - in the Russian Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery and the Museum named after Andrey Rublev. In early April 2009, the last part of the icons was returned to Kirillov.
An exhibition representing the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery has opened in the Moscow Kremlin.
The exposition is rare, and not only for Moscow. Firstly, this is an iconostasis of the end of the 15th century, and there are only three of them in all of Russia.
Secondly, it is impossible to see the iconostasis in such a composition even in the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve itself - it, unfortunately, turned out to be fragmented.
The Assumption Cathedral in Belozerye was built at the end of the 15th century, under Ivan III. Namely, at the beginning of that century, experts say, the Russian type of the “high” iconostasis was taking shape - for the first time, it is believed that Theophanes the Greek created such for the Kremlin Cathedral of the Annunciation. (By the way, at the exhibition you can get acquainted with the details of the history of iconostases on an interactive monitor).
History did not allow the multi-tiered ensemble to exist in peace. In the 18th century, the iconostasis itself was rebuilt in a new fashion - as a result, some icons were transferred to other churches (traces of some of them were lost). At the beginning of the 20th century, specifically in 1918, some of the icons were taken to Moscow and Petrograd for restoration. As a result, they settled in the Russian Museum, the Tretyakov Gallery and the Rublev Museum. And although most of the works in the current Moscow exposition come from the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve, everything together cannot be seen even there - the icons have temporarily united.
The Kirillo-Belozersky iconostasis is also interesting because it united the diverse stylistic trends that existed in the then icon painting. Specifically, three hands are visible in it (and at the same time - as it turned out already during the restoration - and different sets of materials and pigments).
It is most convenient to consider this on the example of multi-figure plot compositions of the "holiday" series.
First, there is the classical Byzantine tradition. It includes, in particular, such scenes as "The Nativity of Christ" or "Entry into Jerusalem." Here, experts note the clarity and balance of the composition, clear sharp lines, intense pure ultramarine.
The second line is clearly Novgorod. "Annunciation", "Baptism", "Transfiguration" - only nine icons of this cycle. This master does not like calm, unfinished planes; his compositions are almost ornamental. A special coral shade is achieved by a mixture of white with cinnabar.
The brushes of the alleged third master belong to the icons of the passionate cycle. Here is "Bringing to Pilate", "Crucifixion", "Assurance of Thomas".
Here the author is individual for his time, he departs from the generally accepted composition (according to some, he even changes it in the process of work). To highlight the central figures, they often arbitrarily increase their proportions, leaving the background planes or fragments of architecture free. There are no sharp contrasts in the coloring, on the contrary, the author works on the nuance of mixed colors (by the way, during the study, crushed glass was found in them - probably added in search of "luminosity").
However, with all the individual differences, the unity of the color composition, characteristic of the very principle of the iconostasis, undoubtedly manifests itself here.
A catalog has been published - not just a collection of pictures, but a very serious scientific one. But at the same time - do not be alarmed - more than readable.
The exhibition will be open in the Assumption Belfry of the Moscow Kremlin until the end of August.
Assumption Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery
The second wooden Assumption Church, “decorated with icons and beauties of frost”, did not last long. According to legend, it burned down during a strong fire that broke out somewhere between 1462 - 1497. In 1462, Pakhomiy Serb, the author of the life of Cyril, also saw her.
The Assumption Cathedral, built in 1497, is the first stone temple of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, the third in the Russian North (after the Cathedrals of the Spaso-Kamenny - 1481 and Ferapontov - 1490 monasteries). It was preceded by two wooden Assumption churches. The cathedral was painted in 1641 by the icon painter Lyubim Ageev, who, having returned from Kirillov in 1643, painted the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. The lack of local construction personnel - architects, masons and other craftsmen - forced the wealthy monastery to seek help in building a new, monumental cathedral in the center of its diocese - Rostov the Great. According to chronicles, the Rostov masters who arrived in Kirillov in 1497 - 20 masons and "wallmen" headed by Prokhor of Rostov - erected a stone cathedral church during one summer season (5 months).
The chronicle called the new Assumption Cathedral "the great church". Indeed, for its time it was very significant, exceeding in size many buildings of those years in Moscow and other cities. Even today, despite all subsequent alterations, the building has not lost its majestic and solemn appearance. Its compact cubic volume with three wide and somewhat flattened semicircular apses is crowned with a powerful, firmly planted dome. This type of temple belongs to the most common in North-Eastern Russia in the second half of the 15th century, in the era of the formation of all-Russian architecture under the leadership of Moscow. However, it is interpreted very individually, differing in massiveness and simplicity. Deprived of a basement and at first free of outbuildings that are closely surrounding it now, the cathedral, as it were, grows right out of the ground, making an impressive impression with its monumentality and composure of its forms.
Of the compositional features of the cathedral, we note a strong shift of the dome to the eastern side of the cube. The drum was erected not over the middle of the main volume, but over the center of the entire building, including the apses. This technique is due to the desire for harmony and balance of volume-compositional construction; it also traces its origins to early Moscow churches. The eastern pair of pillars is placed close to the walls between the apses, almost merges with them, preparing in many respects the later transition to the two pillars. As a result, the outer divisions of the northern and southern facades by pilasters do not coincide with the internal spatial divisions of the interior by pillars, which leads to decorative facade forms. The Assumption Cathedral had a great influence on the formation and development of local stone religious architecture, largely predetermining the development of its planning and volume-compositional forms, as well as the nature of the decoration. The one-story vaulted porch of the cathedral on the western and northern sides dates back to 1595-1596. On the outer walls of the porch, the original wide arched openings are clearly visible, which were laid in the 17th century and turned into small windows. A high vestibule with a dome and a low semicircular vestibule of the entrance, erected in 1791, significantly distorts the appearance of the cathedral.
Almost nothing is known about the interior decoration of the first two wooden churches of the St. Cyril Convent. The meager chronicle sources only mention that the second wooden church Assumption was decorated with "beautiful" icons. There is an assumption that the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria of the Moscow school of the second quarter of the 15th century comes from this temple. The figure of the Mother of God is interpreted in generalized monumental forms. Her stern, calm face is slightly turned towards the baby. In the upper corners of the icon are depicted angels leaning towards Mary. The interior decoration of the stone Assumption Cathedral, known from various sources, was quite elegant and rich. The ideas of nonpossessors obviously did not have a significant impact on its design.
The main "beauty" of the temple was made up of icons and murals. The cathedral was painted in 1641 at the expense of the royal clerk Nikifor Shipulin. The chronicle-inscription preserved on the northern wall conveyed the name of the main author of the frescoes: “The icon painters Lyubim Ageev and his comrades signed the icon wall letter.” Lyubim Ageev is well known for the murals of the Nikolo-Nadeinskaya Church in Yaroslavl and the Assumption Cathedral in Moscow. However, it is very difficult to judge his handwriting, since these frescoes are in XVIII-XIX centuries were recorded and updated, and the murals of the Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery were covered in 1838 with rough oil painting. Separate minor fragments that have been cleared indicate that the old monumental features were still unusually strong in the work of Lyubim Ageev.
In the 17th century, the vaults and walls of the western porch of the Assumption Cathedral were also painted. Of these frescoes, only two compositions have been preserved inside two small rooms on the sides of the entrance extension. It is very difficult to accurately determine the date of the mural and the master, but there is reason to attribute it to the 50s of the 17th century and, by analogy with the painting of the Moscow Trinity Church in Nikitniki and the Kostroma Church of the Resurrection “on the Debre”, attribute it to the mural painter, senior denominator of the artel of Kostroma, Vasily Ilyin Zapokrovsky . Zapokrovsky's frescoes are characterized by an amazing love for real life, a sense of proportion in the compositions. He is characterized by extraordinary lyricism, grace in the depiction of human figures freely located in space, extraordinary lightness, confidence and accuracy of the drawing. Among the artists of the Kostroma school of murals of the 17th century, Vasily Zapokrovsky, with his pronounced desire for realism, secularism, poetry and lyricism, occupies one of the first places.
Associated with the symbolism of the temple itself, the iconostasis had four tiers of icons: the first from the bottom is local, then the deesis, festive and prophetic rows. In all tiers, the icons stood as if on shelves on simple, without any carving tabla, devoid of any separating columns. In the local row were the most ancient miraculous and locally venerated icons, directly related to the history of the temple. The Deesis row in the 15th century was one of the largest, numbering twenty-one icons.
In the 17th century, the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral underwent significant changes. Of the early monuments in the local row, only “Assumption”, “Hodegetria”, “Kirill Belozersky in Life” of the end of the 15th century, etc. remained. A fifth was added to the four main tiers - the forefather; new royal gates were made with a magnificent chased silver setting. They were granted by Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich in 1645. In the 19th century, simple iconostasis plates were replaced with carved, gilded ones that still exist today, with columns between the icons. At the same time, the icons had to be moved apart, and some did not fit into the new iconostasis at all.
The abundance of small icons in the temple, especially the pyadnitsa, is explained by the need for a certain harmonious “staffing” of the local row of the iconostasis. Usually the icons of the lower tier differed in size: along with the huge ones, there were also small ones; above the latter, they placed the spinnerets in order to give the entire tier more or less the same height. The most revered icon of the local row was the Assumption (first quarter of the 15th century). In all the inventories of the monastery, it was attributed to the brush of Andrei Rublev. By the perfection of the composition, by the light clarity of the faces, by the sophistication of harmonious color relationships, this icon can be attributed to the work of Rublev. However, some archaism of forms and almost Novgorod heaviness of images contradict such attribution. Most likely, this is the work of the closest student of Rublev. It is possible that the master himself painted only one or two main figures. In the local row of the iconostasis of the Assumption Cathedral there was also the icon "Kirill Belozersky", made by the famous artist Dionysius Glushitsky in 1424.
Dionysius Glushitsky as a person is very characteristic of the Russian Middle Ages. He was born in 1362 near Vologda, and died in 1437, already being abbot of the Sosnovetsky monastery founded by him on the banks of the Glushitsa River (hence his nickname). The circle of interests of Dionysius was extremely extensive. While still in the monks of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, he not only painted icons, but was also a woodcarver, and a book writer, and a carpenter, and a blacksmith, and wove baskets. Many icons were attributed to this “jack of all trades”. However, after their clearing in 1919-1920, it turned out that they are all stylistically different. The only reliable work of Dionysius Glushitsky at the present time is the icon "Cyril Beloeersky". It depicts a thick-set, rooted in the ground, round-shouldered old man with a bushy beard, with a kind, friendly and intelligent face. The image of Cyril embodies the ideal of a morally strong and active person.
In 1614, a wooden carved gilded kiot was specially made for the icon. Later, the kiot, together with the icon, was transferred to the side church of Cyril. It is folded, with a keeled top; its tympanum depicts the Savior Not Made by Hands and two angels. The sashes from the outside are lined with basma with a floral pattern characteristic of the 17th century. At the top and bottom of the icon case there is a carved inscription, made in a beautifully drawn script: “The image of the miracle worker Cyril was written off by the Monk Dionysius Glushitsky while I am still alive to the miracle worker Kirill in the summer of 6932 (1424). This kiot was made in the house of the most pure miracle-worker Cyril in the summer of 7122 (1614) with the blessing of hegumen Matthew, glory to God a (min). The bottom of the icon case is decorated with carved wooden checkers, typical of folk art monuments. Curious are the painted sashes of the product depicting events from the life of Cyril - the birth, the appearance of the Mother of God to Cyril, the hoisting of the cross by Cyril at the foundation of the monastery, and, finally, Dionysius painting the image of Cyril. In the inventory of the monastery there is a short entry about the artist Nikita Yermolov from Belozero, who wrote in August 1614 “the miracle-working image has two shutters (shutters)”.
There is no doubt that we are talking about this icon case. The most interesting is the scene where Dionysius is presented, sitting near the table on which the icon lies. Kirill is standing on the other side of the table, as if posing for an artist. The monastery buildings serve as a background. The image on the icon accurately reproduces the person standing in front of the artist - facial features, attire, pose. This is confirmed by the inscription placed at the top of the composition; "The Monk Dionysus (y) wrote (asha) St. Cyril in vain on the saint." References to the creation by Dionysius Glushitsky of the image from the living Cyril are found in documents and inventories of the monastery in 1565-1601 and 1614. When painting an image, the Old Russian painter not only used a method similar to the creation of a life (stories of eyewitnesses of events, people who knew the person well), but also directly worked from nature.
On the eastern side, the porch of the Assumption Cathedral ends with a small aisle church of Vladimir, the tomb of the Vorotynskys, built in 1554. This is a small single-domed, pillarless temple, square in plan, with a wide semicircular apse. Its ceiling has the form of two box vaults, between which there are stepped vaults in the middle, creating a transition to the light dome. A similar form of vault is typical for Pskov in the 15th-16th centuries, but it was made somewhat clumsily, which gives rise to the assumption that the temple was built by local craftsmen. The outer appearance of the temple in many respects imitates the Assumption Cathedral. This is evidenced by the keeled kokoshniks of the former completion (the coating has been changed), the pilasters decorating the facades and the perspective portal inside the porch, as well as the wide ribbons of brick decoration under the kokoshniks and on the drum. A good bulbous dome, covered with a wooden plowshare. It refers to the time of renovation of the building - to 1631. Its lower part is surrounded by a magnificent openwork valance made of gilded iron with an inscription about the construction and renewal of the temple. The construction of churches-tombs near the cathedral was not limited to the Vladimir chapel. In 1645, the church of Epiphanius adjoined it from the north, erected over the grave of Prince F. Telyatevsky, in honor of the saint, whose name he bore in the monastery after being tonsured. A small building almost completely repeats the shape of the church standing next to it. This clearly shows what a huge role the traditions “sanctified by antiquity” played in the construction of the monastery in Kirillov.
From the opposite south side Assumption Cathedral above the tomb of Cyril rises another, but more extensive chapel. It was built in 1785 instead of the former church of 1585-1587, dismantled "because of dilapidation". Its architectural forms with a high two-tiered altar crowned with a dome are designed in the style of a provincial, belated baroque.
The temple was rebuilt: the roof of the temple was replaced by a hipped roof, the strict helmet-shaped dome was replaced by an elaborate baroque one. Today, it is almost impossible to make a holistic impression of this temple: over the years, it has been overgrown with later buildings that have closely surrounded it. In the design of its facades, the techniques of early Moscow architecture were fully manifested: the division of walls into spindles, belts of patterned masonry with the use of tiles, perspective portals with keeled ends.
Now in the Assumption Cathedral the situation is still miserable, white empty walls, a small temporary iconostasis from Sofrino's lithographs - and this despite the fact that the museum's expositions and storerooms contain ancient monastery icons that have been prayed for over the centuries.
Literature: Bocharov G.N., Vygolov V.P. Vologda, Kirillov, Ferapontovo, Belozersk. M., 1979. Kirillov. Historical and local history almanac, no. 1-2. Vologda, 1994-1997. Nikolsky N.K. Kirillo-Belozersky monastery and its structure until the second quarter of the 17th century. (1397-1625), vol. 1, no. 1-2. St. Petersburg, 1897-1910
The architectural ensemble of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery was formed over several centuries. The first wooden buildings, the construction of which began under the founder of the monastery, St. Cyril, have not survived to this day. The beginning of stone construction dates back to 1496, when “they began to build the stone church of the Assumption of the Virgin, and they put it up in 5 months, and it became 250 rubles, and there were 20 masters of white walls, and the great master Prokhor Rostovsky.” The Dormition Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery became the third stone church on the territory of the Belozersky Territory. Only shortly before that, two stone churches were erected in the Spaso-Kamenny Monastery on Lake Kubenskoye and in the Ferapontov Monastery close to Kirillov. The local chronicler called him " great church» It is no coincidence: the main church of the St. Cyril Monastery surpassed the cathedrals of the main Moscow monasteries in size.
The architecture of the temple absorbed the features of Moscow and Novgorod architecture. The whole appearance of the temple was imbued with simplicity and monumentality. The massive squat structure was striking in the elegance and subtlety of the exterior decoration. The walls are dissected by narrow shoulder blades, and at the top, at the base of the zakomar, are decorated with wide belts of patterned brickwork, which also included ceramic slabs with ornaments and a "baluster". The same belts run along the top of the apses and the drum. If the floral ornament of ceramic plates is close to the white-stone carving of Moscow churches, then the brick “patterning” resembles a favorite motif for decorating the walls of Pskov monuments. Zakomaras of the cathedral had a sharp keeled end. Two more tiers of kokoshniks rose above the zakomaras, which created a transition to a massive drum topped with a helmet-shaped dome. Such a composition gave a rather large building lightness and aspiration upwards. The entrances to the cathedral were decorated with perspective portals, characteristic of Moscow architecture, beautifully hewn from stone, with keeled ends, which have beads and sheaf-shaped capitals characteristic of Moscow buildings. Of the three portals, only the northern one, overlooking the porch, has now been preserved.
In 1641, the Assumption Cathedral was painted by the Kostroma master Lyubim Ageev "with comrades" at the expense of the royal deacon Nikifor Shipulin. Subsequently, the appearance of the cathedral was greatly changed by various extensions and alterations. Particularly noticeable are the reconstructions of the 18th century, which gave it some features of the then dominant Baroque style: the kokoshniks disappeared, instead of a low helmet-shaped top, a high head of a complex, somewhat pretentious shape was built on the drum, and the windows were hewn.
The iconostasis, created around 1497, has been preserved. It is a unique monument of ancient Russian icon painting. This is the largest complex of simultaneous icons that has come down to our time.
In 2010, the museum began the restoration of the Assumption Cathedral. At present, the work on the restoration of the drum and the dome has been completed, external drainage has been completed, the carpentry fillings and the facades of the temple have been restored. To save the unique frescoes in the cathedral, electrically heated floors were made, which made it possible to regulate the temperature and humidity conditions. The restorers carried out the disclosure of painting, strengthening and tinting of the loss of painting inside the cathedral.
https://kirmuseum.org/en/monument/uspenskii-sobor-s-papertami
