Early Russian Icon Painting

Fülszöveg

Over the last few years Soviet museums have considerably enlarged their collections of early Russian icon painting by acquiring a number of icons which had been re-discovered, freed of overpaint and restored to their original aspect. The icons were later exhibited in Moscow and Leningrad and the exhibitions have shed new light upon questions connected with the local schools in Ancient Rus. It was this which provided the stimulus for the publication of the present album. It is an impossible task to tackle the entire artistic wealth of early Russian icon painting in a single album. The author, M. V. Alpatov, a Soviet scholar of world renown, has made a selection of the most interesting icons. But the album is not merely a collection of masterpieces of early Russian icon painting. Its aim is to lead up to the comprehension and study of the work of many anonymous painters of Ancient Rus and of such geniuses as Andrei Rublev, Dionysius, and the Kremlin Master, the creator of the... Tovább

Fülszöveg

Over the last few years Soviet museums have considerably enlarged their collections of early Russian icon painting by acquiring a number of icons which had been re-discovered, freed of overpaint and restored to their original aspect. The icons were later exhibited in Moscow and Leningrad and the exhibitions have shed new light upon questions connected with the local schools in Ancient Rus. It was this which provided the stimulus for the publication of the present album. It is an impossible task to tackle the entire artistic wealth of early Russian icon painting in a single album. The author, M. V. Alpatov, a Soviet scholar of world renown, has made a selection of the most interesting icons. But the album is not merely a collection of masterpieces of early Russian icon painting. Its aim is to lead up to the comprehension and study of the work of many anonymous painters of Ancient Rus and of such geniuses as Andrei Rublev, Dionysius, and the Kremlin Master, the creator of the Apocalypse icon. With this aim in view, Section II of the album contains reproductions of icons painted on the same theme but at various periods, and it demonstrates convincingly that a strict adherence to the canons on the part of the artists did not exclude their differing creative interpretations. In Section I the author juxtaposes Russian and Byzantine icons, which helps one to understand the specific features of the Russian school. Another section deals with icons which once were parts of iconostases and which still bear the imprint of belonging to these monumental ensembles. The other sections contain works of various schools and periods. They open with icons which give an idea of man's image in the painting of a given period. In his choice of examples the author aims at making the reader feel he is in a museum, as it were, and enables him to see a painting both in its entirety and in its most interesting details. The brief notes which accompany each illustration and the basic bibliography are merely subsidiary aids. In the introductory text the author discusses in a concise manner the general problems of understanding and interpreting early Russian icon painting. Although the album is intelligible to a wide circle of readers interested in art, it should also be useful to art historians and artists who are well versed in eariy Russian icon painting. The album is an attempt at an exposition of such painting within the framework of a single book. Its main purpose is to bring to light the aesthetic merits of painting in Ancient Rus, which give it a place of honour in the history of world art, alongside the Greek vases, the Byzantine mosaics, the Gothic stained glass and the Italian primitives. Vissza