The artistic culture of Kievan Rus briefly. Artistic culture of Kievan Rus

The baptism of Rus in 988, the adoption of Byzantine Orthodoxy, was not an accidental or unexpected act. On the contrary, it became a response to the demand of historical necessity, which determined the most important priorities of Russian culture for the next millennium. The choice that was made by Russia, Prince Vladimir, was very difficult and painful. After all, he created the need to change spiritual and moral priorities, to replace the life-loving optimism of paganism, a new faith should have come, which placed the salvation of the soul at the forefront and based on strict implementation of moral norms and strict self-restraint. A real spiritual revolution took place, destroying pagan fatalism and absolute peace of mind, which was a consequence of the lack of free will in the pagan worldview. A long way of realizing the personality in man began, which was especially facilitated by the idea of ​​Christ as the God-man.

Kievan Rus did not immediately adopt the Christian worldview, according to which the sensuously perceived world does not possess true reality, that it is only a reflection of the eternally existing world of higher truths, the meaning of which can be approached through divine revelation, faith, through contemplation and mystical insight. The pagan ideas in Russia were too strong - all agricultural rituals, the life cycle of a person were associated with them. Therefore, Christianity was heavily affirmed in Russia, not destroying, but absorbing and transforming pagan cults, forming the phenomenon dual faith, which has become a characteristic feature of Russian culture. Orthodoxy in Russia has acquired a specific character associated with the priority of the ritual aspect of religion. Attendance at church services, observance of fasts, constant prayers permeated the entire life of a Russian. But at the same time he was ignorant in elementary religious matters, very naively interpreting the Orthodox faith. Thus, formed special type Orthodoxy - formal, ignorant, synthesized with pagan mysticism and practice. This resulted in irrationalism, generally characteristic of Russian culture.

Nevertheless, gradually Christian forms of rituals changed the life of a person, his spiritual world, a specifically Russian system of values ​​was built with the priority of spiritual values, the ideal of conciliarity - the voluntary unity of people for the sake of brotherhood in Christ, the refusal to recognize the intrinsic value of labor and wealth, as in the West. Personality in Russia has never been valuable in itself, it has always dissolved in the state, in the community. The ideal of steel faith and collegiality, not knowledge and individualism. At the same time, the church supported the secular government, without interfering in its affairs, copying the Byzantine model in this.

Christianity influenced all aspects of the life of Russia. The adoption of a new religion helped to establish political, trade, cultural ties with the countries of the Christian world, and contributed to the formation of urban culture. The church, which took a central place in society, contributed to the creation of magnificent architecture, art in Russia, and the spread of enlightenment. Cultural contacts with Byzantium undoubtedly had the greatest influence on Russian culture. These influences successfully combined with the culture of pagan Russia, already prepared by this time for the perception of new complex ideas, including in the field of artistic culture, which together gave an amazing synthesis that created a magnificent and majestic culture of pre-Mongol Russia.

At the turn of the VIII-IX centuries. among the eastern Slavs, the state of Kievan Rus arose, the origin of the name of which causes a lot of controversy. Some associate it with the name of the Ros river, others with the Latin "ms" ("village"), others consider it to be of the same root with the words "channel", "mermaid" and then "Russians" are "living by the water". But the main thing for us is the understanding of what became the starting point that laid the foundation for Russia, served as the impetus for the unification of the tribes, for the birth of statehood and writing. What became the energy source that allowed Russia in a short time to become a strong state, with a rich and original culture, to enter the world civilization, to catch up with the countries of Western Europe, which by this time had come a long way of medieval development and absorbed the richest experience of antiquity. Most historians agree that the most significant are three events: the vocation of the Varangians (862) *, the capture of Kiev by Prince Oleg (882) and, finally, the most important - the baptism of Rus (989). All these events are reflected in our first domestic chronicle "The Tale of Bygone Years", written by the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nestor at the end of the 11th century. The chronicle begins the historical narrative about Russia from 852. "In the year 6360 (852), indict 15, when Michael began to reign, the Russian land began to be called" (17; 66). The historical memory of our people, the birth of monuments of Russian culture began from the 9th century. Two acts of national self-denial, according to the outstanding historian Solovyov, marked the first page of Russian history. The first act is the vocation of the Varangians - the initiation of oneself into Western European citizenship. The second act is the adoption of Christianity - the introduction to Orthodox Byzantium (21; 81-84).

We know the history of the "choice of faith" from the chronicle of the already mentioned monk-writer Nestor "The Tale of Bygone Years", which tells about the events of the reign of Prince Vladimir Saint of Kiev. In The Tale of Bygone Years, the chronicler explains the choice of the Orthodox faith exclusively by the “factor of beauty”. He says that after visiting a Greek Orthodox church, the envoys of Prince Vladimir became firmly established in the Christian faith and said: “We cannot stay here in paganism”; this legend explains to us why our ancestors preferred the Greek faith to the Latin.

Not only the Orthodox rite passed from Byzantium to Russia, Byzantium rendered great assistance in the development of a new religion and culture. The masters who built the first temples, icon painters, creators of magnificent mosaics - were Greeks and they brought with them certain artistic traditions, but it is surprising how the Russian people organically accepted, absorbed and, at the same time, creatively developed that high art that they inherited from Byzantium.

So, let's note the main features that will help us understand the meaning of ancient Russian art, its unique mystery and irresistible appeal. The first moment, extremely important for understanding the development of ancient and medieval Russian artistic culture, is that it was inseparable from the church. In the period from the end of the X to the XVII centuries. professional art abandoned secular forms of artistic culture (for example, there was no theater, instrumental performance). The cultural space was completely filled with highly spiritual temple arts - architecture, icon painting, singing. (However, we note that we are talking only about professional art. Below we will talk about folk art separately). I would like to quote the words of art critic L.A. Rapatskaya, who, in our opinion, very accurately defines the meaning of what happened:

“Christianity with its centuries-old traditions was accepted by Russia as a gift, as a value that did not require any changes. This contributed to the consolidation of the stable principles of artistic culture in general and each type of art in particular. A new Orthodox church art was born, which opened the first page in the history of the professional artistic culture of Russia. The creativity of ancient Russian writers, artists, architects, musicians was formed on the basis of generally accepted standards of beauty. Therefore, the entire artistic culture of the XI-XVII centuries. was canonical in the highest sense of the word. Through canonical norms, rules, traditions, the conciliar, supraindividual principle of Russian art was most fully expressed ”(19). The second factor characteristic of ancient Russian art is the strict adherence to unshakable rules, in other words, the canons. The talent of ancient Russian artists served the common cause of the church - conciliarity, and therefore most often remained anonymous. The third point that reveals the peculiarity of ancient Russian art is its symbolism, which consisted in the desire to express the secrets of being in a special language. “A symbol is a connection between two worlds, a sign of another world in this world,” wrote NA. Berdyaev (3; 78). For the culture of Ancient Russia, symbols are signs that express the relationship between two worlds: earthly and unknown, human and transcendental. The artist's work was supposed to bring these worlds closer to each other. The art of Ancient Rus used a system of symbols based on the texts of Holy Scripture. Each type of art had its own expressive symbolism: painting had the symbolism of color, in literature - words, in music - sound.

I would like to dwell on one more striking feature of the aesthetic reflection of the world by the creators of Ancient Kievan Rus - this is the perception of life, as it were, "from a bird's eye view," through spatial, temporal and historical scales. A kind of "cosmism", when everything is illuminated from great distances of space, time and the values ​​of the hierarchy. This, in our opinion, an extremely interesting feature of ancient Russian art, was remarkably accurately noted by Academician D.S. Likhachev. “At this time, all events are viewed as if from a huge transcendental height. Even creativity itself, as it were, required the same spatial character. The works were created in different geographic locations. Many works were written by several authors in different parts of the Russian land. The chronicles were constantly transported from place to place and were supplemented by local records everywhere. An intensive exchange of historical information took place between Novgorod and Kiev, Kiev and Chernigov, Chernigov and Polotsk, Pereyaslavl Russky and Pereyaslavl Zalessky, Vladimir Zalessky and Vladimir Volynsky. The most remote points of Russia were involved in the exchange of chronicle information. The chroniclers seemed to be looking for each other hundreds of miles away. And there is nothing more wrong than to imagine the chroniclers detached from life and locked in the silence of their cramped cells. Cells could have been, but the chroniclers felt themselves in the space of all Russia. " And further: “Literature of Russia XI-XII centuries. in general, it is a kind of "walking". Ties were established with Byzantium, Bulgaria, Serbia, Czech Republic and Moravia, translations were made from many languages. This is literature "open" for transferring into it many works from the southwest and west of Europe. Its borders with neighboring literatures are very conditional ... Therefore, Monomakh, in his "Instruction", constantly talks about his campaigns and travels. Therefore, in the annals, events are events in motion - campaigns, relocations of the prince from one reign to another.<...>In these conditions, some of the features of The Lay of Igor's Campaign become clear. The "Word" covers vast spaces. The battle with the Polovtsians is perceived as a cosmic phenomenon. Singing glory "winds" from the Danube across the sea to Kiev. Yaroslavna's lament is directed to the sun, wind, Dnieper. That is why birds, their flights over great distances, acquire such significance in the artistic fabric of The Lay of Igor's Campaign. Where there is dynamism, time and history always acquire a special meaning ”(12; 91).

What D.S. Likhachev about literature, of course, applies to the entire culture of this period. Many researchers, historians, art critics note the amazing ability of Russian artistic culture to absorb and organically accept, creatively complementing it with their own searches, the style and characteristics of the cultures of other cities. This ability helped Russian craftsmen create completely unique works of art. In the artistic style of the churches of both western Ukraine (Galicia and Volhynia) and eastern Russia (Suzdal and Ryazan), both Romanesque and Transcaucasian (Georgian and Armenian) stylistic influences are intertwined.

The famous Russian historian S.M. Soloviev (21), who notes that Grand Duke Yaroslav the Wise, this "Solomon of Kievan Rus", legislator, educator and creator of Kievan Sophia, sealed the alliance with France by close family ties. In 1048, three French bishops arrived in Kiev to ask Yaroslav for the hand of his daughter Anna for King Henry I. The sister of another Anna, the wife of St. Vladimir, Theophania, was the wife of the emperor Otgon II. Under Vladimir, the Catholic monk Boniface, who was going to preach to the Pechenegs, was cordially received and treated kindly by the Kiev prince. Pope Gregory VII supported the Russian prince Izyaslav against the Polish king Boleslav, calling Izyaslav “the Russian king” in his messages. The analogy between Ancient Russia and antiquity, which was also characterized by "cosmism" of perception, seems to be very interesting. According to Solovyov: “The military, knightly Russia of Kiev resembles the Iliad in its moods. Many analogies could be drawn. Let us call here "Hector's Farewell to Andromache" and "Lament of Yaroslavna", while trade, the seaside culture of Novgorod is closer to the life of Ionic Greece, outlined in the "Odyssey". But the entire culture bears the stamp of the Christian ideal and Byzantine asceticism. The prince of Kiev is a knight-monk, but his appearance is much prettier than that of a knight of Western Europe. True, we did not have the poetic cult of the Madonna in Kiev, but the Christian ideal of chastity, misery and humility was perceived here more completely than in the feudal West ”(21; 84).

From generation to generation, artists, musicians, writers, architects of Ancient Russia have embodied in their work a harmonious, deeply conscious artistic picture of the world. All the achievements of ancient Russian culture should be very highly appreciated:

a high level of literacy and the development of political and diplomatic practice, the intensity of the development of legal thought and cultural ties, artistic crafts, especially in the technique of making enamels, niello, enamel, stone carving, making book decorations and military affairs. But, first of all, it is an art that was distinguished by its laconicism, colorfulness, cheerfulness, courage in solving artistic problems. Answering the question: what did the Creator intend about Russia? ON THE. Berdyaev argued that the Russian people throughout their history nurtured lofty ideas of the spiritual meaning of life and the conciliar brotherhood of people. These ideas received the most complete and perfect embodiment in art - literature, music, painting, architecture. Mysterious Russia, which both “cannot be understood with the mind” and “cannot be measured by a common yardstick,” was reflected in the unique creations of art (3).

ESSAY

in the discipline "Culturology"

Culture of Kievan Rus

Introduction

1 Spiritual culture of Kievan Rus

1.1 Folklore

1.2 Religion

1.3 Literature and writing

2 Material culture of Kievan Rus

2.1 Construction and architecture

2.2 Painting and art

2.3 Life and development of crafts

Conclusion

Bibliography

Introduction

Culture is a set of material and spiritual values ​​created by society. In this regard, it is customary to talk about material and spiritual culture. However, this division is conditional, since every work of material culture is the result of conscious human activity, and, at the same time, almost any work of spiritual culture (literary work, icon, painting, architectural structure, etc.) is expressed in a specific material form.

The history of Kievan Rus originates from the unification of Kiev and Novgorod by Oleg, respectively, and the culture develops in the same centuries as the formation of Russian statehood.

The development of the people proceeded simultaneously along several lines - economic, political, cultural. Russia took shape and developed as the center of a huge people for that time, at first consisting of various tribes; as a state whose life developed over a vast territory. And all the original cultural experience of the Eastern Slavs became the property of a single Russian culture.

In this work, we will consider such components of culture as folklore, its genres; religion of the Slavs (before and after baptism); literature and writing - formation, main genres; architecture and construction - types of buildings, styles in which they were performed; art and painting are the main types, unique monuments. We will also pay attention to the development of crafts and life of the people of Kievan Rus.

We will consider all this in the period from the formation of the state to the Mongol-Tatar invasion.

1. Spiritual culture of Kievan Rus
   1. Folklore

Written sources testify to the richness and diversity of the folklore of Kievan Rus.

The main component of Russian folklore is the song - language and rhythm, word and melody are closely intertwined in it. Since time immemorial, Russians have captured in song the entire course of their lives: work and entertainment, joy and sadness, minor incidents and great historical events.

Ritual folklore included conspiracies, spells, wedding songs, funeral lamentations, songs at feasts and feasts. Mythological legends were also widespread, reflecting the pagan ideas of the ancient Slavs. These are the songs and dances associated with Maslenitsa, Ivan Kupala's day, Christmas carols.

There were also forms of folklore that were not associated with a pagan cult - proverbs, sayings, riddles, fairy tales, labor songs.

Written monuments brought to us a lot of legends and legends about the ancestors of tribes and princely dynasties, about the founders of cities, about the struggle against foreigners. Folk legends about the events of the 2nd - 6th centuries. reflected in the “Lay of Igor's Regiment. Legends about the struggle of the Slavs with the Avars in the 7th century. kept the "Tale of Bygone Years".

For many generations, the people have created and kept a kind of "oral chronicle" in the form of prosaic legends and epic legends about the past of their native land. It preceded the written annals and served as one of its main sources. Such legends include legends about the founding of Kiev, about the vocation of the Varangians, about the campaigns against Constantinople, about Oleg and his death from a snakebite, about Olga's revenge on the Drevlyans and many others. Chronicle narration of the events of the 9th - 10th centuries. almost entirely based on folklore material.

By the middle of the X century. refers to the emergence of a new epic genre - the heroic epic epic, the pinnacle of oral folk art. Epics are oral poetry about the past. They are based on real historical events, the prototypes of some epic heroes are real people... Bogatyrs are always ready to protect the prince and his state, there is no servility in them, each of them is portrayed as a person with his own character. The eldest is Ilya Muromets, a big, powerful man of peasant origin, purposeful and fearless. Alyosha Popovich, the son of a priest who relies on his cunning. Dobrynya Nikitich is a boyar, a noble, generous person.

The main theme of the epics is the struggle of the people against foreign conquerors, they are imbued with the spirit of patriotism. The ideas of the greatness and unity of Russia, service to the motherland were preserved in epics and in times of political fragmentation, the Golden Horde yoke. For many centuries, these ideas, the images of heroes - heroes inspired the people to fight the enemy, which predetermined the longevity of the epic epic.

Oral folk art continued to live and develop after the appearance of written literature, remaining an important element of Kiev culture,

and it is often difficult to separate the early basis of a folklore work from the later strata.

1. Religion

The pre-Christian religion, called pagan according to the old church tradition, was a whole complex of primitive views, beliefs and cults, which, on the one hand, reflected the dependence of people on the surrounding nature, on the other, served as a form of consolidation and transmission of centuries-old economic experience, specific practical knowledge, accumulated by many generations.

The Slavs represented the world simply and clearly. For them, he is one whole. The world is space (nature). Everything in it is interconnected and everything has its place and time.

Heaven and earth were seen by the Slavs as an immortal married couple, personifying the masculine and feminine principles, mother and father. The cult of Rod, a heavenly being, a carrier of the masculine principle, was associated with the earth. Nature correlated with the mother earth, which gives rise to the entire living world. This cult of Rod and Mother in labor (virgins of fertility and patroness of babies) was the most widespread and stable and persisted quite long time, even after the adoption of Christianity.

Ancient authors point out that the Slavs worshiped fire. The name of the fiery god whom the pagan Slavs worshiped is Svarog. This deity was understood as the highest being, a source of fire and light, walking across the sky. They also worshiped the son of Svarog - Dazhbog, the sun god.

There was also a cult of water. The Slavs considered water to be the element from which the world was formed. They made sacrifices to the water, leaving their sacrifices on the shore or lowering them into the water so that the revered sacred element would accept them.

In 980. Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavovich makes the first attempt to form a kind of pantheon of supreme deities, headed by the god of storm, war and weapons, the patron saint of the princely squad Perun. He wanted to put the idols of the following gods on the hill: Perun, Khors, Dazhbog, Stribog, Simargla, Mokosh

Perun and Khors were considered the sons of Svarog. The name of Stribog in Slavic mythology is associated with atmospheric elements. Mokosh is a female deity who was revered as the "mother of the harvest", the goddess of life's blessings and abundance. There are several hypotheses about Simargla, but they are all related to the interpretation of the number seven as a symbol of perfection.

The cults of the gods were supplemented with images of good and evil forest, water and smaller domestic gods, as well as numerous good and evil spirits.

So, people and gods in the mythology of the ancient Slavs lived in one world - the world of nature. Gods were stronger than people and had the right to command, so it was considered necessary to offer them sacrifices in order to ask their mercy. The gods who gave good to people were considered white (good), and those who caused harm were considered black (evil).

The preservation of tribal cults and polytheism hindered the unification of the tribes. And Vladimir's attempt to create a single pantheon of the most revered gods headed by Perun and give it a nationwide character was not crowned with success. The young feudal state needed an appropriate ideological design, a religion that illuminated social inequality. Christianity with its monotheism, the hierarchy of saints, the idea of ​​posthumous retribution, the developed doctrine of domination and submission, the preaching of non-resistance to evil by violence has become such a religion.

In 988. Christianity was declared the dominant religion. But the new religion was not immediately accepted by the people. Even a purely formal Christianization of the population met with strong resistance. At first, only city dwellers took Christianity more or less seriously; in remote rural areas, under the thin cover of Christian rites, paganism retained its position for a long time. The result was the so-called "dual faith." People could wear crosses and go to church, but they continued to celebrate pagan holidays as well.

The inhabitants of Kievan Rus got an idea of ​​Christianity mainly through worship (or through the church rite in general). Further explanations were offered in sermons. The sermons of eminent clergymen were usually recorded and disseminated among literate people, whose number increased significantly towards the end of the eleventh century.

Perhaps the most important result was a new sense of the moral responsibility of each person for their deeds and even thoughts, which supported the idea of ​​a future life and the Last Judgment. If a person sinned, then he repented, and the new element of the inner struggle for the better, enriched his spiritual life and religious experience. Thus, an important psychological transformation took place in the Russian character.

The transformation affected not only the individual, but also society as a whole. The concept of individual responsibility went alongside the concept of social responsibility. Church leaders were expected to provide guidance on the people's path. Monasteries have become centers of what might be called social work; hospitals, orphanages were organized in them, they also did charity work. Many princes followed this example. Education was also funded by both princes and the Church, and it was the Church that first assumed the task of writing the history of the nation.

Compassion was one of the main manifestations of Christian feeling in Russia, one of the pillars of popular religiosity in comparison with official theology. Even if a person was a criminal or a heretic, from the point of view of popular religion, suffering purified him.

The accepted Christianity was significantly transformed under the influence of local traditional beliefs and cults. At the same time, Christianity also influenced the worldview, subordinating the popular consciousness to the official ideology.

The new religion contributed to the formation and strengthening of early feudal statehood, the consolidation of the international position of Russia, which occupied worthy place among Christian states. She contributed to the further consolidation of the East Slavic tribes into a single nationality, the state unity of all Russian lands. The adoption of Christianity led to the expansion of international cultural ties of Russia and created the conditions for its introduction to the cultural achievements of Byzantium and the entire Christian world.

1. Literature and writing

The basis of any ancient culture is writing. One of the main sources of cultural development in Kievan Rus was, developed by two Bulgarian monks Cyril (827 - 869) and Methodius (815 - 885), the Slavic alphabet - Cyrillic. This was a historic event in the field of the spiritual culture of many peoples. The Slavic alphabet made it possible to express and consolidate the Slavic language as the basis of the Bulgarian and future Russian and Ukrainian, Belarusian and a number of other languages. The Christianization of Rus in the form of Orthodoxy also consolidated the Slavic language, which was a form of development of medieval Russian culture. Byzantine Orthodoxy, which was established in Kievan Rus, allowed prayer in different languages ​​and had a significant advantage over the Roman Catholic Church, which adhered to strict restrictions on the use of languages ​​for worship (ancient Hebrew, Greek and Latin).

The new "own" writing served as the basis for the rapid development of book culture in Kievan Rus, which before the Mongol invasion was one of the most civilized states in Europe in the 11th -XIII centuries... Since the XI century. in wealthy families, boys and girls were taught to read and write. Manuscript books of secular content, chronicles, historical works, along with Byzantine theological works, become a necessary sign of involvement in culture. Books in this era are kept not only by the prince and his entourage, but also by merchants and artisans. A special place in the library, collected by Yaroslav the Wise himself, was occupied by books translated into the Slavic language. It was they who were placed in the St. Sophia Cathedral.

Birch bark letters are a striking evidence of the wide spread of literacy in cities and suburbs. In Novgorod, hundreds of birch bark letters were found, indicating that in Novgorod, Pskov, Smolensk and other cities of Russia people loved and knew how to write to each other. Among the letters are business documents, information exchange, invitations to visit and even love correspondence.

Already in the XI century. the formation of Old Russian literature proper begins. The leading place among literary works belonged to the annals. The largest chronicle collection of Kievan Rus - "The Tale of Bygone Years" appeared at the beginning of the XII century. It has come down to us in two editions, formed in the XIV-XV centuries. The most important topics of this chronicle were the protection of the Christian faith and native land. Its author is usually called the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Nestor. However, in essence, this is a collective work, in the compilation and processing of which several chroniclers took part. The chronicle was a political document and therefore was often reworked in connection with the coming to power of a new prince.

Publicistic and literary works were often included in the annals: "A Word about Law and Grace" by Metropolitan Hilarion (the first metropolitan of Russian origin), written in the second third of the 11th century, "Instructions" by Vladimir Monomakh, where the image of an ideal prince, courageous in battle, was created, caring in relation to his subjects, caring for the unity and well-being of Russia.

At the same time, her own hagiographic literature began to be created. Among them - "The Legend of Boris and Gleb", "Life" of Princess Olga, abbot of the Kiev-Pechersk monastery Feodosia, etc.

In the conditions of the Middle Ages, people rarely left their native lands. The more was the interest in distant countries. That is why the genre of "walks" and travel stories is so typical for medieval literature.

2 Material culture

2.1 Construction and architecture

No wonder they say that architecture is the soul of the people, embodied in stone. This applies to Russia only with some amendment. For many years Russia was a country of wood, and its architecture, pagan chapels, fortresses, towers, huts were built of wood. In a tree, a Russian person expressed his perception of building beauty, a sense of proportions, the fusion of architectural structures with the surrounding nature.

If wooden architecture dates back mainly to pagan Rus, then stone architecture is already associated with Christian Rus. Western Europe did not know such a transition, since ancient times it built both temples and dwellings of stone. Unfortunately, the ancient wooden buildings have not survived to this day, but the architectural style of the people has come down to us in the later wooden buildings, in ancient descriptions and drawings. Russian wooden architecture was characterized by a multi-tiered structure, crowned with turrets and towers, the presence of various kinds of extensions - stands, passages, canopies. Intricate artistic woodcarving was a traditional decoration of Russian wooden buildings. This tradition lives on among the people to this day.

The world of Byzantium, the world of Christianity, the countries of the Caucasus, brought to Russia new building experience and traditions: Russia took the construction of its churches in the image of the cross-domed temple of the Greeks: a square, dismembered by four pillars, forms its basis; rectangular cells adjacent to the dome space form an architectural cross. This sample was applied by Greek craftsmen who came to Russia since the time of Vladimir, as well as Russian craftsmen working with them, to the traditions of Russian wooden architecture, familiar to the Russian eye. But if the first Russian churches were built by Greek craftsmen in strict accordance with the Byzantine traditions, the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev reflected a combination of Slavic and Byzantine traditions: thirteen chapters of the new temple were placed on the basis of the cross-domed church. This stepped pyramid of St. Sophia Cathedral revived the style of Russian wooden architecture.

St. Sophia Cathedral, created at the time of the establishment and rise of Russia under Yaroslav the Wise, showed that construction is also politics. With this temple, Russia challenged Byzantium, its recognized shrine - the St. Sophia Cathedral of Constantinople. In the XI century. St. Sophia Cathedrals arose in other large centers of Russia - Novgorod, Polotsk, and each of them claimed its own, independent from Kiev, prestige.

2.2 Art and painting

Old Russian art - painting, sculpture, music - also experienced tangible changes with the adoption of Christianity. Pagan Russia knew all these types of art, but in a purely pagan, folk expression. Ancient wood carvers, stone cutters created wooden and stone sculptures of pagan gods and spirits. Painters painted the walls of pagan temples, made sketches of magic masks, which were then made by artisans; musicians, playing strings and woodwind instruments, amused the tribal leaders, entertained the common people.

The Christian Church has introduced a completely different content into these types of art. Church art is subordinated to the highest goal - to praise the Christian God, the exploits of the apostles, saints, church leaders. If in pagan art "flesh" triumphed over "spirit" and everything earthly, embodying nature, was affirmed, then church art glorified the victory of "spirit" over flesh, affirmed the lofty deeds of the human soul for the sake of the moral principles of Christianity. Asceticism and austerity in painting (icon painting, mosaics, frescoes), the sublimity, "divinity" of Greek church prayers and chants, the temple itself, becoming a place of prayer communication between people - all this was characteristic of Byzantine art.

And so, transferred to Russian soil, the art of Byzantium collided with the pagan worldview of the Eastern Slavs, with their cult of nature, sun, spring, light, with their completely earthly ideas about good and evil, about sins and virtues. From the very first years, Byzantine church art in Russia experienced the full power of Russian folk culture and folk aesthetic ideas.

The same thing happened with painting. Already in the XI century. the strict ascetic manner of Byzantine icon painting was transformed under the brush of Russian artists into portraits close to nature, although Russian icons carried all the features of a conventional icon-painting face. The widespread use of icon painting, fresco painting was typical for Kiev, Chernigov, Rostov, Suzdal, Novgorod, Yaroslavl. The craftsmen decorated the interiors of the temples with mosaics and frescoes. In the Kiev Sophia Cathedral, the domed image of Christ Pantokrator (Almighty) and the Mother of God, the apostles were made using the mosaic technique. The mosaic of the cathedral has 130 shades.

Some of the frescoes are devoted to secular subjects: two group portraits of the family of Yaroslav the Wise, hunting scenes, images of acrobats, musicians.

There were icons in each church. The most famous of the icons of that era is Our Lady of Vladimir, created at the beginning of the 12th century.

Along with monumental painting and icon painting, the masters of book miniature also achieved high art.

Over the course of many centuries in Russia, the art of woodcarving developed, improved, and later on stone. Carved wooden decorations have generally become a characteristic feature of the dwellings of townspeople and peasants, wooden churches.

White stone carving in the decorations of palaces and cathedrals has become a remarkable feature of ancient Russian art in general.

Utensils and dishes were famous for their fine carvings. In the art of carvers, Russian folk traditions, the ideas of the Russians about the beautiful and graceful, were most fully manifested.

At the same time, there was an intensive development of artistic crafts. Elegant jewelry, genuine masterpieces were created by ancient Russian jewelers - goldsmiths and silversmiths. They made jewelry, trimmed with gold, silver, enamel, precious stones, utensils, dishes, weapons, icon frames, books.

An integral part of the art of Russia was musical and singing art. In "The Lay of Igor's Host", the legendary singer-songwriter Boyan is mentioned, who "put" his fingers on live strings and they "themselves rumbled glory to the princes".

2.3 Life of Kievan Rus and the development of crafts

The culture of the people is inextricably linked with their way of life, everyday life, as well as the way of life of the people, determined by the level of development of the country's economy, is closely linked with cultural processes. The people of Ancient Russia lived both in cities large for their time, numbering tens of thousands of people, and in villages with several dozen courtyards and villages, in which two or three courtyards were grouped.

All the testimonies of contemporaries say that Kiev was a large and rich city. Here golden-domed temples shone with their domes, palaces of princes and prominent boyars amazed with their grace, here on the mountain were the houses of wealthy merchants, other prominent citizens, clergy. Houses were decorated with carpets and expensive Greek fabrics. From here came the administration of principalities, cities, villages, here they judged, tributes and taxes were brought here. Feasts were often held in spacious gridnits, women sat at the table on an equal footing with men. The favorite pastimes of rich people were falconry, hawk, and hound hunting. For ordinary people, horse races, tournaments, and various games were arranged.

Its life, full of toil, anxieties, flowed in the villages and hamlets, in chopped huts, in semi-dugouts with stoves in the corner. There people stubbornly fought for existence, plowed up new lands, raised livestock, hunted, hunted, defended themselves from "dashing" people and in the south - from nomads, rebuilt houses burned by enemies again and again. On long winter evenings, women spun in the light of torches. The men drank intoxicating drinks, honey, remembered days gone by, composed and sang songs, listened to the storytellers of epics.

Crafts developed along with agriculture. Old Russian artisans mastered the most complex metalworking technique. Blacksmiths made shovels, axes, sickles, knives, fish hooks, frying pans, complex locks, etc.

Arms production developed successfully: swords and battle axes, helmets, shields, arrowheads and spearheads were produced. Russian craftsmen made chain mail from intertwined iron rings. This skill came from the East, in Europe they did not know how to weave chain mail.

Other crafts also developed: pottery, carpentry, leather, shoemaking, tailoring, which, in turn, were divided into many specialties. In total, researchers count up to 70 craft specialties in Kievan Rus.

Conclusion

In general, the ancient Russian civilization of the Kiev period in its typological features differed little from the early feudal civilizations of Western Europe. They were brought together by the prevailing technologies of material production, the urban character of culture, and the uniformity of many value orientations. The Orthodox character of Russian Christianity and close economic, political, cultural ties with Byzantium determined the stylistic specifics of the civilization of Ancient Rus. In the first centuries, Kievan Rus in many cultural, value-orientational features can be considered as a "daughter" zone of Byzantine culture, although in most forms of social structure and life it was rather closer to central Europe, so that at the first stage of its formation, Russian civilization had already synthesized features of European, Hellenistic culture and Byzantine mysticism.

The cultural traditions created during the Kiev period were further developed during the era of fragmentation, but many of them could not survive the Mongol invasion.

RUSSIAN ART CULTURE

CULTURE OF KIEV RUSSIA

“To be proud of the glory of your ancestors is not only possible, but also must; not to respect it is a shameful cowardice, ”asserted A. Pushkin. He believed that "respect for the past" is "a trait that distinguishes education from savagery."

DS Likhachev attributed the memory of the past of his people, its culture to the moral category associated with the formation of national identity: "A nation that does not value intelligence and culture is doomed to perish."

Historical and cultural heritage Russia, united by the concept Russian world, has more than a millennium of its development. Based on Christian canons and traditions, Russian culture has given the world immortal ideas, images, monuments. These are Sophia Cathedrals in Kiev and Novgorod, "The Initial Russian Chronicle" and "The Lay of Igor's Campaign", icons of Andrei Rublev and Dionysius, poetry by A. Pushkin and M. Lermontov, novels by L. Tolstoy and F. Dostoevsky, music by P. Tchaikovsky and S. Rachmaninov, paintings by I. Aivazovsky and I. Repin, K. Stanislavsky's system, films by S. Eisenstein, Russian ballet and the Bolshoi Theater - these names and cultural phenomena are known throughout the world.

The foundation on which the building of Russian culture was built is the state of Kievan Rus, its culture, which goes back centuries, into the life and life of various East Slavic tribes.

The culture of Kievan Rus of the pre-Mongol period was one of the pinnacles of European culture of that era.

Its roots go back to the most ancient period. national history, in the preliterate era of the existence of the common homeland of the Eastern Slavs. Their culture was pagan, and therefore most of the works of art that have come down to us are associated with a deep belief in the magical power of natural phenomena, mysterious living beings.

From wood, clay, earth, the Slavs created their dwellings, fortresses. They strove to decorate the wooden parts of the buildings, covering them with carvings from geometric or floral ornaments, painting them with bright organic paints. The Slavs created their temples, in the center of which were located pagan deities, made schematically from stone, wood, less often from metal.

Slavic craftsmen were especially skillful in creating works of jewelry, decorated with a wide variety of ornaments, for the reproduction of which complex metal processing techniques were used.

It was a time when ideas about the world, aesthetic, ethical categories were reflected in folk art. This period in the development of art was characterized by syncretism, a combination of verbal elements with musical, choreographic, pictorial, which later became the basis for the formation different types arts.

Trade relations with the Greek and Roman settlements on the Black and Azov seas led to contact with the Mediterranean (Greek and Roman) ancient culture.

The milestone event that determined the spiritual and artistic development of the Kiev state for many centuries was the adoption of Christianity in 988.

Kievan Rus X - XI centuries - a powerful feudal state with a developed artistic culture, which occupied one of the leading places in Europe. Foreigners called Kievan Rus "the country of cities" Gardarikia, and its center Kiev - "the second Constantinople", where high level reached the development of architecture, painting, applied arts, crafts, folk art. The true history of the creation of the state Kievan Rus connected with the activities of Vladimir I Svyatoslavich, who in 980 made the first attempt to unite the still pagan tribes of the eastern slopes of the Carpathians to the banks of the Oka and Volga, from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. "Initial Russian Chronicle" – "The Tale of Bygone Years"- reports: "And the beginning of the princes Vladmier in Kiev alone, and put idols on the hill outside the courtyard of Teremny: Perun, Khor, Dazhbog, Stribog, Simargla, Mokosh ...". These were the "idols" of various tribes, but Prince Vladimir understood that the interests of Russia - both spiritual and state ones, called him to other decisions.

Numerous sources indicate that from ancient times Christianity began to spread in Russia (before the baptism of Prince Vladimir Svyatolavich in 988). Already the first legend included in the "Primary Russian Chronicle" tells about the pilgrimage of the Apostle Andrew the First-Called, Which one of Korsun(the medieval name of Chersonesos, Crimea) went to the mouth of the Dnieper, and then climbing along it (the path "from the Greeks to the Varangians"), predicted: "Do you see these mountains? As if the grace of God will shine on these mountains, to have a great city of being and to build many churches that God will have ”. The apostle returned, as the chronicle says, through the Volkhov, the Baltic Sea, around Europe, to Rome. Already in this legend, Christianity appears as the beginning that unites Rus with Europe... The current Crimea was also involved in this process: the path of the Apostle Andrew lay through the Caucasus and the Bosporus (Kerch), Feodosia and Chersonesos.

Other sources (Eugene of Caesarea, Life of Clement, the Pope) tell about Clement's stay in Chersonesos, about his death, about the martyrdom of Christian bishops in Crimea and at the mouth of the Dnieper ... Thus, Christianity in Crimea was already recorded in the 3rd century ... By the X century, a situation arose when the neighbors of Russia were Christian states: the Northern Black Sea region, Byzantium. Bulgaria.

It is known that Princess Olga was a Christian, and Vladimir was her grandson.

The chronicle describes in detail the process of making Prince Vladimir the decision to make the rite of baptism. There are different versions of determining the place of baptism of Vladimir Svyatoslavich. But there is also for certain known facts, confirming that the place of baptism was Korsun. This event took place after the capture of Korsun (Chersonesos) by Vladimir, from where the prince took to Kiev some items of church utensils and, most importantly, the relics of St. Clement. By the order of the prince, the Tithe Church was erected in Kiev, part of the clergy of this temple consisted of Korsunians, its abbot was Anastas Korsunianin.

The chronicler of the Tithe Church owns several texts dedicated to Princess Olga and Prince Vladimir. The main idea of ​​these texts lies in the glorification of Vladimir Svyatoslavich as an equal to Constantine, who legalized Christianity in Byzantium.

The story of the baptism of Vladimir in Korsun is included in the Primary Russian Chronicle, and it is given mainly according to the "Word" - one of the writings of the scribes of the Tithe Church. The text of the Lay reads: “He (Vladimir) was baptized in the church of St. Basil, and there is a church in the city of Korsun in the middle of the city, where Korsunians gather for bargaining. " Subsequently, this temple was lost, in its place was built the Vladimir Cathedral, destroyed during the Great Patriotic War. Today the cathedral was erected again.

The adoption of Christianity by Rus first of all led to the humanization of spiritual life and, consequently, art, the strengthening of international relations of Kievan Rus, which led not only to the intensification of trade, but also to cultural exchange. This contributed to the strengthening of the ties of Kievan Rus with the countries of Western Europe and Byzantium, where Christianity had existed since the 4th century. B. Rybakov notes that "the adoption of Christianity put Russia on the same level with the advanced powers of that time."

It was also logical that Christianity in Russia was adopted from Byzantium, with which state, cultural and commercial ties had long been established and which at that time was a highly culturally developed state, the heir to the great traditions of ancient art.

Progressive significance was that with the adoption of Christianity, a wide stream of literature, both ecclesiastical and secular: historical, artistic, philosophical, including works and translations of ancient writers, began to flow from Byzantium,

In addition to the ancient, Byzantium had the greatest experience of Christian art. It was there that the canons of worship, icon painting, the construction and decoration of churches were established, the rules for depicting saints, compositions on biblical themes were determined. Kievan Rus took from Byzantine culture that which corresponded to its aspirations.

The activities of Cyril and Methodius, who made the first Slavic alphabet who founded writing in Kievan Rus.

In the pre-literary period, oral folk art became widespread - folklore, reflecting a certain stage in the formation of the people's consciousness, ideas about the beautiful; there were various genres of folklore: songs, fairy tales, epics, legends and more. They continued their active existence even after the introduction of writing, exerting a significant influence on literature.

The traditions of heroic epics were developed in thoughts (15th - 17th centuries) - historical songs that represented the lyric-epic genre of verbal and musical folk art (for example, "Duma about the Cossack Golota" and others). Dumas narrated about the struggle of Ukrainians against foreign oppressors, they were performed by folk singers-kobzars or bandura players.

LITERATURE XI-XIIBV.

Initially, fiction did not yet stand out as a special kind of art:

it was included in writing, which also affected the genres of ancient literature of Kievan Rus. Writing was created mainly in the center of the state - Kiev, as well as in cities such as Chernigov, Galich, Turov, Rostov, etc.

The oldest types of artistic writing are chronicles (records of events by year), the emergence of which was due to the desire to know their history, past and present of their people. At first, only scattered records of outstanding events of the time appeared. Then such records began to be combined into annals containing information about the history of Kievan Rus, heroic and tragic events in the life of its people.

In the chronicle collections of a later time - Lavrentievsky (1377) and Ipatievsky (early 15th century), the oldest chronicle collection - "The Tale of Bygone Years", compiled in the 12th century, has come down to us. The "Tale" opened the Kiev annalistic collection, which continued with recordings made in Kiev (in the Pechersky and Vydubitsky monasteries), in Chernigov and in Pereyaslavl South, and was concluded with a commendation speech of the Vydubytsky abbot Moses in honor of the Kiev prince Rurik Rostislavich. Chroniclers in Kievan Rus were both secular and clergy, mainly monks, primarily of the Kievo-Pechersk Monastery.

Distinctive features of the chronicles of Kievan Rus: emphasized journalism, patriotism, artistic originality. The ancient chroniclers did not have exact factual material at their disposal, therefore, when illuminating the events of the past, they turned to folklore sources. Folk legends, traditions, legends are especially often found in the first part of the "Tale of Bygone Years", in the second part there are more literary sources, numerous biblical elements. The use of these materials, as well as the figurative presentation of the authors themselves, give the chronicle the character of not only a historical, but also an artistic monument.

The second part includes both original and translated literary sources, for example, "The Legend" about the murder of Boris and Gleb, "The Teaching" by Vladimir Monomakh, the story about the blindness of the Terebovl prince Vasilko and others.

One of the earliest genres of literature was sermons for church services. Their purpose was to present and explain the foundations of the faith in the "words" of the representatives of the clergy, addressed to the flock. The most prominent representatives of solemn eloquence in Kievan Rus were Ilarion (XI century) and Cyril Turovsky (XII century). Hilarion was the author of the well-known sermon "The Word of Law and Grace" (between 1037 - 1050). In this brilliant work, Hilarion decisively acted as a fighter for independence, independence, power and prosperity of the homeland, which was consonant with the policy of Yaroslav the Wise, who appointed Hilarion Metropolitan of Kievan Rus (before that and for a long time after that, the metropolitans in the Kievan state were Greeks).

An outstanding preacher with oratorical and poetic talents was Kirilliz from the city of Turov - Turovsky. His "words" - sermons, written in vivid, expressive language, usually addressed issues of the Christian faith. For example, in the "Word about the new week after Easter" Cyril symbolically interpreted the spiritual renewal of mankind after the resurrection of Christ through the spring renewal of nature,

In the literature of Kievan Rus there were also "lives" - stories about life, pious deeds or sufferings of people canonized by the church (ie, declared saints). The first East Slavic saints were declared the brothers Boris and Gleb - the sons of Prince Vladimir, killed by Svyatopolk the Accursed in 1015 because of the claims to the Kiev throne. The Life has a clearly expressed journalistic tendency aimed at condemning the princely strife, at rallying and strengthening Kievan Rus.

A remarkable monument of hagiographic literature of the XII century. is the Kiev-Pechersk Paterik - a collection of stories about individual events associated with the founding of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, about its individual figures.

The patericon's stories praised the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery, founded in the 11th century, as the religious center of Kievan Rus, thus advocating its unification around Kiev.

One of the most interesting genres of this period is "walking", descriptions of the "holy land" by pilgrims. The first significant monument of the pilgrimage genre is "The Life and Walk of Daniel, the Russian land of the abbot". Daniel was the abbot, apparently, of one of the Chernigov monasteries. In 1106 - 1108 he traveled to Palestine, primarily to Jerusalem. The author described these places in detail, especially the "sacred river" Jordan. The work contains valuable factual data and at the same time is a striking artistic text.

"Walkings" could be secular and religious, even mixed. The "teachings" were also distinguished by the same peculiarity. These are works of an edifying nature. The most striking and significant is "The Teaching of Vladimir Monomakh",

Volodymyr Monomakh (1053 - 1125) was not only an outstanding politician, a wise ruler who did a lot for the unification of Kievan Rus, but also a widely cultured, educated person who outlined his program of political deeds and moral norms in the "Instruction". In his narration, Vladimir Monomakh actively refers to the Holy Scripture, quotes it, affirming universal human values. At the same time, he turns to his life experience, to his personal example, which enriches the work, makes it original.

Monomakh does not confine himself to a simple call for unity and an end to strife, addressed to his sons, but gives his idea of ​​the prince, who should be a courageous and courageous, active and tireless ruler of Kievan Rus. The prince should take care of the stink, servants, not let the powerful destroy a person.

With his "Teaching" Vladimir Monomakh expressed deep concern for the fate of his homeland. He sought to warn the descendants, to give them advice to prevent the collapse of Kievan Rus. The Lecture was very popular and was translated into Slavic and Western European languages.

The most outstanding monument of the literature of Kievan Rus is "The Lay of Igor's Campaign", a heroic-patriotic poem that occupies a prominent place in world literature of the Middle Ages. "The word" arose in the south of Kievan Rus at the end of the 12th century, when the vast state disintegrated into many principalities, weakly united by a state community. The "Word" reflected this calamity of its time and, as a consequence, the weakness of the defense of the Kiev state from the nomads, mainly from the Polovtsians.

The historical basis of the Lay is as follows. In the spring of 1185, the Novgorod Seversky prince Igor Svyatoslavich decided to oppose the Polovtsians alone with a relatively small squad of the Seversky princes - relatives. At the end of April 1185, he, together with his brother Vsevolod (prince of Trubchevsk and Kursk), son Vladimir (prince of Putivl) and nephew Svyatoslav (prince of Rylsk), made a campaign against the Polovtsy. At the banks of the Donets, the army found a solar eclipse, which was considered an omen of misfortune, but Igor did not turn his horses. The prince hoped to attack the Polovtsians unexpectedly, to take them by surprise, but the nomads learned about the approach of the princely squad and prepared for battle. It lasted three days. The first day brought victory to Igor. But already on the second day, a small princely squad saw that they had gathered against themselves all the Polovtsian land. In a fierce battle, the auxiliary troops, kovui (from the settled nomads), wavered. Igor galloped to stop them, but could not stop them, and on the way back to his squad, at an arrow's flight distance, he was surrounded, wounded and captured by the Polovtsi. Most of the squads were killed, and those who survived, along with the princes, were taken prisoner. Igor managed to escape from captivity and atone for his shame.

The unknown author of "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" accurately reflected historical events in his work. With a deep sense of bitterness, he described this unsuccessful campaign. Two themes are intertwined in The Lay: epic, state, and lyrical, personal. On the one hand, the fate of the whole of Kievan Rus is described, exposed to the raids of nomads, devoid of unity. etc. But these themes merge together: the epic is concretized in the personal, the personal grows to the size of the nationwide. The joys and sorrows of the heroes of the poem resonate with nature: the sun by an eclipse warns Igor of defeat, the battle is preceded by a thunderstorm; the wind, the sun, the Dnieper respond to Yaroslavna's cry, help Igor escape.

The main idea of ​​the work is embodied in the disclosure of the two-pronged theme of the Lay: a call for unification, for the rallying of all princes around Kiev in the face of the military danger caused by the raids of the nomads. This thought was a reflection of the interests of the whole people, which the author of the Lay was well aware of.

For the artistic disclosure of the idea of ​​the work, the author uses a peculiar technique: the Kiev prince Svyatoslav utters the "golden word", in which he addresses all the princes who then lived and ruled in their principalities, calls upon the princes to remember their former glory, to unite, and to stop strife.

Everything in the Lay is bright and visible, colorful and relief. His language is musical, imaginative. "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" is one of the most humane works of world literature. It is full of strong and exciting feelings, love for a person, sympathy for his suffering.

"The Word" has already influenced the literature of Ancient Rus ("Zadonshchina", "The Legend of the Mamayev Massacre"). Rediscovered in the 1890s by the amateur and collector of antiquities A.I. Musin-Pushkin, "The Lay of Igor's Campaign" has become one of the most significant phenomena in world literature.

Architecture

The architectural monuments that have come down to us since the times of Kievan Rus evoke admiration for the simplicity and nobility of forms, the high level of construction technology, the richness of interior decoration, and the skill of painters. Craftsmen, who erected various residential and household buildings, city towers, walls, bridges, developed their own architectural style.

With the adoption of Christianity, the construction of temples and monasteries begins. These buildings were originally wooden.

Stone construction arises under the influence of Byzantium, where
by the X - XI centuries, the main types of religious buildings were developed. In Kievan Rus, the so-called cross-domed composition became widespread, representing a rectangular volume, dissected by four pillars, on which the central light drum rested. The ends of the spatial cross, rectangular in plan, were overlapped by cylindrical vaults made of brick and stone. The corner parts were also covered with domed vaults.

The masters of Kievan Rus, taking the cross-domed composition as a basis, introduced elements of wooden architecture into it, gave the temples a multi-domed and pyramidal appearance.

In the 10th century, the Tithe Church was built in the center of Kiev (a tenth of the prince's income went to its maintenance). Byzantine architects were invited to build the Church of the Tithes. They introduced a new system of planning and spatial solution of the architecture of temples.

The Church of the Tithes was the central Christian church in Kiev. It was distinguished by its considerable size and was multi-domed. The walls of the church, erected from rows of thin bricks and gray rubble stone, were not plastered and seemed multicolored due to the peculiarities of the masonry. Such masonry is called mixed; it was typical for most buildings in Kievan Rus.

The tithe church was built from 989 to 995. 25 domes decorated this temple with ledges; Archaeological excavations have shown that marble, mosaics were used for decoration, the walls were painted with frescoes. Statues taken from Korsun were located on the square near the temple. The church was destroyed during the Tatar-Mongol invasion in 1240.

St. Sophia Cathedral is a masterpiece of architecture in Kievskaya Rus. It was built during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, when the Golden Gate, the Church of the Mother of God, the Yuryev Monastery, the Irininsky Monastery and other structures were erected. St. Sophia Cathedral was conceived not only as the main Christian temple, but also as a center of social and cultural life, as a symbol of the political power of Yaroslav the Wise. Sophia Cathedral for Kiev was, as it were, the main architectural and compositional pivot around which other buildings were grouped.

In 1051 St. Sophia Cathedral was solemnly proclaimed by Metropolitan Hilarion. In 1240, during the invasion of Batu, the cathedral was plundered; for many centuries it burned, repaired, and underwent alterations. The original appearance of the cathedral was greatly changed by the rebuilding of 1685 1707, when galleries, towers, walls, etc. were built on, the ancient low parabolic domes were given the characteristic for Ukraine of the 17th century. pear-baroque shape, they were gilded.

The attention of those entering the temple immediately turned to the altar and the space under the central dome, in the center of which was the image of Christ the Almighty. Mosaics covered the entire central part of the temple. The walls of the temple, vaults and pillars from top to bottom were painted with frescoes. Light poured from above, through the narrow openings of the windows.

Masterpieces of fine art are such mosaics as the figure of the Mother of God - Mary-Oranta, the image of Christ the Almighty, the twelve apostles, etc. The richness of the color range is striking: about 130 shades were found in the mosaic palette of the masters of Kiev Sophia! The bright, prevailing gold color in the mosaic was combined with the muted warm tones of marble.

The artists of that period achieved great skill and expressiveness in the technique of frescoes. The main plots of the frescoes reflected biblical episodes, were of a cult nature, but there were also secular paintings among them. These are two group portraits of the family of Yaroslav the Wise. On one of them, fragments of images of Yaroslav's two youngest sons have survived, the rest of the images, including Yaroslav himself, perished. General form This fresco is known to us thanks to a sketch from 1651. Much better preserved is the fresco depicting women from the Yaroslav family: four tall figures with individual facial features.

The frescoes depicting everyday scenes are very interesting: bear hunting, mummers' wrestling, buffoons, fistfights, etc. Individual murals depict real and fantastic animals and birds. In contrast to the canonical attitudes of religious writing, static composition in secular painting, we see dynamics, the desire to show the movement of a person, galloping horses, running animals, etc. The complex ornamental carpet floor was in harmony with the colors of the mosaics and frescoes.

Following the Kiev Sofia are being built Sophia cathedrals in Novgorod and Polotsk, but they are deprived of that splendor and richness of mosaics, frescoes, marble, which mark the Kiev Sophia.

In the X - XI centuries, stone construction was actively carried out in Kiev and other cities. It has both a cult and a secular character. So, excavations testify to the construction of stone chambers next to the Tithe Church in Kiev. These were multi-room stone palaces with wonderful decorations in marble, stone, mosaics and fresco paintings.

In the XI century, a stone cathedral was built in the Dmitrievsky Kiev monastery, in 1088 the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael was consecrated in the Vydubitsky monastery near Kiev. In 1073-1078. the main cathedral was built Pechersky monastery – Assumption Church, with which the spread of single-domed temples began.

Kiev, even during the reign of Yaroslav the Wise, turned into major center culture, crafts and trade... He amazed his contemporaries with its size, majestic structures. Among them are the already described Church of the Tithes and St. Sophia Cathedral, solemn Golden Gate with a gate church, monasteries and princely palaces. In the period of its highest prosperity, Kiev in terms of population and size not only was not inferior to large European cities, but also surpassed them in many respects. It is not surprising that to contemporaries it seemed "a shining majesty", and the traveler Adam of Bremen called it "an adornment of the East."

At the end of the XI century. in Russia, many feudal principalities were formed.

The development of the architecture of Kievan Rus in the XII century is a vivid example of how, under the influence of local conditions, Byzantine schemes were gradually changed and rethought and new original architectural forms and solutions arose. To the peculiarities of the culture of the XII century. the appearance of local features in the annals, architecture and painting belongs. There is a realization by cultural figures of the idea of ​​unity, which was the most important moment in the period of feudal fragmentation, the danger of an attack by nomads.

except Kiev, two more architectural schools are approved - Pereyaslavskaya and Novgorod... Only one building has survived from Pereyaslavl architecture to the present day - St. Michael's Church(St. George's goddess) in Ostre, which was an outpost of the Pereyaslavl principality.

Painting

Outstanding phenomena in the world of medieval art are Kiev mosaics most fully preserved in the ensembles Sophia Cathedral and St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery... In St. Sophia Cathedral, as mentioned earlier, the surfaces of the central dome are decorated with mosaics (" Pantokrator"surrounded by archangels), the central eastern pillars (" Annunciation"), supporting arches (" Martyrs of sebastia") and the central apse (" Deesis "on the triumphal arch, Our Lady" Oranta ", the scene" Eucharist "and" Church Fathers ").

The entire composition has survived from the mosaics of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral " Eucharist", images of Dmitry Solunsky, Archdeacon Stephen and the Apostle Thaddeus, as well as fragments of ornaments and other images. Compared to the Sofia mosaics, they have greater freedom in the interpretation of poses and movements, increased linearity in the drawing, more intense coloring. A number of details suggest that not only Byzantine, but also Kiev masters took part in the creation of these mosaics. Alipy (Alimpius).

The main type of monumental fine art in Kievan Rus was fresco painting. Frescoes harmonized with stone structures, emphasized their plasticity and shape, made it possible for any color combinations, based on the skill and experience of the artist.

Up to three thousand survived in Kiev Sofia square meters frescoes. On the walls and vaults of the central part of the cathedral, compositions were made on gospel themes ("Sending disciples to preach", "Judgment over Christ", "Descent into Hell" and others), in the side chapels - on "hagiographic" themes about the Mother of God, Peter and Paul, George, Michael, in choirs on biblical themes, on pillars - images of martyrs. Unique for all the art of Kievan Rus is a large group portrait of Yaroslav the Wise and his family in the western part of the central space of the cathedral. All of Sofia's fresco painting is characterized by a harmony of warm, somewhat muted ocher, greenish, pink and blue tones with white highlights.

It had a slightly different character fresco painting of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Cathedral: it has brighter colors and a more pronounced graphic element. Fresco painting of the late 11th - early 12th centuries. fragmentary preserved in the Church of the Savior on Berestovo in Kiev and the St. Michael's shrine in Ostra. A remarkable ensemble of murals of the 11th century are frescoes Kirillovskaya churches in Kiev. Here for the first time in the system of murals appears the composition " The last judgment"The frescoes are executed in a broad and energetic manner with light, somewhat variegated colors.

At the same time, easel painting is spreading - icons... In Kiev churches there were many icons, both brought from Byzantium and created in Russia. They were lost over time. From the chronicles we know about the existence of an icon-painting workshop in the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery.

At the beginning of the 12th century, an icon was brought to Kiev, which Prince Andrey Bogolyubsky then transported to Vladimir, hence its name - " Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God", it was created by a Byzantine artist. After repeated renovations and restorations from the painting of the XII century, only the faces of the Mother of God and the baby have survived. Mary caresses the child, and he, clinging to her cheek, trustingly hugs the mother. traditional for icon painting.

Graphic arts

In Kievan Rus, handwritten the book... Scribes and artists strove to make it unique, one of a kind. They worked in the same workshop and created the book as a whole, where everything - and the handwriting, color, and the ornament of capital letters, and headpieces, and illustrations, even the tone of parchment (especially processed leather) - was harmoniously interconnected. During this period, book miniatures appeared.

The first handwritten book known to us is considered Gospel written in Kiev in 10561057 for the Novgorod mayor Ostromir and therefore called Ostromirov... The book is decorated with large colorful capital letters - initials, there are more than eight hundred of them. These letters have a complex shape, they are decorated with floral ornaments. The book has four sections, each of them was supposed to open a miniature, located on a separate sheet and depicting the evangelist. Three compositions were made - images of the evangelists John, Luke and Mark, the fourth sheet remained blank. These images are surrounded by lush, overloaded with intricate ornaments frames. The Evangelists are shown writing their compositions and, as if for a moment, interrupted their work in order to hear the words descending from heaven.

Miniatures are also interesting Izbornik Svyatoslav(1073), there is an image of the princely family. In the foreground is Prince Svyatoslav, his wife and child, behind his sons. The whole family, in contrast to the frescoes of St. Sophia Cathedral, is depicted as a compact group.

Of great interest are also ornaments handwritten books.

The most widespread art form of Kievan Rus was arts and crafts... It has absorbed the local centuries-old traditions, and folk traits, and stylistic tendencies of the world artistic process.

Technical skill, delicate artistic taste are found in jewelry (earrings, pendants, torques, bracelets). They are made of silver and gold using scan and grain.

The floral ornament comes to the fore. Leaves, trees, flowers are cut out, engraved, drawn on a wide variety of objects. The "animal" style in the ornament also appears: these are images of monsters and birds in combination with elements of floral ornament.

Elements of applied art were also reflected in stone carving, which was used to decorate cathedrals and other buildings. The applied art of Kievan Rus influenced the development of art of that period as a whole.

Music

Arising in ancient times, music accompanied the life of people in Kievan Rus. Songs, dances, instrumental music were an integral part of the holidays - " merrymaking". The" Word about the rich and the wretched "describes the performance of artists-musicians" with ghusls and flutes ", singers, dancers, jesters.

Among the musical instruments of Kievan Rus were percussion - tambourine, makra, organ, wind - horn, trumpet, horn, surna, ocarina, kuvichka, pipe, pity, maybe bagpipes, strings - gusli and whistle, or bow.

Trumpets and horns sounded on hunting and on campaigns, single strings and as part of an orchestra sounded at holidays.

Already in the X - XI centuries, professional performers stood out. These are the storytellers singers bylinas and legends (remember Boyan in "The Lay of Igor's Campaign"), another group was represented by entertainers, amusers, amusers, who were musicians, dancers, magicians, etc.

Music also sounded in a Christian church. Divine service accompanied by singing, there were also musical notations - singing manuscripts-books. Such books of the 12th century have survived to this day, where, along with the liturgical text, note signs have been preserved: " banners" and " hooks"And the manuscripts themselves bore the names" znamenny "and" hook. " Kondakami called short songs of praise in honor of the saints, collections of these songs were called Condakaria... They also corresponded to a special musical notation, a two-line system of special signs. Kondakariy XII - XIII centuries, only five survived. The second note system, znamenny, received a wider development and after the XIV century took a dominant position. The znamenka notation system has been deciphered, the kontakarny one cannot yet be deciphered.

Thus, the material and spiritual culture of Kievan Rus in ancient times reached a high level, laying the foundation for the development of national culture.

CULTURE OF NORTH-EASTERN RUSSIA XII - XVI CENTURIES.

In the XII century, Russia was a multitude of feudal principalities. Along with Kiev, new cities rose, new centers of culture appeared. The primacy among the isolated lands belonged to northern Vladimir-Suzdal principality, the flourishing of which was prepared by the activities of the prince Yuri Dolgoruky... And it was there that one of the most beautiful artistic ensembles in all of medieval Europe was created, in which famous masterpieces are presented architecture, painting and sculpture.

Prince Yury Dolgoruky, the son of Vladimir Monomakh, in the north of Russia built numerous fortresses, cathedrals: the Church of Boris and Gleb in Kideksha (4 km. from Suzdal) and the Cathedral of the Transfiguration of the Savior in Pereslavl-Zalessky. These were temples-heroes, they were distinguished by the heaviness of proportions, squat, than they resembled fortified buildings. Their interior was simple and austere.

With the son of Yuri Dolgoruky, Andrei Bogolyubsky, Vladimir became the largest center of Russian culture. Earthen ramparts are erected around the city; from the west into the city there are gates named after the example of Kiev's Golden gates. At the opposite end of the city are the Silver. Temples are being erected. The Assumption Cathedral (1158 - 1161) was built on the high bank of the Klyazma and became the architectural center of the city. The cathedral is three-nave and one-domed. It was there that the greatest Russian shrine was located - icon of the Vladimir Mother of God... Two and a half centuries later, Andrei Rublev decorated this cathedral with frescoes, which were the pinnacle of the Old Russian monumental painting.

A unique example of the embodiment of Christian morality, the preaching of peace, love and goodness was the work of Andrei Rublev, an icon painter of the 15th century. His " Trinity"- one of the most significant and spiritual creations of world painting. Rublev turned to the traditional religious story: three beautiful young men appeared to the biblical patriarch Abraham, and he, guessing the Trinity of the Divine in the wondrous wanderers, slaughtered the calf and treated them.

Everything in Rublev's work is symbolic, and the head of the calf in the sacrificial bowl acquired the meaning of the Gospel lamb, a symbol of Christ's sacrifice in the name of love and salvation of the human race. This immortal creature acquired a universal human meaning, for it in a figurative form affirmed that which is eternal: goodness, sacrifice and love.

The most remarkable building of the time of Andrei Bogolyubsky - Church of the Intercession on the Nerl(1165), which amazes with its harmony, dynamism and lightness of forms. The church is inextricably linked with the surrounding landscape. It is perceived as a poem in stone.

Under Prince Vsevolod the Big Nest, Vladimir-Suzdal Russia reached its highest power. The Assumption Cathedral was rebuilt after the fire; built the church of St. Dmitry (1194 - 1197). This small church is distinguished by a heavy rhythm and power, but the cathedral is in its own way slender and proportional. On its outer walls there are stone carvings, reliefs depicting the biblical king David, the prince with his sons, a plot from the novel "Alexandria" - the flight of Alexander the Great to heaven. Under the successors of Vsevolod, the temples of the Nativity of the Virgin in Suzdal and St. George's in Yuryev-Polsky were erected.

All churches were painted with frescoes and decorated with icons. Outstanding icons of this time: Dmitry Solunsky, Yaroslavl Oranta... A Russian school of icon painting was created, characterized by folk ornamentation, bright, colorful combinations, the introduction of carmine (red paint), which was alien to Byzantine painting.

Decorative and applied art is developing, reaching the top in the design of the Golden Gate of the Nativity Cathedral (the method of fire section is applied).

The Mongol-Tatar invasion destroyed many churches, icons burned down, people died. The tragedy of the Russian people was reflected in literature, which fulfilled the mission of the unifier. It preserved the best that was accumulated in the spiritual development of Kievan Rus and could become the basis of revival.

In the middle of the XIII century. "The Life of Alexander Nevsky" is created, which depicts Alexander's victory over the German knights on Lake Peipsi in 1242 in a style typical of military stories.

Only Novgorod and Pskov escaped ruin during the period of the Mongol-Tatar invasion, where Russian culture flourished in the 13th - 15th centuries.

Culture of Novgorod

Novgorod its power stood out from the cities of the northwest. "Lord Great Novgorod" - they called him. Due to its geographical location, Novgorod became a trade intermediary between the West and the East, the power of the prince in Novgorod was limited to the veche, which was revered as the supreme state body. It was a boyar republic, but the voice of the people was also heard at the veche.

Since ancient times, Novgorodians have been famous as the builders of wooden temples, fortresses and palaces. In 1045-1050. they erected the first stone cathedral - Sofiysky in the center of Detinets (Novgorod Kremlin), on the banks of the Volkhov. Its founder is Prince Vladimir, the son of Yaroslav the Wise. It is a five-aisled temple with five apses to the east. It is simpler and more severe than the Kiev Sofia, has five chapters (instead of thirteen). A composition depicting the first Christian emperor Constantine and his mother Helen has survived from the murals in the temple. Near her head is the inscription "Olena", which speaks of the Novgorod origin of the author of the fresco.

At the beginning of the XII century, Novgorod turns into a veche republic, the princes are expelled from Detinets. They settle in the Settlement, where they build monasteries-fortresses with temples, asserting their authority.

The largest monument of this time is Gergiev Cathedral of Yuriev Monastery... It combined monumentality, epic power and simplicity. Impenetrable walls are dissected by powerful blades. The cathedral has three asymmetrically located domes, towards which the entire inner space of the temple is directed.

IN painting the beginning of the XII century. there were two directions: Grecophile influenced by Byzantium (painting of the Nikolo-Dvorishchensky Cathedral and others), and the direction influenced by Western Europe(frescoes of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin of the Anthony Monastery).

The frescoes were of particular importance Church of the Savior on Nereditsa that once covered the walls, vaults, and the dome of the temple with a single carpet. They testify to the fact that Novgorod has its own school of frescoes. In the dome is the scene of the Ascension of Christ, in the apse is the Mother of God of Oranta with the image of Christ in a circle on her chest, and under her there are two rows of saints. The Last Judgment is depicted on the western wall, and the gospel story about the passion of Christ is on the walls. Art is harsh and even formidable. In the images of the saints, truly popular, strong-willed and courageous strength breathes.

Icon painting reached a high level. In the icon " Angel Golden Hair"(the end of the 12th century) the influence of Byzantium is still felt, but" the sadness in the eyes, so radiant and deep "(L. Lyubimov), reflects the state of the Russian soul. Expressively the face of Christ in the icon" Savior not made by hands The icon "Dormition" (first half of the 13th century) strikes with its vital truth in the depiction of the grief of the saints mourning Mary.

The icon "Christ on the Throne" (XIII century) belongs to the Novgorod school; The icon is also painted in the local Novgorodian manner " Nicholas the Wonderworker"(1294), the first work of easel painting, signed by the artist - Alexey Petrov... The face of the saint is rounded, Russian, kind-hearted, affectionate.

The birch bark letters are evidence of the high level of culture in Novgorod. preserved the features of the colloquial speech of Novgorodians, their way of life, way of life.

A trade and craft center similar to Novgorod was Pskov, where the veche also ruled and life was distinguished by great democracy. Pskov - the front line of defense from the Livonian knights, from Lithuania. Powerful fortifications are being erected here. Cathedrals resemble fortresses. Architectural structures of this period: Pskov-Pechersky monastery, Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral of the Mirozh Monastery. The art of Pskov was influenced by the folk principle. In icon painting, it is not cinnabar that prevails, as in Novgorod icons, but green: "Cathedral of Our Lady", "Descent into Hell" and others.

The Mongol-Tatar yoke led to the destruction of many monuments of art in North-Eastern Russia, the master died or was taken prisoner. In the first half of the XIV century. the revival of Russia begins, the northeastern principalities are united. Cultural centers Novgorod, Pskov, at the end of the XIV century. - Moscow.

Novgorod XIV century. is experiencing the rise of culture. Tense philosophical thought is evidenced by heretical teachings, which were a kind of protest against the official church. Novgorodians travel, there is a rapprochement with the southern Slavs.

New traits appear in architecture. Churches are erected Fyodor Stratilat(1360s) and the Transfiguration of the Savior on Ilyin (1374), they are characterized by an eight-slope roof and one apse in the east. These are single-domed high temples with elegant decor. In the XV century. especially outstanding structures - stone walls and towers of the Novgorod Kremlin, the episcopal palace, as well as the building, which later received the name of the Faceted Chamber.

Heyday of the monumental painting XIV century is associated with activities Theophanes the Greek- an artist who came to Russia from Byzantium. In 1378 he painted the Novgorod church Savior of the Transfiguration on Ilyin... The subjects of the frescoes are traditional: the formidable Christ Pantokrator, prophets and forefathers. Theophanes was a master of the acute individual characteristics of saints who are endowed with severe and strong characters. One of the brightest stories - Trinity, next to her are the figures of saints. Here and pillars, the first holy hermits who tortured the flesh and lived on pillars; and ascetics retired into the wilderness. The Theophanes' saints are wise philosophers, as was the artist himself.

The general red-brown tone, dark contours, folds of clothes, sometimes forming lightning-like zigzags, masterly thrown bleaching "engines" - " nervous, extremely dynamic painting transmitting ... human passions, doubts, reflections, impulses "(L. Lyubimov).

Novgorod icons XV century - this is a brilliant page in the history of world painting. They are marked by a vivid identity. This is mainly the image of the saints popular in Novgorod - the prophet Elijah, Paraskeva with Anastasia, the patroness of trade, St. George, slaying the dragon. St. George is revealed as a fighter for the victory of light over darkness.

Interesting icon " Battle of Suzdal and Novgorod", the earliest painting in Russian art on historical theme... The composition is three-tiered, where the story of the transfer of the icon from the church is sequentially unfolded. Savior on Ilyin to Detinets, about the treachery of the Suzdal people and the victory of the Novgorodians. The beauty of the icon lies in the graphic clarity, in the rhythm of the depicted, in the utmost expressiveness of its color.

One of the famous Novgorod icons of the 15th century. - "Deesis and Praying Novgorodians", made by order of the Kuzmins boyars, they are presented in the lower tier of the icon. Episodes of the Gospel legend are depicted in the icon " Nativity"(The Mother of God and the Child are painted in the center in bright cinnabar.) The icon" Flor and Laurus ", which goes back to Slavic pagan art, is unusual. The plot of the icon" The Entombment "is dramatic, characterized by an emotional expressive character. The Mother of God, clung to the body of Christ, shows an image of inconsolable suffering. This is the traditional Russian lamentation over the deceased, this is the mother's grief, so familiar to Russian women.

Similar information.

Introduction

The history of ancient Russian art has been going on for almost a millennium. It originated in the 9th-10th centuries, when the first feudal state of the Eastern Slavs, Kievan Rus, arose; its last stage was the 17th century - the period of the crisis of medieval artistic culture in Russia and the formation of new artistic principles. Forming and developing in close interaction with many cultures of nearby, and sometimes very distant countries, ancient Russian art, which is a holistic and vividly distinctive phenomenon, has taken its special place in the history of world art. In terms of its significance, it is on a par with Byzantium and the largest centers of medieval culture in Western Europe and the East. The essential features of Old Russian art were largely determined by the vitality of patriotic ideas. Already in the XI - XII centuries. people of Ancient Rus, whether they lived in Kiev, Novgorod or Vladimir, felt their connection with the Russian land. This feeling became much more acute during the period of the Tatar-Mongol yoke in the 13th century, accelerated the growth of national self-awareness and, naturally, was reflected in all spheres of spiritual life, including artistic creation. As a result, ancient Russian art received a vivid imprint of the artistic tastes of the people, acquired its own national identity. It is also characteristic that, despite the abundance of local schools, the commonality of all ancient Russian art remained unchanged; Evolving noticeably from the 10th to the 17th centuries, it has not lost its main features throughout this time. The path of development of ancient Russian art is divided into a number of clearly defined periods, mainly coinciding with the stages of socio-economic and political history societies: the era of Kievan Rus (IX - early XII centuries), the time of feudal fragmentation (XII and XIII centuries), the period of the struggle against the Tatar-Mongol yoke and the unification of the Russian principalities (XIV - early XV century), the time of the addition and strengthening of the Russian centralized state (XV and XVI centuries), XVII century, when the crisis of medieval art was discovered and art of a new type was born.

The relevance of this work is due, on the one hand, to the great interest in the topic "Culture of Ancient Rus" in modern science on the other hand, its insufficient development. Consideration of issues related to this topic is of both theoretical and practical significance.
The theoretical significance of studying the problem "Culture of Ancient Rus" lies in the fact that the problems chosen for consideration are at the junction of several scientific disciplines at once.
In this case, the subject of the study is to consider individual issues formulated as the objectives of this study.
The aim of the research is to study the topic "Culture of Ancient Rus" from the point of view of the latest domestic and foreign research on similar issues.
As part of achieving this goal, the following tasks were set:
1. Study the theoretical aspects and reveal the nature of the "Culture of Ancient Rus";
2. To talk about the urgency of the problem and the significance of the formation of culture;
3. To outline the possibilities of solving the subject "Culture of Ancient Rus";
4. Outline the development trends of the subject "Culture of Ancient Rus";
The work has a traditional structure and includes an introduction, a main part consisting of 4 chapters, a conclusion and a list of used literature.

Chapter 1. Artistic culture of Ancient Russia:

a brief description of

The origins of Old Russian art go back to the art of the Eastern Slavs who inhabited in the 1st millennium AD. NS. European territory of Russia. It was associated with a pagan cult and was of a magical-animistic nature and was widely included in the everyday life of the ancient Slavs. The architecture of the Eastern Slavs of the 1st millennium A.D. NS. became known for archaeological excavations and scant literary data. Wood served as the material for the construction of dwellings and temples. The emergence of a peasant dwelling - a hut with its simple and expedient forms corresponding to the harsh climate - also belongs to deep antiquity.

The process of feudalization led in the IX century. to the formation of Kievan Rus, a large state that quickly gained fame throughout the then world. Neighbors who experienced the military might of the new Slavic state sought to establish economic and cultural relations with Kiev. For Kievan Rus, the adoption of Christianity was of progressive importance. It contributed to a more organic and deep assimilation of all the best culturally than the advanced Byzantium for that time possessed. From X to XV centuries. Old Russian art had very close ties with Byzantine art. Icons, fabrics, jewelry and much more were brought from Byzantium. Some monuments of Byzantine art have become a true Russian shrine, for example, the famous icon of the Vladimir Mother of God. The Greeks took part in the decoration of many ancient Russian churches and often found their second homeland in Russia.

1.1 Iconography in Ancient Rus

Byzantium not only introduced Russian artists to a new painting technique for them, but also gave them an iconographic canon, the immutability of which was strictly guarded by the church. Initially, picturesque images were not alien to the culture of pagan Rus. But it was with the adoption of Christianity that new types of monumental painting came to Russia - mosaics and frescoes, as well as easel painting - icon painting. Monumental painting was designed not only to decorate the temple, but also in to a greater extent was supposed to maximally, simply and concisely reveal to the praying the main provisions of the Christian doctrine - about God as the Creator and Judge of the world, Christ as the savior of mankind, the way of salvation for people, the unity of the heavenly and earthly church.

The Orthodox Church never allowed the writing of icons from living people and demanded strict observance of the canon, which consolidated those features of icon-painting images that separated the "heavenly" (divine) world from the "dolny" (earthly).

The conventionality of the letter was supposed to emphasize their invariable essence, spirituality in the appearance of the persons depicted on the icon. Therefore, the figures were painted flat, motionless, a special system of depicting space (reverse perspective) and temporal relations (timeless image) was used. The conditional golden background of the icon symbolized the divine light. The entire image is imbued with this color, the figures do not cast shadows, since there are no shadows in the Kingdom of God.

Mosaic was not widely used in Russia, because smalt was too rare and expensive material. The fresco technique, which requires quick execution and skill, turned out to be more acceptable for the picturesque decoration of Russian churches.

Due to the predominance of wooden temples in Russia, ancient Russian fine art became the art of icons. The wooden church was not painted with frescoes or decorated with mosaics. Only the icon could be hung on the wall of the temple. Wood served as the main material for the creation of the icon, and such material was always available to the ancient Russian painter. This circumstance explains the reason for the wide distribution of the icon in Russia. The specificity of the art of Ancient Russia was in the absolute predominance easel painting- icons, which was a classic form of fine art for the Russian Middle Ages.

Along with the symbolic nature of artistic expression on icons, it should be noted that everything depicted on them does not have the so-called third dimension, i.e. the composition unfolds not in depth, but on the sides, as a result of which the image obeyed the plane of the icon board. The depiction of figures, objects, buildings, mountains, and plants is flat, not three-dimensional. This is one of the principles of the conventional image, typical and obligatory for icons.

Among the famous works of Old Russian painting, there is a significant group of "red-background" icons, ie. images with a one-color cinnabar plane of the background (according to the icon-painting - "light"). This group includes the famous icons "Evan, George and Vlasiy", "The Miracle of George", "Ilya the Prophet".

1.2 Icon painting in Novgorod and Pskov

Several icon-painting schools have developed in Russia. As already mentioned, at first the icons were copied from Byzantine samples, then they painted on their own, but with imitation, reproducing the manner of writing, the system of images from the ancient originals. Later, the processing of images became characteristic, their different interpretation on the basis of similar, repetitive, typical features. As a result, a deeply original, independent art of icon painting was formed, distinguishing one icon from another. The following icon-painting schools are distinguished: Kiev-Byzantine, Novgorod, Pskov, Moscow.

Some examples of the Novgorod school belong to the 12th century, and it received its fullest development in the 15th century. The compositional structure of the icons of this period is simple and expressive, the image fits well into the plane of the icon. Individual elements of the composition are evenly distributed and well coordinated with each other, have a beautiful outline. Masters of the Novgorod school often depicted figures, hills, trees symmetrically, which gives the impression of completeness of the composition. This symmetry was broken up by various details. Often the composition of the icon was built in tiers, the images were located one above the other. The hills are very beautiful in the Novgorod letter. They were written in large volumes with pronounced areas, which are commonly called "flakiness". The ladders, in turn, are broken up by small "crêmes". At the foot of the hill, as a rule, the so-called cave was depicted, i.e. dark indentation. Fancy grasses and other vegetation were painted along the hill. The water in the Novgorod icon painting was revealed in blue, along which the painting was carried out with light wavy lines. Particularly noteworthy is the so-called "ward letter". The chambers, conventional architecture, are very beautiful in silhouette. They were painted in soft, restrained colors. Individual elements of the composition - windows, doors, curtains, columns - were covered with dense: rich tones of cinnabar, green carmine, umber, which created a very strong color scheme. In the ward letter, painting was actively used. Walls, platbands were decorated with ornamental motives. The chambers were abundantly saturated with elements of small architecture - tables, seats, pedestals, stands, folding curtains, which in the language of icon painters were called "velum" (cloth).

The painting of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Novgorod (1378; not completely cleared), the iconostasis of the Annunciation Cathedral and the icon of the Don Mother of God have come down to us (the composition of the Dormition of the Mother of God on the reverse side of the icon also belongs to Theophanes).

Theophanes' work made a huge impression on his contemporaries. His art was enthusiastically received in Veliky Novgorod, and in Moscow, and in other cities. Under the influence of his art, many paintings were created in the last quarter of the 14th and early 15th centuries. First of all, this refers to the Novgorod fresco cycles: the painting of the church of Fyodor Stratilat (70s of the XIV century) and the Church of the Assumption of the Mother of God on the Volotovo field (70-80s of the XIV century).

A huge place in Novgorod art is occupied by icon painting, which was affected by the powerful influence of folk art. It manifested itself not only in the artists' penchant for bright colors - it is much more important that the masters finally rethought some traditional Byzantine images in the spirit of popular beliefs. Thus, Saint Nicholas turns into a kind old man who protects people from fire and saves them during a shipwreck.

Another famous icon of the Novgorod school is "Battle of the Suzdal people with the Novgorodians", 15th century. Although it is an icon, it is written on a historical theme and tells about the defeat of the Suzdal people under the walls of Novgorod for their "wrong deeds".

Real life increasingly broke into iconographic schemes. Novgorod masters filled traditional compositions with everyday details, depicted various animals, landscapes, buildings in icons.

Iconography of Pskov close to the Novgorod school, this is due to the fact that Novgorod painting acquired an all-Russian influence, and Pskov for a long time was the "younger brother" of Novgorod. Novgorod masters knew how to masterfully dispose of the entire arsenal of their artistic means, but they were characterized by a certain restraint, even severity. Pskov icons do not have such a solid pattern, they seem to be devoid of external brilliance. On the Pskov icons, the center of the composition can be shifted, the composition itself does not fit so harmoniously into the rosettes, but this does not detract from their merits. The Pskov icon is always poetic.

What distinguishes the Pskov icons? This is a special way of processing a board for an icon; special dramatic figurative structure of icons; the use of active color spots, especially red and green, less often blue; The “involvement” of characters in the events depicted on the icon; interest in human psychology, human face and human experiences - this is what the Pskov masters conveyed with exceptional penetration; freedom of writing.

Pskov icon painting speaks of a search for intense drama. Traces of this can be seen in individual monuments of the 13th century. (the icon of the prophet Elijah from the village of Vybuty) they are especially clearly found in the works of the XIV century. and later. Such is the icon "The Cathedral of Our Lady" (XIV century, Tretyakov Gallery) with its intense color, built on the combination of green and pinkish-orange tones, beloved by Pskov painters, as well as with sharp light reflections and restless rhythm.

2.1 The architecture of Ancient Russia

The architecture of Ancient Rus is a bright page in the history of world architecture. Developing, it has passed a long and difficult way, reflecting the peculiar social conditions the life of the people.

Ancient Russian architecture, in the presence of great monumentality, is characterized by an extraordinary plasticity of forms, some kind of special feeling of their calmness and inviolability, commensurate with the size of a person, his scale and needs. All this also applies fully to the interiors of secular and religious buildings.

Old Russian architecture, which developed over the course of eight centuries, until the end of the seventeenth century, provides a holistic picture of the development of fairly stable and gradually evolving stylistic features and characteristics. In parallel, forms of wood and stone architecture developed. moreover, wooden construction clearly prevailed and had a significant impact on stone construction. The main building material in Russia - wood - was used for the construction of all types of structures - residential buildings, city fortifications, palace buildings, churches. The city of Ancient Rus until the 17th pitch remained mostly wooden. In wooden buildings, the space-planning structure was determined by the log structure and its natural parameters; however, for all the "rigidity" of the wooden building system, folk master architects were able to diversify it compositionally and plastically revive it. As a result, a very wide compositional "amplitude" arises from the simplest peasant log hut to the most complex volumetric solutions, such as tent and tiered churches.

Wood adorned Russia with towers and wooden temples, huts and mills, wells, and, of course, over the years, the art of woodcarving and painting has developed.

And although due to the fires, few ancient wooden buildings have survived, they also give an idea of ​​the beautiful chambers and chambers. And here is a description of the tower:

Three golden-domed towers,

Yes, the troy canopy is mowing,

Yes, the troy canopy is lattice,

Well adorned with teremakh,

The sun is in the sky, the sun is in the tower,

There is a month in the sky, a month in the tower,

There are stars in the sky, I pull the stars

Dawn in the sky, dawn in the tower -

And all the beauty is heavenly.

Huts were also built of wood - solid, spacious, comfortable and elegant, decorated with intricate carvings with love and skill. The traditions of Russian peasant architecture are rich and varied. They have evolved over the centuries and have their own characteristics in different regions of endless Russia - in the north and in the Volga region, in Siberia and in the Urals. The carvings that decorate the houses were also different. The experience of many generations has found the most convenient type of peasant house for each region.

The northern hut is high, often two-storied, the windows are small, but there are many of them - five or six - and they all stretch towards the sun, rose high from the ground. A porch, a shed, storerooms were pressed against the side of the hut - everything was under one roof. It is difficult to think of a dwelling more comfortable for the harsh climate of the Russian North with long, cold winters. Platbands, porch, roof slopes of northern Russian huts are decorated with a strict but elegant geometric ornament. Favorite carving motif is a solar rosette, an ancient symbol of a life of happiness and well-being.

Siberian houses are spacious, often they were cut from fir or cedar, many houses had three or four rooms, and sometimes several houses were connected by passages (passageways) so that it would be convenient to live with a large family. They did not spare the logs and labor for the construction - they built a reliable house to protect from the harsh Siberian cold, and serve the owners for a long time.

Especially elegant are the huts of the Nizhny Novgorod Territory, which is on the Volga River. They look like fabulous mansions, completely covered with intricate carvings. Here on the Volga, they loved floral ornaments. Among the luxurious pattern of dense elastic branches, leaves and flowers, bunches of grapes, the masters placed fantastic birds, lions, similar to good-natured smiling cats, mermaids, which, according to peasant beliefs, protected those living in the house from evil forces. Embossed wood carving is called ship carving. She was used to decorate not only houses, but also ships that sailed along the Volga from ancient Yaroslavl to Astrakhan, plowed the waters of the Caspian.

Wooden buildings were the leading type of construction in Russia. In addition to stone churches, wooden ones were also widespread. In addition, a variety of structures were built from wood - from residential and utility buildings to large palace buildings with an extensive planning system. "The main measure, a module of wooden architecture is a log or a beam of normal length. Four logs, forming a rectangle along the contour and connected at the ends by means of notches, create a crown, laid horizontally. the dimensions of the log house are determined horizontally by the length of the log, then in the construction of large buildings it is necessary to connect several log cabins located in one order or another. which is less common - log cabins, attached to each other, formed the basis of the traditional Russian peasant house - huts. The overlap was usually made by two slopes. According to the same principle, sometimes (mainly in the North) large wooden houses were built on basements or on two floors. serve a peasant house in the village of Zaozerye, transferred to now in a nature reserve on the island of Kizhi.

Stone construction is also gradually spreading. At first this process was very slow, but in the following centuries it accelerated noticeably. Stone churches, the most significant palace buildings, began to be built in cities, and later, from the 17th century, rich dwelling houses. From the 12th - 14th centuries, the defensive walls of cities were also erected from stone. The earliest monumental structures date back to the era of Kievan Rus, followed by remarkable architectural monuments of Vladimir, Suzdal, Novgorod and Pskov and, finally, the stately cathedrals and palace complexes of Moscow - the collectors of the Russian lands.

In secular stone construction, in residential and palace buildings, asymmetric and very picturesque equations prevailed. Complex organisms, such as palaces - the Kolyma Kremlin of Ivan III and others, consisted of a number of simple volumes - chambers connected by passages and galleries, in which, again, one cannot fail to see the impact of wooden buildings.

In the cult stone construction, the type of a cubic temple was established for centuries, the internal space of which was determined by the presence of parallel naves with four, six, and a large number of supporting pillars supporting the vaults and domes; the number of the latter ranged from one to five. In the presence of a similar volumetric and structural structure, Russian religious buildings give a picture of an extraordinary variety of sizes, volumetric forms and means of decorative processing of structures. The overwhelming majority of buildings up to the 14th century inclusive are distinguished by the organicity and unity of the volumetric composition and constructive solution, their internal structure is clearly and consistently expressed in external forms.

2.2 Architectural and compositional forms, their evolution

The largest architectural monument in Kiev was the St. Sophia Cathedral (started in 1037 - completed at the end of the 11th century), the original appearance of which was later distorted by perestroika. Churches in Russia had not only cultural, but also social purposes. This reinforced the attention that was paid to their construction. Initially, St. Sophia Cathedral was a five-aisled cross-domed church with thirteen chapters, of which five middle ones were large marshes, and the central, axial one, the largest. From the north, south and west, the cathedral was surrounded by open one-story galleries on the arcades. On the east side, each of the five naves ended with a semicircular apse in plan. Several decades later, the outer galleries were added to the second floor. In addition, another row of one-story galleries arose, towers appeared, enclosing stairs for climbing the choir. Much later, in the 17th - 18th centuries, the outer row of galleries was also built on, rectangular buttresses appeared, the main masonry was hidden under a layer of plaster, new domes were erected on the northern and southern sides, and other significant changes were made in the architectural appearance of the temple.

Fewer transformations took place inside the cathedral. The walls and vaults were covered with monumental fresco paintings and mosaics. The images, which clearly show the stylistic commonality with the statuary, static images of Byzantium, are full of solemnity and splendor. In the main altar apse, the mosaics are arranged in three tiers. At the top - a large solemn figure of the Mother of God with raised hands. Mosaics are made of smalt cubes of different colors. Bright, pure colors with a predominance of blue-purple tones stand out decoratively against a sparkling gold background. The monumental painting of Kiev Sophia, covering the architectural forms with a continuous carpet and organically connected with them, is the highest achievement of that era. Large scales, holistic compositional construction and a number of other features make it possible to draw a line between Sofia in Kiev, the first large monumental structure of Ancient Rus, and contemporary Byzantine temple buildings.

The next stage in the development of the architecture of Ancient Rus is associated with Veliky Novgorod. Here, in the middle of the 11th century (1045-1050), the St. Sophia Cathedral was built with a five-nave interior, austere, compositionally collected and stately. Despite the subsequent restructuring, the cathedral has retained its main features and, above all, its monumentality and laconic appearance. Novgorodskaya Sofia was mainly built of stone, brick was used only partially - in the laying of arches, windows, portals. The facades of the cathedral are divided by wide pilasters - blades that express the internal structure of the temple. Between them are the so-called zakomara-completion, corresponding to the vaulted coverings of the naves. The cathedral is crowned with five chapters, above the tower leading to the choir, there is one more - the sixth chapter. The exterior of the cathedral did not have any decorative details. In the interior, the main role is played by powerful criss-crossing pillars carrying the vaults. And the walls, and the pillars, and the vaults, as well as in Kiev Sofia, were covered with painting, in this case exclusively with frescoes.

The city of Pskov is close to Novgorod in terms of its architecture. Here, too, numerous single-domed churches were erected, built from the local roughly chipped limestone. Compared to Novgorod ones, they are more massive and are distinguished by a special juiciness of forms.

Bell towers were not built in Novgorod and Pskov; they appeared in Moscow later, at the end of the 15th century. In Pskov, there were only belfries - stone walls, ending in low round pillars, between which bells were suspended. Sometimes the bells were simply attached to a thick wooden beam, which was reinforced on wooden pillars dug into the ground.

In Bogolyubov, there was a palace of Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky, located within the prince's castle. The palace was directly connected with the court cathedral. Only a small fragment has survived from this complex - a two-story staircase tower with a part of the passage from the tower to the cathedral. It is characteristic that the staircase tower uses the same motifs as in the temples that were created almost simultaneously: a reinforcing belt with columns on small brackets embedded in the wall. This proves that the secular buildings of Ancient Rus had a common style with religious buildings.

Chapter 3. Painting of Ancient Russia

Old Russian painting is one of the highest peaks of world culture, the greatest spiritual heritage of our people. Old Russian painting - painting of Christian Rus - played a very important and completely different role in the life of society than modern painting, and this role determined its character. The height reached by it is inseparable from the very purpose of Old Russian painting. Russia received baptism from Byzantium and along with it inherited the idea that the task of painting is to "embody the word", to embody the Christian doctrine in images. Therefore, the basis of Old Russian painting is the great Christian "word".

First of all, it is the Holy Scriptures, the Bible ("Bible" in Greek - books) - books created according to the Christian doctrine, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Scripture consists of the New Testament, which includes the Gospel and several other works written by the apostles - disciples of Christ, and the Old Testament, which contains books created by inspired prophets in the pre-Christian era. In addition to the Holy Scriptures, a wide range of works created over the centuries by peoples of different countries: the Middle East and Asia Minor, Greece, Slavic lands and Ancient Russia itself were revered as carrying Christian truth. This circle primarily includes the apocrypha - the oldest stories dedicated to the same persons and events that the Bible tells about. The Apocrypha were not considered divinely inspired, but many of them were recognized as historically accurate, complementary to Scripture.

Then - the numerous lives of the saints (biographical stories about them). An important place in the Christian word is also occupied by poetic and hymnographic works used in divine services, dedicated to the events and persons of the Holy Scriptures, the saints and the events of their lives.

For many centuries, painting of the Byzantine, Orthodox world, including ancient Russian painting, carried people, unusually brightly and fully embodying them in images, the spiritual truths of Christianity. And it was precisely in the deep disclosure of these truths that the painting of the Byzantine world, including the painting of Ancient Russia, frescoes, mosaics, miniatures, icons created by it, acquired an extraordinary, unprecedented, unique beauty.

But over time, both the art of the entire Byzantine world and the art of Ancient Rus fell into oblivion. The Byzantine Empire itself fell under the blows of the conquering Turks, the once Christian countries of Asia Minor and many Slavic states were conquered by the Muslims. In these troubles, having survived the Tatar-Mongol invasion, Russia alone survived. After the fall of Byzantium, it was a true center of Orthodox culture. Oblivion and ruin overtook ancient Russian culture and art not as a result of conquest by foreigners, but at the moment of the highest rise of Russian statehood under Peter I. Peter's reforms, which turned Russia to the West, rejected the cultural heritage of Ancient Russia; original painting, which had its origins in the Byzantine tradition, was replaced by painting of the Western European type.

Interest in ancient Russian culture caused an appeal to her painting. Already in the "History of the Russian State" N. M. Karamzin mentions ancient Russian artists, cites information about their works, gleaned from the chronicle. This information attracts attention, becomes the subject of study for younger historians, but the real introduction to ancient Russian painting, the discovery of its true treasures happened much later than it happened with literature and music.

The fact is that the people of the 19th century simply did not see ancient Russian painting. The frescoes and mosaics that have survived in ancient temples have darkened, covered with dust and soot, and icons - the main, most numerous part of the ancient Russian heritage - have literally become invisible. After all, not every church was decorated with frescoes and especially mosaics in ancient times, and icons were necessarily not only in every temple, but also in every house. The reason for this invisibility of icons is in the special painting technique in which they were created. The board, on which the icon was to be painted, was covered with a primed cloth - pavoloka, and the image itself was applied to the pavoloka with tempera, that is, with mineral paints. And from above, the image was covered with transparent linseed oil. Linseed oil shows color well and, more importantly, perfectly protects the painting from damage. But at the same time drying oil has the property of darkening over time, and for 70 - 100 years it darkened so much that it almost completely hid the painting underneath. In ancient times, in Russia, they knew and used methods for removing darkened drying oil, i.e. ways of "clearing" ancient painting. But these methods were quite laborious, and over time, the icons began not to be cleaned, but "renewed", that is, a new image was painted over the darkened drying oil. Often, several such renovations were made on ancient icons over the centuries - the original painting in this case was covered with several layers of inscriptions, the top of which was also covered with linseed oil. At the beginning of the 19th century, by the time interest arose in pre-Petrine culture, the works of the 17th century had already darkened. On all ancient icon boards, only silhouettes, contours of images, showing through the darkened, blackened linseed oil, appeared. Iconic blackness began to be perceived as the original property of the most ancient painting ...

Chapter 4. Applied art.

4.1 Interior decoration of the house

Inside, the peasant huts were cleaned strictly, but elegantly. In the hut in the front corner under the icons is a large table for the whole family, along the walls there are wide built-in benches with carved edges, above them are shelves for dishes. The northern cabinet-post is elegantly decorated with murals - here the Sirin bird and horses, flowers and pictures with allegorical images of the seasons. The festive table was covered with red cloth, carved and painted dishes, ladles, and carved torches were placed on it.

Ladles were of a wide variety of shapes and sizes; honey or kvass was poured into them. Some buckets fit several buckets.

The drinking bowls were scaphoid. The bucket handles were made in the form of a horse's or a duck's head. Buckets were lavishly decorated with carvings or paintings. Around the large ladle that rose in the center of the table, they looked like ducklings around a brood hen. Duck-shaped buckets were called duck buckets. Brothers - chiseled vessels for drinks in the form of a ball - also signed, and were given inscriptions, for example, the following content: "Gentlemen, stay, don't get drunk, don't wait for the evening!" Beautiful salt shakers in the shape of horses and birds, and bowls, and, of course, spoons were also carved from wood. Wooden spoons have not become museum exhibits even today. We gladly buy them for ourselves, give them to friends. Wooden spoons are extremely comfortable: the handle is on the hand, and you won't get burned.

They made everything from wood - furniture, a basket, a mortar, a sleigh, and a cradle for a child. Often these household items made of wood were painted. The master thought not only about making these things comfortable, serving their purpose well, but also taking care of their beauty, about making people happy, turning work, even the most difficult, into a holiday.

Spinning wheels were especially revered by the Russian peasant. Spinning and weaving was one of the main occupations of Russian women. It was necessary to weave fabrics to dress your large family, to decorate the house with towels, tablecloths. It is no coincidence that the spinning wheel was a traditional gift from the peasants, they were lovingly kept and inherited. According to the old custom, a guy wooed a girl and presented her with a spinning wheel of his own work. The more elegant the spinning wheel, the more skillfully carved and painted, the greater the honor to the groom. On long winter evenings, girls gathered for gatherings, brought spinning wheels, worked and bragged about bridegroom gifts.

In each area, the spinning wheels were decorated in their own way. The Yaroslavl spinning wheels are slender, tall, with their silhouette reminiscent of a female figure in a lush sundress and kokoshnik, usually decorated with through carving. Vologda spinning wheels are massive, heavy, completely covered with strict geometric patterns, often also painted on carvings.

Spinning wheels from the Arkhangelsk province are especially famous. In different areas of the huge northern region, the painting was different. From the spinning wheels from the villages located along the Mezen River, gray-haired antiquity blows. Strange horses and deer, running in a row after each other across the red field. These spinning wheels are remarkably reminiscent of ancient cave paintings.

All wood products made by folk craftsmen clearly show high technical and artistic skill. It's amazing how adapted everything that comes out from under the hands of the masters, to the life of the people, to the surrounding nature.

Wooden dishes are still alive today: they burn with gold, glow with scarlet flowers. Truly - they look at the old - they create the new.

In the modern village, of course, there are fewer carved and painted wood products. But, perhaps, now they please us more than ever. At fairs, exhibitions, in museums of folk art, they create an atmosphere of festivity, beauty, surprise and admiration of people.

4.2 Golden Khokhloma.

"The art of Khokhloma painting has gained worldwide fame. Golden-colored wooden products of this craft with floral ornaments, flowery and festive, are simply called" Khokhloma. "

In the 15th century, this craft began to be called after the trading village of Khokhloma, from where elegant golden dishes spread throughout the country. Here and now the traditions of painting wooden tableware are carefully preserved and developed. For centuries, Khokhloma products were cheap wooden utensils, but they adorned the harsh peasant life, brought festivity and elegance to it. From childhood, folk artists from the Volga villages observe nature, admire the awakening of spring, the golden autumn, the whiteness of the winter forest, absorb the smells of earth and herbs, fruits and berries.

They convey a poetic vision of the beauty of their native land to their creations. Light brush strokes conjure up a sunny image of nature blooming, autumn colors, the beauty of a green meadow.

The modern popularity of Khokhloma products in Russia and abroad is based primarily on the recognition of their artistic merit. Khokhloma has become a unique craft due to the technique of obtaining the golden color of painting without precious metal. Icon painters of Ancient Rus were also familiar with this technique.

Khokhloma products are made from linden. But not every linden tree is suitable. You need to know which wood will withstand processing in the oven and will not crack.

First, the shapes of products are turned from linden on a lathe. They are dried and then covered with a liquid layer of local oily clay (vapy). Products become like clay. This is done to prevent the wood from absorbing oil. Then the products are greased with linseed oil and dried, then covered with linseed oil three to four times. The last time they do not dry completely, but so that aluminum powder adheres (sticks), which replaced the relatively expensive silver and tin. From aluminum, products become shiny, like metal. They are ready for painting.

They are painted with oil paints. And the masters make brushes from the tail of a squirrel. These brushes can make very thin and wide strokes. Khokhloma patterns are applied with a brush without preliminary drawing of the ornament with a pencil. Every time the masters create marvelous patterns, the ornament is never exactly repeated, each version is a new improvisation. There should not be a single wrong move, otherwise everything will have to start all over again.

The Khokhloma painting combines red and black colors with a gold background. Sometimes they are complemented by green, brown, yellow and orange. The golden background is the lead. The fiery red paint adds warmth to the golden background, while the black color sets off its shine. Cinnabar is used as red paint, and ordinary soot is used as black.

After painting, the products are varnished and then hardened in ovens. Previously, they were placed in hot Russian ovens, but now electric ovens are used more. Under the influence of high temperature, the varnish turns yellow, and the aluminum layer under the varnish casts a golden sheen. And so the wooden product before our eyes became precious, gold.

Khokhloma dishes are not only beautiful, but also durable, according to the Khokhloma craftsmen, they are not afraid of "neither heat, nor cold." Even in steep boiling water, the varnish will not come off and the paint will not fade.

4.3 Russian folk costume

The Russian peasant family had a difficult and difficult life in the past centuries. In spring and summer, hard work in the field. It was necessary to plow and sow the land, plant vegetables, prepare hay for the cattle for the winter. In the fall - harvest, make supplies for the winter. In winter - to prepare firewood, if in a warm season he did not have time, to go to the city to sell some of the winter stocks and buy the things most necessary for the family. Both men and women have always had a lot of things to do and care about. The peasants began work with the first rays of the sun, and finished when it was already completely dark. So days, months, years went by ...

But when the holiday came, it was especially joyful and desirable for the peasants, they were waiting for it, they were preparing for it. All the villagers put on their best holiday clothes these days. And the harder and more joyless life was, the more I wanted to surround myself with fun, bright beauty on a holiday, to show everyone my outfits, my skill in sewing and decorating clothes.

They dressed differently in each locality, but the basic items of peasant costume were the same in most regions of Russia. Clothes were sharply divided into everyday and festive. Everyday clothing was simple, often barely decorated. And the festive, on the contrary, demonstrated everything that its owners were capable of. They took great care of any clothes in the village, because they got it with great difficulty, and each thing had to serve for many years, often for more than one generation of the family.

Women's clothing consisted of a long sleeved shirt. A sundress, usually woolen, was worn over it, and in the southern regions they wore a checkered homespun skirt-poneva, their head was covered with a scarf. Girls could walk with their heads open. They usually braided one braid and decorated their heads with a thick ribbon, hoop or crown. From above, if necessary, they put on a scarf. A married woman had no right to appear in front of strangers with an open head. It was considered indecent. Her hair was braided into two braids, and a richly decorated hard kokoshnik or a special soft cap - a horned kichka, then a scarf was put on her head. On weekdays, instead of a ceremonial kokoshnik, they usually wore a modest warrior. Only the face and hands remained open for married women.

The main part of men's clothing was also a shirt and ports - long pants like trousers. The shoes of the peasants, both men and women, were the same. The poor have bast shoes, which were woven from bast, a specially purified linden bark. Linden is a deciduous tree that grows everywhere in Russia. The bast shoes, although they did not differ in particular grace, in dry weather were also light and comfortable shoes, but they wore out very quickly. Therefore, each peasant could weave bast shoes and did it quickly, cheerfully and beautifully. But in the rain, in the cold bast shoes were bad. Rich peasants for such a time sewed boots from leather, the poor could rarely afford such a luxury. But in winter, when frosts set in and the snow covered the ground tightly, everyone put on felt boots. Felt boots were made (felted) from homemade sheep wool. They were comfortable, warm, soft, and walking in them on ice and snow is a pleasure, although you cannot call them especially beautiful shoes.

Making shoes in a peasant family has traditionally been a man's business, and clothes have always been made by women. They processed linen, this wonderful northern silk, spun thin soft threads from it. The processing of flax was long and difficult, but under the strong and dexterous hands of the peasants, flax turned into snow-white fabrics and into harsh canvases, and into beautiful lace. These same hands sewed clothes, dyed threads, and embroidered festive outfits. The more industrious the woman was, the thinner and whiter the shirts of the whole family were, the more intricate and beautiful the patterns on them were.

Training in all women's jobs began in early childhood. Little girls from six to seven years old already helped adults dry flax in the field, and in winter they tried to spin threads from it. To do this, they were given specially made children's spindles and spinning wheels. The girl grew up and from the age of twelve or thirteen she began to prepare her own dowry. She spun threads and weaved the canvas herself, which she kept for the wedding. Then she sewed shirts and necessary underwear for herself and her future husband, embroidered these things, putting into work all her skill, all her soul. The most serious things for a girl were wedding shirts for the future groom and for herself. A men's shirt was decorated with embroidery along the entire bottom, a narrow embroidery was done on the collar, and sometimes on the chest. For many months, the girl was preparing this shirt. By her work, people judged which of her would be the wife and mistress, which worker.

After the wedding, according to custom, only the wife had to sew and wash her husband's shirts, if she did not want another woman to take his love away from her.

The women's wedding shirt was also richly decorated with embroidery on the sleeves and shoulders. The hands of a peasant woman - the well-being of the family depended on them. They knew how to do everything, they never knew rest, they defended the weak, were kind and affectionate to all relatives and friends. Therefore, they should have been decorated with beautifully embroidered sleeves, first of all, so that people would immediately notice them, imbued with special respect for them, understanding the special role of hands in the life of a working woman.

It was customary to spin and embroider during hours free from all other work. Usually the girls gathered together in some hut and sat down to work. Guys also came here. Often they brought a balalaika with them and it turned out to be a kind of youth evening. The girls worked and sang songs, ditties, told fairy tales or just had a lively conversation.

The embroidery on peasant clothes not only adorned it and delighted the surrounding with the charm of the patterns, but also had to protect the one who wore these clothes from harm, from an evil person. Individual embroidery elements were of symbolic significance. A woman has embroidered Christmas trees, which means that she wishes a person a prosperous and happy life, because a spruce is a tree of life and goodness. Human life is constantly connected with water. Therefore, water must be treated with respect. You need to be friends with her. And a woman embroiders wavy lines on clothes, placing them in a strictly established order, as if calling on the water element never to bring misfortune to a loved one, to help him and take care of him.

A child was born to a peasant woman. And she will decorate his first simple shirt with embroidery in the form of a straight line of bright, joyful color. This is a straight and bright road that her child must follow. May this road be happy and joyful for him. Embroidery on clothes, its symbolic patterns connected a person with the world of nature around him, good and evil, familiar and always new to him. The "language" of these symbols was understandable to people, they felt its poetry and beauty.

Belts have always played a special role in Russian costume. The little girl, who sat down at the loom for the first time, began her training in weaving from the belt. Woven multi-colored and patterned belts were worn mainly by men, tying them in front or slightly on the side. Each bride had to weave and present such a belt to the groom. Tied in a knot, it became a symbol of the unbreakable bond between husband and wife, their prosperous life. The bride's belt will wrap around the groom's body, keep him warm, protect from an evil person, people believed. In addition, the bride gave her belts to all the numerous relatives of the future husband. After all, she was part of a new family, and with these people she also needed to establish good and lasting relationships. So let her bright belts decorate the clothes of the new relatives, protect them from misfortune.

Conclusion

So, the addition of the Old Russian statehood and the appeal to Christianity, the impact of the Byzantine artistic tradition had a significant impact on the formation of Old Russian art. In architecture at the beginning of the X-XI centuries, the Byzantine type of cross-domed church and its transformation on Russian soil (St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev, St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod) are clearly traced: thirteen chapters of the new temple were placed on the basis of the cross-domed temple. This stepped pyramid of St. Sophia Cathedral revived the style of Russian wooden architecture.

Architecture reached its peak in the XII century - the construction of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, the white-stone palace in the village of Bogolyubovo, the Golden Gate in Vladimir - a powerful white-stone cube crowned with a golden-domed church, a miracle of Russian architecture - the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl.

At the same time, churches were built in Novgorod and Smolensk, Chernigov and Galich, new fortresses were laid, stone palaces and chambers of wealthy people were built. Stone carving, decorating the buildings, became a characteristic feature of Russian architecture of those decades.

The icon painting also traces the transfer to Russian soil of the principles of Byzantine monumental temple decoration, the use of Byzantine iconography and icon painting techniques. Many icons were created.

A new architectural direction is being formed in Russia, and a new stage of development begins for Russian architecture. This manifested itself in specific forms inherent in each architectural school, although the general principles throughout the territory of Russia were the same. Static, balanced temples, crowned with one massive head and mostly meager decorative decoration of the facades, are being replaced by buildings with pillar-like structure of volume, emphasized by the dynamism of the composition, extremely rich decorative design of the facades and, as a rule, their three-bladed completion.

In general, Old Russian culture is an important phenomenon in the history of Russian artistic culture. She has created values ​​of global importance.

Bibliography:

1. Kaisarov A.S., Glinka G.A., Rybakov B.A. The myths of the ancient Slavs. Velesov book, Saratov, 1993.

2. Almazov S.F., Piterskiy P.Ya. Holidays of the Orthodox Church, M.

3. Barskaya N.A. Plots and images of ancient Russian painting, M.

4. Bartenev I.A., Batazhkova V.N. Essays on the history of architectural styles, M.

5. Mayerova K., Dubinskaya K. Russian folk applied art, M.

6. Benois A. History of painting of all times and peoples. In 3 volumes. Vol.2. General part, St. Petersburg, 2002.

7. Ilyin M. About Russian architecture, M., 1963.

8. History of icon painting. Origins, traditions, modernity, VI-XX centuries

9. Malyuga Yu.Ya Culturology. - M., "Infra-M", 1998

10. www.icona.ru Section "Articles" "Comparative characteristics of Russian icon painting schools" From the book. Kravchenko A.S., Utkina A.P. "Icon". M., 1993

Bartenev I.A., Batazhkova V.N. Essays on the history of architectural styles, M.

Barskaya N.A.Plots and images of ancient Russian painting

Benois A. History of painting of all times and peoples, T. 2, St. Petersburg, 2002

Mayorova K., Dubinskaya K. Russian folk applied art