Novgorodian Icon - Painting Book
Page 11
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The last quarter of the fifteenth century can be regarded as the starting
point of this process which reached its culmination in the middle of the
sixteenth century.
At that time, too, Novgorodian artists continued to produce large numbers of
iconostases.
The Holy Women at the sepulchre
One of them, from the Church of St. Nicholas at the former Gostinopolsky
Monastery, can be dated with considerable accuracy 1475 or near 1475 on the
strength of an inscription on the church bell. The iconostasis consisted of a
half - length Deesis tier, a feast - day tier and a half - length Prophets tier.
The icons which have survived from this ensemble are distinguished by a
certain sleekness which replaced the former richness of painting. But there is
the same vividness and intensity of colour and the keen sense of silhouette
(especially in the figure of the Archangel Michael and in the Holy Women at
the Sepulchre). In this latter scene, the diagonal position of the sepulchre
makes the scene more three - dimensional than it is on the icons of the first
half of the fifteenth century. This effect is heightened by the figure of
Christ which stands in front of the wall but behind the rock on the right,
while the angel seated at the head of the sepulchre is shown in front of the
rock. The Holy Women are placed in the zone between the angel and Christ. All
this lends a certain depth to the composition. But the strongly stylised rocks
in the background, which effectively frame the figure of Christ, come to the
artist's assistance, as it were, and keep the composition on the
two - dimensional plane of the panel.
The Prophets Daniel, David and Solomon
The Tretyakov Gallery has a splendid icon with half - length figures of the
Prophets Daniel, David and Solomon, which at one time must have formed part of
a church iconostasis. The flowing parabolas of its neat, svelte figures, with
their streaming hair, crowns and headbands are extremely beautiful. Their
mantles, held together by clasps, the shoulder pieces of tunics decorated
with precious stones, the edges of cloaks studded with pearls - all give a
great brilliance to the icon, which is heightened by the glow of wonderfully
pure and vivid colours. In the treatment of the faces and hands one can
already feel the desiccated standardized manner of execution that was to
become especially typical of sixteenth - century icons.
Battle Between the Novgorodians and the Suzdalians
A comparison of the Tretyakov Gallery's Battle between the Novgorodians and
the Suzdalians with a similar icon from the Russian Museum offers a clear
indication of the direction in which the style of Novgorodian icon - painting
was changing at the end of the fifteenth century. All forms in it have
acquired a certain miniature character and there has appeared a fragility
unusual in earlier work (especially indicative in this respect is the
representation of horses - solid and rather squat in the Novgorodian icon and
particularly trim and elegant in the Muscovite). The narrative itself loses
much of the graphic clarity that was so impressive in the Novgorod Museum icon.
In the upper band for example, the two converging movements neutralize each
other, and the isolated church of the Saviour and the numerous buildings of
the Kremlin are no longer in opposition. The top of the fortress wall, with
the Novgorodians hiding behind, has lost its architectonic quality: it seems
to hang in the air with no firm support' beneath, and it therefore remains
unclear where the ambassadors come from. Finally, the lower gates are shown
frontally with the result that the warriors near them seem to be passing by
the gate and not emerging from it as in the Novgorod icon. No attempt is made
to exploit the spatial intervals which were so expressive in the Novgorodian
work. As a result, the Tretyakov Gallery icon lacks clarity of composition,
but has instead a facility of execution that bespeaks the calligraphic
propensities of the artist who prizes above all the elegance of line which he
handles with superlative skill.
Sts. Florus and Laurus
The icon of Sts. Florus and Laurus is another masterpiece of Novgorodian icon
painting of the late fifteenth century. In this work, a traditional subject
acquires a truly classical form. A difficult compositional problem is solved
with amazing skill through the principle of symmetry. The figure of the
Archangel Michael, flanked by Sts. Florus and Laurus, is not right on the
central axis but is shifted somewhat to the right. To compensate for this
disturbance of the centricity, the artist adds two shrubs on the left which
restore the required balance of the component parts. The Archangel holds the
bridles of two horses, a white and a black, which, with their sharp - edged
silhouettes, recall a heraldic pattern. On the same axis with the Archangel
are three grooms. They form a free - standing group which does not upset the
centricity of the composition. The grooms hold whips with which they drive the
horses standing in the water. The scene of watering is treated in such a way
that it, too, is subordinated to the overall centricity of composition. The
horses face different ways, and though there are five horses in the
right - hand group and only four in the left-hand, the artist achieves an
ideal balance. What is more, there is nothing contrived, pedantic,
mathematically exact about this balance. For all its symmetry, the composition
in general looks flexible and elastic owing to the free distribution of
figures about the plane of the panel. Compared with the icons of the first
half of the fifteenth century, the tints are less intense, and the hues are
paler but so harmonious that the colour scheme is extremely refined.
St. Theodore Stratelates
The hagiographical icon of St. Theodore Stratelates from the Novgorod church
of the same name (now in the Novgorod Museum) dates from the end of the
fifteenth century. The icon is extremely beautiful in colour and contains a
number of stylistic features heralding the approach of the sixteenth century:
the saint cuts an elegant, dashing figure, the architectural backgrounds in
the scenes have become more complicated, the figures are shown in greater
movement, and the compositions now include more spatial areas, which makes it
more three - dimensional. But such esteemed properties of Novgorodian
panel - painting as the delicate sense of silhouette and the glow of bright,
pure colours has not yet been lost. The famed bi - partite tablets from
St. Sophia, now in the Novgorod Museum, marked the swan - song of Novgorodian
icon - painting in the fifteenth century. These small icons, painted on
well - primed canvas, belong to different masters who worked at the end of the
fifteenth century and later. Together they provide a clear picture of the
creative quests of Novgorodian icon - painters of the fifteenth and early
sixteenth centuries. They are also significant as a monument of outstanding
iconographic importance, for there is no other set of icons comparable for
wealth of subjects.
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