The Church of Our Saviour of Transfiguration-in-Eliyah-Street
One of Novgorod's most celebrated monuments is the Church of Our
Saviour of Transfiguration-in-Eliyah-Street (1374). Both in its
architectural aspect and in its constructive techniques, the
building has much in common with earlier and contemporaneous
structures. Among the later additions is the eight-slope roof
which replaced the three-pitched one in the 16th century.
Characteristic of 14th- and 15th-century architecture, the latter
echoed the overall construction of the building. Whereas the
pilasters articulating the double-stepped form of the walls
occur, though rarely, in Novgorodian architecture, the decoration
of the facades sharply differs from the typically Novgorodian
restrained decor. Executed with surprising freedom and ease, it
features seemingly at random scattered windows, variously shaped
niches and numerous crosses which, taken together, produce the
sensation of a free equilibrium. At the same time, the
tooth-edged bricks accentuate the expressiveness of the multi-slo
pe roof. The facades are decorated differently, depending on
their importance. Especially lavish is the decor of the main,
southern facade. In its regular pattern and strict symmetry the
decoration of the drum seems to embody the calm unchangeability
of the heavenly as contrasted to the transience of the earthly.
However, the building's charm lies not in its individual forms,
but in that harmonious fusion of all the components which makes
the creation of a humble mason a genuine work of architecture. In
1378 on the money of the boyar Vasily Danilovich and the men of
Eliyah Street, the church was frescoed by Theophanes the Greek.
Its murals are all that remains of the great Byzantine master's
legacy, who painted over forty churches. At the time of his work
in Novgorod, Theophanes the Greek was a highly accomplished
artist, in the prime of his powerful talent. Epiphanius the Wise,
a contemporary writer, described him as a man of wisdom skilful
in depiction, a real philosopher and a brilliant painter. Also
from Epiphanius we learn that while painting the murals, the
artist used to pace the scaffold, talking to the beholders, yet
constantly keeping his mind on his noble concept.