The mystery of white stone carving. White stone carvings of the Vedic temples of Rus' With their white stone walls and carvings

I would like to start about the white stone temples of ancient Rus' with the least known monument to most tourists, which captures the soul almost more than many Suzdal buildings. This is the ancient St. George Cathedral in the city of Yuryev-Polsky.

Rounding on the right the new brick cathedral, built in 1907-1909, we stop in involuntary amazement in front of a strange and beautiful, amazing and naive, one-of-a-kind building. The huge onion-shaped dome and its wide, heavy drum seemed to press down and force the squat cube of the temple with its heavy apses to expand to the sides and arch. After the snow-white buildings of Vladimir of the 12th century, we are surprised by its gray-greenish, silvery-yellow color, as if centuries had imposed their harsh patina on its walls. After the harmonious decorative system of the Demetrius Cathedral, we are struck by the bizarre chaos of sculptures. The walls seem to be paved with them. Beasts and monsters, saints and angels, fragments of fantastic stone garlands captured by the jaws of lion masks, and fragments of the finest patterns form a mysterious mosaic. It seems like a giant stone puzzle, a tense mystery that imperiously rivets our thoughts. These are the first impressions experienced by everyone who sees St. George's Cathedral for the first time

02 The small Vladimir town of Yuryev-Polskaya was founded and named in his honor in 1152 by Prince Yuri Dolgoruky. In the 12th-14th centuries, Yuryev was the center of a small estate, which since 1212 belonged to Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, the grandson of Yuri Dolgoruky. “Provincial” by the standards of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus', Yuryev could not, of course, compare in artistic riches with the main Zalessk cities. The city has the only pearl of ancient Russian architecture, but this monument leaves many other buildings far behind. We are talking about the famous St. George's Cathedral. This, according to N.N. Voronin, the “strange and beautiful, amazing and naive” structure is one of a kind.

03 It is believed that St. George's Cathedral became a monument to the victory won in 1221 by Prince Yuri Svyatoslavich over the Volga Bulgars. During this campaign Nizhny Novgorod was founded.

04 On the site of the current St. George's Cathedral, back in 1152, Yuri Dolgoruky built a small white-stone church, dedicating it to his heavenly patron St. George the Victorious. In 1230, Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich ordered the destruction of his grandfather’s building, as it “dilapidated and broke,” and in its place, in 1230-1234, St. George’s Cathedral was built, which became the pinnacle of Vladimir-Suzdal architecture and the last white-stone building before the Mongol-Tatar invasion.

05 The top is the top. Neither before nor after has anyone been able to surpass this unprecedentedly beautiful masterpiece, although there have been attempts to repeat it. Thus, the first Moscow Assumption Cathedral, built in the Kremlin in 1326, was an imitation of the cathedral in Yuryev-Polsky. But it was not enough to build a similar temple - there were no craftsmen capable of at least partially repeating the white stone pattern that covered the walls of the St. George Church from top to bottom with a continuous carpet!

06 Much has been written and said about the carvings of St. George's Cathedral. It is enough to note that until the 19th and 20th centuries, its artistic motifs inspired the masters of wooden “blind” carvings that decorated and continue to decorate the platbands and cornices of wooden houses.

07...Bizarre images of animals, birds, plants: lions with “flourished” tails, geese with intertwined necks. And everything is in line, like on an embroidered towel, everything is elegant, cheerful, festive. Vladimir Monomakh, the grandfather of Andrei Bogolyubsky, wrote in his “Teaching”: “The various animals, birds, and fish are adorned by Your providence, Lord! Still, God gave this for man’s pasture, for food, for fun.” And this “various beast”, and magical birds, and fantastic creatures - everything created by God glorifies the Creator in the sparkling white stone carvings of St. George's Cathedral.

08 White stone carving entwines with a continuous pattern not only the planes of the walls, but also all architectural details - columns, capitals, arcature belt, portals. Figures of people, animals and mythical monsters are interspersed with bizarre floral patterns, as a result, the cathedral covered with stone lace turns into an intricate figured block carved from solid stone. The whole building looks magnificent and solemn.

Unfortunately, the cathedral has not survived to this day in its original form, and it is impossible to see its original beauty: in the 1460s, the top of the cathedral collapsed. The southern facade of the temple suffered the most - it was almost completely destroyed. The northern facade turned out to be almost untouched. In 1471, the architect Vasily Ermolin, the first Russian master restorer who restored churches in Vladimir, was sent from Moscow to Yuryev to restore the cathedral. Ermolin faced an extremely difficult task: he had to not just recreate the temple, but recreate it so that the figured carved blocks would again form a continuous stone pattern, united by a common design. And this takes into account the fact that there were no drawings or drawings of the temple, and many blocks were destroyed as a result of the collapse!
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St. George's Cathedral. Reconstruction by D.P. Sukhov

10 In fact, Ermolin had to solve the “stone crossword.” We must pay tribute to the master - he did everything he could. He collected and restored large fragments of the building, in particular the north portal. But, of course, he was unable to “assemble” the cathedral in its previous form. As a result, Ermolin lined the facades with carved stones in complete disorder, and used some of the carved blocks for new masonry
walls

11 Vasily Ermolin rebuilt the vaults of the temple, but he failed to achieve the former proud solemnity of the cathedral. In its current form, St. George's Cathedral seems massive and heavy, as if growing into the ground. A huge onion-shaped head and a wide heavy drum put pressure on the already squat cubic volume of the temple. Despite its apparent massiveness, the temple is very small and completely retains the dimensions of the original building in 1152 - the time of Yuri Dolgoruky.

12 Against the background of a bizarre and lush floral pattern on the walls of St. George's Cathedral you can see masks of warriors and maidens, figures of lions and centaurs, griffins and sirens. Among the stone reliefs of the St. George Cathedral, there was also a place for a portrait of the Yuryev prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich, during whose reign the cathedral was built. And on one of the stones the inscription “Baku(n)” was found. It is believed that Bakun (Habakkuk) is the name of the master, the chief sculptor of the cathedral, who led the team of carvers.

13 St. George's Cathedral is a typically “princely” temple, and its white stone patterns only enhance its “secular” appearance. There is none of the ethereal quality that characterizes the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. The meaning of the carved decoration of St. George's Cathedral transcends the boundaries of religious and dynastic ideology and extends to the entire Vladimir land. It is not without reason that in the images of warriors many researchers see portraits of the warriors of Prince Svyatoslav, in the folklore figures of fairy-tale monsters - the semi-pagan worldview of the people, and the lush plant-animal pattern is probably intended to symbolize the wealth of Zalesskaya Rus'. The images of St. George's Cathedral fully serve as an illustration of the “Tale of the Destruction of the Russian Land” created approximately in the same years: “O bright, bright and red-decorated Russian land...”

14 Already the ancient Russian chroniclers were interested in the question of who created the St. George Cathedral. One of them expressed the opinion that the author and builder of the cathedral was Prince Svyatoslav Vsevolodovich himself. Modern researchers are inclined to believe that the prince actually took a great part in developing the concept of this architectural masterpiece.

15 The Vladimir Bishop Mitrofan, who was burned alive by the Tatars in 1238 in the Assumption Cathedral of Vladimir, also played a significant role in the creation of the cathedral. Mitrofan was an extraordinary personality, a man of broad culture, an intelligent politician and a patron of the arts. Apparently, it was he who developed the program for the amazing carvings of St. George's Cathedral. Its plots reveal an excellent knowledge of not only patristic literature, but also the works of Russian spiritual writers - “The Sermon on Law and Grace” by Metropolitan Hilarion, “The Sermon on the Ascension” by Kirill of Turov, etc.

16 There is also information that a master from Volga Bulgaria also had a hand in the construction of the temple, although the cathedral itself was built in full accordance with the traditions of Vladimir-Suzdal architecture. It is characteristic that such a temple could not have arisen earlier, since the craftsmen simply did not have enough experience for this. And only the rapid creative growth of Russian architects and stone carvers, who absorbed the experience of their predecessors, the best examples of Russian and foreign art, made it possible to create the stone fairy tale of St. George's Cathedral in Yuryev.

17 A thorough study of the creative style of stone carvers made it possible to establish that two artels of craftsmen took part in the creation of the white stone carvings of St. George's Cathedral: one, 12 people strong, carved the high relief figures, and the second, from 18 to 24 people, made the floral ornament.

18 St. George's Cathedral is called the swan song of Vladimir-Suzdal architecture. Two years later, Batu’s hordes fell on Rus', and this song ended forever. And who can say what other heights the Vladimir masters would have reached if “the trouble of the filthy” had not come in those years...

Our observations of the Chernigov reliefs allow us to draw a conclusion about their connection with the Carolingian osamal tradition and planar-notched carvings of the 12th century, from Norway. Chernigov white stone carvings and decorations from Chernigov jewelry workshops demonstrate the ancient imagery of that direction in art, which was less dependent than others on the Byzantine and Romanesque masters who arrived in Russia, who had a great influence on the formation and development of the Vladimir-Suzdal and Galician schools of ornamentation threads.

3 Nowadays, we can confidently speak about the fully formed idea in historiography about three schools of stone architectural plasticity of the 12th - 13th centuries: Vladimir-Suzdal, Galician, Chernigov. The closeness to Romanesque art can be seen in all three schools, but most of all in the Galician and Vladimir-Suzdal. having the closest connection with Romanesque architecture (up to the unity of architectural and construction traditions). These schools are also connected with each other - the early Galician buildings (the Church of John in Przemysl 1124, the Church of the Savior in Galich 1152) coincide with the buildings of Yuri Dolgoruky in the design of the foundations and the nature of the square masonry. The point of view about the penetration of the Romanesque technique of white stone masonry into Rus' from Lesser Poland was first put forward by P.A. Rappoport 1 and was confirmed in the works of O.M. Ioannisyan 2. The craftsmen invited by Volodar Rostislavovich built typical Old Russian cross-domed churches using Romanesque techniques, not decorated with carvings. In the late 40s and early 50s, Galician craftsmen went to Vladimir-Suzdal Rus' to Yuri Dolgoruky, and in the Assumption Cathedral built in these years in Galich, stones with ornamental carvings in perspective portals and zooanthropomorphic reliefs were widely used.

According to most researchers, by this time the capitals of the Assumption Church and Boris and Gleb Cathedral had already been created in Chernigov. However, the Chernigov monuments do not in any way resemble the products of the new artel of Galician craftsmen, formed from masters from Hungary and those who came again from Poland. In Vladimir-Suzdal Rus', the sculptural decoration of churches was further developed under Andrei Bogolyubsky - from the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin Mary in Bogolyubovo and in the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir “around 1150”. Researchers emphasize the typicality of the most ancient reliefs for the 16th century Romanesque sculpture and its connection with German sculpture 3 .

The schools of Galician and Vladimir-Suzdal sculpture are perceived by researchers as truly craft schools, where local craftsmen also studied. (A distinctive feature of Chernigov sculpture is its originality - many are convinced by the semantics of the capitals from the Boris and Gleb Cathedral (images of a dragon, wolves or leopards, birds), reflecting a pagan worldview 4. Indeed, attempts to connect Chernigov carvings directly with Romanesque ones cannot be called convincing, D.V. "Ainalov compared the capital of 1860 with the consoles of the lion masks of the church of the Dame de la Garde in Poitiers. And although G. K. Wagner believed this was not accidental 6, the sculpture of Notre Dame has no more to do with Chernigov than the sculpture of the facades of the ax Pierre's site from Angoulême; or reliefs of the Maria-Laach portal from Germany. Among the fragments of Chernigov carvings, there are no acanthous leaves, common in Romanesque art, khapit ate her of the Corinthian order.

N. Makarenko was sure that an independent reworking of the Romanesque style took place in Chernigov 7 .

True, little was known - a few fragments from excavations in 1909, attributed by B.A. Rybakov to the ciborium of Blagoveshchenskaya © R. SOrlov, 1990

.’8 ISBN 5-12-002523-4 Problems of archeology of Southern Rus'. Kyiv, 1990

church in 1186. The researcher attributed their wickerwork, made in a flat manner, to little-known local masters’ motifs, and the composition of “dryly executed stems” and “more juicy wing of a bird” hesitated to attribute it to the Scandinavian or Italian decoration system. Just as cautiously, the researcher made a proposal about the pre-Romanesque origin of the reliefs: analogues were seen in Lombard and Carolingian carvings, in the reliefs of the Krakow pulpit from Wawel.

N. Makarenko’s observations were confirmed after 1953, when during excavations at the Nerevsky end of Novgorod, two wooden columns with flat-relief carvings were found, dating back to the 40s - 80s of the 11th century. 8 A. Varikhovsky, having compared the weaving of wooden columns with the reliefs of Dalmatia and Wawel, did not find direct analogues in ancient Russian sculpture - apparently, the Chernigov reliefs remained unknown to him 9 . In the 70s, E.V. Vorobyova noted the closeness of the flat-relief carving pattern of Chernigov stones and Novgorod columns 10 . Fundamentally new, in comparison with N. Makarenko’s conclusions, is the recognition of their local “archaic” character, comparison with Novgorod carvings, including ladle handles, with fittings from the Black Mogila, and the stakes of the Svyatozersky treasure of 1908.

Despite the constant interest in Chernigov carving, the expected conclusion about the origin of the craft tradition did not follow. This is also reflected in the condition of the source - over the years, six capitals and several smaller fragments were found. Most of the finds come from later foundations in the Boris and Gleb Cathedral, from the site of the Annunciation Church, and one fragment comes from the Elias Church. The controversial dating of monuments of Chernigov architecture forces us to turn to the circumstances of the discovery of carved stones.

A peculiarity of Chernigov sculpture is the secondary occurrence of its monuments in the cultural layer, the absence of a direct connection with the surviving temples. In addition, the technique of building from stone blocks is unknown in Chernigov - carved limestone stones decorated brick buildings.

Most of the different stones come from Boris and Gleb Cathedral:

1. Capital of 1860, called “Chernigov”.

2. Fragment of the semi-colony of 1860

3. Corner stone with the image of a dragon and a bird. Discovered during architectural restoration studies in 1947 - 1948. in a layer of construction debris under the threshold of the western portal 11.

4. Capital with the image of wolves (dogs) in ribbon weaving, turning into the heads of predators. In the backfill of the southern portal.

5. Capital with the image of paired wolves (dogs), similar to the previous ones, but in weaving, turning into a krin (flower). In the backfill of the southern portal.

6. Fragment of a capital with a figure of a lion or wolf in weaving. At the western portal.

In the late foundation of the Elias Church the following was found:

7. Fragment of a capital with the image of a lion’s head.

During excavations by V.P. Kovalenko in 1984 in the courtyard of the estate of the Art Museum, in the collapse layer of a stone structure of the 16th - 13th centuries. found:

8. Stone covering the doorway, with weaving on two planes 12.

A small collection of carved stones comes from the territory of Blagoveshchensk

9. Fragment of a flat frieze with an image of a bird in ribbon weaving. Excavations 1909 13

10. Fragment of a rectangular archivolt rod or column with weaving. Excavations 1909

11. Fragment of a rounded archivolt rod with ribs. Excavations by B. A. Rybakov 1946 - Eastern part of the southern nave.

12. A fragment of stone with a relief volute. Excavations 1946

13. Fragment of a flat frieze with weaving. Excavations in 1946. South-eastern pylon.

14. A fragment of stone with fine carvings. Northwest corner.

15. A fragment of stone with ribbon weaving, including a double ribbon motif separated by a row of circles. Excavations in 1946. South-west corner of the gallery.

16. A fragment of carved stone, found by D.Ya. Samokvasov in 1878 and called a “patterned plaster decoration” 14.

17. Fragments of profiled slabs. Excavations in 1946 Potskupolnoye space.

According to the proposal of B. A. Rybakov, part of the carved stones from the excavations of the Annunciation Church comes from the ciborium that stood in the altar apse. If this is so, then dating the reliefs is even more difficult - the ciborium could not have been created simultaneously with the cathedral, but earlier or later

Other carved stones are traditionally associated with the decoration of architectural monuments. The capital of 1860 was associated with a specific monument in a publication of 1926 by I.P. Morgilevsky: measurements of the semi-columns of the Assumption Church of the Yelets Monastery led him to the idea that the capital completed the outer semi-column 15. E.V. Vorobyova compared the capitals known to her with the sizes of semi-columns of Chernigov churches according to the following scheme (diameter in cm):

With paired stars from Boris and Gleb Cathedral,

1947 - 1948 70-72

With the head of a lion from Elias Church 110

A corresponding conclusion was also made about the belonging of the capitals to the following buildings: the capital of 1860 - to the Assumption Cathedral of the Yelets Monastery, the capitals with paired animals - to the Boris and Gleb Cathedral or the palace buildings next to it, the corner stone with a dragon and a bird - to the princely buildings of the Davidovichs, the capital from Ilyinskaya church - Annunciation Church. To Yu.S. Aseev this view of the Chernigov carving seems well-reasoned 16. P.A. Rappoport expressed himself more cautiously, adhering to a point of view close to N.V. Kholostenko, about the belonging of the capitals found in the Boris and Gleb Cathedral to different parts of the building, and the corner stone to the western portal of the gallery 17.

When determining the identity of the carved stones, researchers adhere to one or another dating of the temples and their views on the history of the Chernigov building tradition. Thus, defining the capital of 1860 as the oldest on the basis of stylistic features, E.V. Vorobyova considers it older than the corner stone, and believes it is possible to attribute it to the palace buildings at the Boris and Gleb Cathedral. Meanwhile, the capital and the corner stone are close in a number of ways: “sculpturality,” greater volume, less dense than on other stones, weaving, which has turned from a flat ribbon into round strands. The strands framing the weaving on the capitals of 1860 and on the corner stone have identical notches running at an angle up and down (Fig. 1).

It is also noteworthy that the largest capital - a fragment from the Boris and Gleb Cathedral with a lion's head - also demonstrates three-dimensional carvings and notches on the frame (Fig. 2). The carving of other stones is flatter; in essence, it is a contour-notched carving, typical of wooden sculpture in Novgorod, which later manifested itself in the white stone carving of the portals of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in Suzdal 18.

The difficulties that researchers have in dating Chernigov reliefs were expressed in the fact that I.P. Morgilevsky attributed the capital of 1860 to the 12th century, Yu. S. Aseev, stipulating the likelihood of production at different times by different craftsmen, dates the Chernigov carving to the middle - the second half of the 12th century, G.N. Logvin - the second half of the 12th century. 19, E.V. Vorobyova - the first half of the 12th century, PA. Rappoport dates some of the stones to 1097-1123. etc.

The dating of Chernigov churches (except for the Church of the Annunciation in 1186) is controversial and causes disagreement among researchers:

Researcher	Dating of the construction of monuments
Researcher	Uspenskaya	Borisoglebsky	\| Ilyinskaya
N.V.Hol about walls	90s XI	1120-1123	1070- 1080 it.
Yu.S.Aseev	Mid-12th century	Mid-12th century	1130s
GLLogwin	Second half of the 19th century.	1123	The end of the 1st century - the beginning of the 19th century.
P.A. Rappoport	1097 (after arrival	Between 1097 and 1123	?

Byzantine masters)

E.V. Vorobyova

A.A.Tits 1110 -1120 1120-1130

The stylistic features of the buildings do not cause such disagreement: everyone notes the indisputable features of Romanesque architecture. The Spenskaya and Borisoglebskaya churches have half-columns on the facades, arcature belts on the facades and the drum. The same features include the division of external walls with strips of white mortar into squares imitating white stone masonry. A similar breakdown of the grouting of external walls into rustications in imitation of stone masonry, and the division of arched lintels into wedge-shaped “stones” were found in the Elias Church 20 .

Stone blocks were also found in masonry (38-40 X 18-20 X 6.5-7 cm). The plinth of the Assumption Church was made from squares of hewn stone, and limestone flagstone and slabs were used by ancient architects when laying the foundations of the Assumption and Borisoglebskaya churches. Thanks to these features of Chernigov construction, the use of carved stone does not look like an accidental or short-term event in the artistic life of Chernigov.

Based on the nature of the weave of Chernigov stones, similar to the carvings of Dalmatia, Poland, Novgorod, B.V. Vorobyov speaks of the traditions of “Slavic artistic culture” dating back to pagan antiquity. This culture is distinguished by the constancy of the artistic tastes of one family of Svyatoslavovichs - in its opinion, the images of animals in the family tomb of David Svyatoslavovich do not look random. This view of the origin of Chernigov white stone carving is one-sided, since it does not take into account the professionalism of the creativity of the master creators. The “archaic” nature of the weaving and its pagan semantics, which seems to researchers, do not serve as a basis for dating the reliefs or determining their origin. It is difficult to imagine that the theme of the reliefs with animals is related to the “totemistic ideas of the Slavs” - the ideological concept of the sculptural compositions rather corresponded to the goals of exalting the princely power.

The fundamental difference between the sculpture of Chernigov and the rest of the monuments, including the few reliefs of Ryazan, which is part of the Chernigov diocese, is so significant that it can only be explained by a new construction tradition. P. ARappoport noted for the period from the end of the 10th to the end of the 11th century. at least four cases of arrival of Byzantine masters. A similar thing, in his opinion, happened at the end of the 30s of the 12th century in Kiev, from where Kiev craftsmen left for Polotsk - in the early 40s the St. Cyril Church was built using the new technique of equal-layer masonry 21. The new technology is associated with the transition to Kyiv of Chernigov craftsmen, who began new construction at the end of the 11th - beginning of the 12th century. in Chernigov and built the Assumption, Borisoglebskaya, Ilyinskaya churches. Observations by P. ARappoport confirm earlier dates for the construction of these monuments proposed by N.V. Kholostenko.

New masters of the Byzantine circle (plinth, tsemyanka) from the provinces (equal-layer masonry) were influenced by Romanesque architecture (arcature belts, etc.). The organic combination of technical and artistic means convinced P.A. Rappoport to develop construction techniques before coming to Rus'. Of course, both the type of temple and the carving met local tastes, but talented craftsmen were invited to Chernigov by Oleg Svyatoslavovich no earlier than 1094, after a ten-year stay in Tmutarakan, and before that in Byzantium (Rhodes Island).

Observations of Chernigov reliefs do not contradict the picture of the construction activities of the new masters outlined by P.A. Ralpoport. Complex braid 31

capitals with paired animals and a stone from 1984 from the estate of the Art Museum are associated, of course, not with “archaic” pagan culture, but with a very specific Carolingian tradition, vaguely reminiscent of Old Croatian weaving of the 9th - 10th centuries. (Split, Trifuna Church in Kotor, Sophia Church in Dvograd, Stephen Church in Perje), Chernigov reliefs do not have planar carvings and the same geometric clarity of division into circles, rhombuses, squares 22. Croatian reliefs, like the Wawel carvings and the Sulejów portals in Poland, are closer to the Lombardic tradition, well known in Upper Italy, Rome and Venice 23 .

The weaving of the Old Bulgarian manuscripts of the 10th century is freer, more relaxed and closer to Chernigov. (Zograph and Assemanie Gospels) 24, “Carolingian” weaving of toreutics of Great Moravia (mug from Klepino) 25. In the weaving details of the headpiece of the Assemanian Gospel of the second half of the 10th century. and the 1984 stone have the same diagnostic features: crin inside the petal. The curl of the petal on this slab, as in the Zograf Gospel, ends with a dot - a technique from the Bulgarian, Hungarian, and Chernigov toreutics of the 10th century.

On the other hand, one cannot help but pay attention to the similarity of animals (wolves or dogs), the interpretation of details: fur, eyes, the half-open mouth of capitals from the Boris and Gleb Cathedral with the plano-notched carvings of the interiors of the 12th century: from Norway 26. It is enough to compare the small heads of predators biting through the weaving ribbon on the Chernigov stones (Fig. 3) with the carvings of the wooden portal of the Thorp Church in Hallingdale, with the carvings in the Stavkirke-type church in Hilestad (Fig. 4). By the X - XI centuries. In the art of the Viking Age in Scandinavia, the ribbon weaving of the Wekdel period merged with Anglo-Irish and Carolingian motifs. The Chernigov style of relief carving in the artistic culture of Rus' represents a trend in many ways akin to the Zling style, but in the figures of animals, unlike the figure of the “big beast,” there are no sharp turns, impulses, scenes of torment - they are more heraldic, they affirm the ideas of world order (Fig. 5) .

The Chernigov style of white stone carving manifested itself in the ornamentation of jewelry, in the wooden carvings of Novgorod not only on columns, but also on other categories of products. The most expressive stone is the one from 1984 (Fig. 6, 1, 2). According to established tradition, having compared the width of the doorway at the extreme points of the side cliffs - 74 cm, we come to the conclusion that the stone could well cover the doorway (76 cm) of a single-chamber tower, excavated in 1950 - 1951. 27 N.V. Kholostenko and V.A. Bogusevich attributed its construction to the second half of the 11th century, but, according to P.A. Relpopart, it may well date back to the beginning of the 16th century. 28 N.V. Kholostenko associated the death and destruction of the towers with the period of intense struggle between Oleg Svyatoslavovich and Vladimir Monomakh - with the fire of the princely court in 1096. In this case, P. ATappoport’s version about the arrival of new masters at the end of the 19th century. excludes the white stone decoration of the towers built shortly after the Spassky Cathedral. On the other hand, the stylistic features of the 1984 slab indicate that its weaving is more ancient, reflecting the Carolingian tradition. Indicative is the weaving on the front side of double knots with a trefoil (Fig. 6,7) with a line motif with a dot. Something similar can be seen on the hilts of swords of type S (Pidgortsy, Lviv region, Blistava, Chernigov region) 29 .

The convex side of the stone is covered with a thick weave with a four-petal figure, a rhombus and a circle in the center. Single-ribbon, similar in the nature of filling the background to a Novgorod column, it vaguely resembles the weaving in the arch of Greater Zion from Sophia of Novgorod. The Chernigov braid has a certain similarity in single-band weaving with branches, in the initials of the Volhard Psalter of the St. Gallen school in Swabia (IX - X centuries) 30 ’

The capitals from the Boris and Gleb Cathedral with images of regiments (No. 3, 4, 5) (Fig. 7, I. .?) to the frieze with a bird (No. 8) with the character of ribbon planar weaving inherit the Carolingian tradition, being a predecessor of teratological ornamentation of the 13th - 14th centuries. The iconographic proximity to ancient Russian jewelry is manifested, first of all, in comparison with the engravings on kolta and lamellar bracelets. The workshop, localized by B.A. Rybakov in the Chernigov region, produced colts with the image of an animal in weaving, swallowing a ribbon: for the colts of the Svyatozersky treasure, a matrix with the princely sign of Vsevolod Yaroslavovich was found. 32

To the article by R. S. Orlov “White stone carving of Old Russian Chernigov”

Rice. 1. Boris and Gleb Cathedral. Corner stone with “volumetric” carving

Rice. 2. Boris and Gleb Cathedral. Fragment of a capital with a “volumetric” thread

Rice. 3. Boris and Gleb Cathedral. A stone of “planar” weaving with the image of wolves in the hiptnik style. non-biting weaving

Rice. 4. Norway. Flat-cut carvings from the Thorp Church in Hallingdal (/) and the Stavkirke-type church in Hylestad (2), dating from the 12th century.

Rice. 5. Boris and Gleb Cathedral. Capital of the "Chernigov style" with the image of heraldic animals

Rice. 6. Chernigov child. Floor stone from excavations in 1984. Weaving on the façade side (2) and its fragment (J)

Rice. 7. “Chernigov” style of ornamentation on the capitals of the Boris and Gleb Cathedral of the first half of the 12th century. (7, 2) and casting molds from the estate of the Tithe Church of the 12th - early 13th centuries. (3, 4)

End fig, 7

To the article by G. A. Voznesenskaya “Technology for the production of ancient Russian knives in the first half of the 13th century.

Rice. 2. Microstructure of knives with blades made of welding Damascus 1, 2 - an. 2441, uv. 70; 3, 4 - an. 2324/uv. 70

Rice. 3. Microstructure of knives with 1 - an. 2341, uv. 70

blades made of welding Damascus. ; 2-- an. 2381, uv. 70

A similar animal is depicted on kolta from the treasure at the Spassky Cathedral, in the treasure of 1879 near the village. Lgova. This type includes kolta from the Ryazan treasures of 1879 and 1973, and from the Terekhovsky treasure of 1876 31 . The weaving tape can be single (Ryazan), double (Lgov), triple (Terekhovo).

Ribbon weaving with zoomorphic motifs is found on hoops - folding bracelets. The dragon hoops of the Kyiv treasure of 1903 and the Terekhovsky hoop are iconographically close to the dragon of the corner stone (No. 3), but the nature of the weaving is different - the geometrization and completeness of the composition are reminiscent of the initials of the Yuryev Gospel. This is a later stage in the development of the Chernigov style: the hoop from the Kiev treasure (903), foundry molds for the Sirins and animals from the estate of the Church of the Tithes (Fig. 7, j. 4), the hoop from the Tver treasure of 1906 demonstrate the enrichment with new motifs. New ornamentation - “Chernigov style” - spreads throughout the territory of Rus', turning into a pan-Old Russian style.

Observations on the development of the Chernigov style of ornamental carving allow us to make adjustments to the evolutionary series of types of kolts outlined by T.I. Makarova. Its scheme is based on a fairly traditional idea: the development of a craft tradition from the center to the periphery, from Kiev to neighboring regions. The picture of development turns out to be more complex: several centers coexist, both in architecture and in white stone carving, and jewelry craft.

The origin of Chernigov carving may turn out to be connected not only with the Byzantine masters who arrived at the court of Oleg Svyatoslavovich. Suffice it to remember that Vladimir Monomakh was married to the English princess Gita, daughter of King Harald (d. 1066) in the 11th century. circumstances were such that the Norwegian kings in Russia were frequent guests 32. Perhaps some craftsmen arrived with them at the princely courts - the ornamental art of the Scandinavians enriched Carolingian wickerwork, and is well known to local craftsmen. In any case, Chernigov white stone carvings and decorations from Chernigov jewelry workshops demonstrate the oldest examples of that direction in art, which was less dependent than others on the arriving Byzantine and Romanesque masters and had a great influence on the formation and development of the Vladimir-Suzdal and Galician schools of ornamental carving.

1 Rappoport PL. On the question of the formation of the Galician architectural school // Slavs and Rus'. - M., 1966. - P. 459 - 461.

2 Ioannisyan O.M. About the early stage of development of Galician architecture//KSIA. -1981.-No. 164.-S. 35-42.

3 Wagner FJC Sculpture of Ancient Rus', XI century: Vladimir. Bogolyubov. - M., 1969.- 480 p. Vorobyova £J9. Semantics and dating of Chernigov capitals // Medieval Rus'. - M., 1976, - P. 175 - 183; Aseev Yu.S. Stylistic features of Chernigov architecture of the 12th - 13th centuries. // Chernigov and its districts in the 9th - 13th centuries. - Kyiv, 1988. - P. 135 - 143.

5 Ainalov DL. About new architectural finds in Chernigov // ZORSA. - 1913.- No. 13. - S.ZZO.

6 Wagner GD. Decree. op. - P. 72.

7 Makarenko M. Sculpture and liberation of Kievan Rus in the pre-Mongol hours // Kievan Collections of Historical Archeology, Future Mystery, 36. 1. - K, 1930. - P. 27 - 96.

® Kolchin BL. Novgorod antiquities: Carved wood. - M., 1971. - P. 62. - (SAI; E1-55). ’ Artsikhovsky AL. Column from Novgorod excavations // MIA. - 1969. - No. 169. - P. 16 - 21. 0 Vorobyova EL. Decree. op. - P. 178.

11 Ostapenko ML. Research on the St. Borisopibsk Cathedral in Chernigov // Architectural monuments. - K., 1950. - P. 64 - 72.

12 Kovalenko BJ1. Research in Chernigov // JSC 1984 - M., 1985. - P. 245 - 247.

1 Makarenko M. Decree. op. - P. 27 - 96.

14 Samokvasov DD. Graves of the Russian Land. - M.^1908.

5 Morgilevsky I. Assumption Church of the Yeletsky Monastery in Chernigov // Chernigov and Pivnichne Livoberezh. - K., 1928. - P. 197 - 204.

Aseev Yu.S. Decree. op. - P. 140.

17 Rappoport PL. Russian architecture of the X - XIP centuries: Catalog of monuments. - L., 1982. - P. 136 - (SAI; E1-47).

Wagner GD. White stone carving of ancient Suzdal: Nativity Cathedral, 13th century. - M., 1975.-

Logvin G. Chernigov, Novgorod-Seversky, Glukhov, Putivl. - M., 1980. - 288 p.

Kholostenko PL. Elias Church in Chernigov according to research from 1964 - 1965. // Ancient Russian art: Artistic culture of pre-Mongol Rus'. - M., 1972. - P. 88 - 99. Rappoport PL. On the role of Byzantine influence in the development of ancient Russian architecture // Byzantine temporary book. - 1984. - No. 45. - P. 185 - 191; Rappoport NA. From the history of Kiev-Chernigov architecture of the 12th century. // KSIA. - 1984. - No. 179. - S, 59 - 63.

Maruxic 8. xomolefcs Larshke sv. Sofije u E^ogradu 33 // Histtia arhaeoiogica. God. 2, sv. 2. - Pula.

1971. - 90 s.: Marttsic S, Istarska grupa spomenika sakralne arhitecture s upisanom apsidom // His- rria arhaeoiogica. God. 5. sv. 2. - Pula, 1974. - 188 s.

Zffenberger a Monuments of Byzantine sculpture from the collections of the State Museums

Berlin: Exhibition catalogue. - L., 1982. - P. 48.

Bulgarian manuscript book of the 10th - 18th centuries: Exhibition catalogue. ~ Kyiv, 1978. - P. 116.

"5 Darkevich VL. Artistic metal of the East, VIII - XIII centuries - M., 1976. - P. 200.

"’6 Scandinavia romanska. - Warchawie, 1970.

‘" Kholostenko P.V. Chernigov stone princely towers of the 11th century // AK, -1963, - No. 15. - P.3-17. - 3 Rappoport PL. Russian architecture ... - P. 41.

19 Kirpichnikov AL. Old Russian weapons. - M.; L., 1966. - P. 180. - (SAI; £1*36, issue 1).

50 Skulbizewski R. Malarstwo Kaxolinskie і przedromanskie. - Waiszawie, 1973. - S. 68.

51 MakarovaІ"L. Chernevoe business of Ancient Russia. - M., 1986, - P. 156,

32 Jackson TL. Scandinavian king in Rus' // Eastern Europe in antiquity and the Middle Ages. -

The greatest mystery of white stone architecture is the patterns and reliefs of white stone carvings. It has reached us only in fragments, mainly in the miraculously preserved St. Demetrius and St. George Cathedrals. There are many hypotheses about the content of the figurative design of the bas-reliefs of the Dmitrov Cathedral. But the trouble is that over the eight centuries that have passed since the creation of the temple, Russian people have not preserved this wonderful legend, and experts can only speculate.

Most of the researchers of white stone Russian architecture see its origins in Romanesque stone carving... They even came up with such terms - “Russian Romanesque”, there is also “Russian Gothic” (horror, but in fact - there). For some reason, there is already such a tradition - everything Russian is considered “secondary”. A scientific theory is a theory, but when they theorize without pictures, and with pictures, it immediately turns out differently. N I collected all sorts of carved stones: some are tuff, some are sandstone, some are limestone, all around the same time, the 12th century. France, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Georgia, Armenia...There are, of course, more Roman examples. So what do you think? Like? Which carving is more similar to ours? Since they insist so much on romance, let's start with that.Signatures - UNDER)))

portal of the Church of St. Peter, Moissac, France

Portal of Beaulieu Cathedral, France

fragment of the facade of Beaulieu Cathedral, France

Portal of Saint-Pierre Cathedral, Angoulême, France

facade of Notre Dame la Grande, Poitiers, France

Church of St. Mary, Souillac, France

Speyer, Germany (at universal" Romanesque decor)

Fragment of the decor of the cathedral. Moosburg, Germany

Cathedral, fragment of decor, Modena, Italy

Frieze. Fidenza, Italy

fragment of the portal, Fidenza, Italy

Window, Studenica Monastery, Serbia

Detail of a carving, Studenica, Serbia

Fragment of carving on the bell tower, Etchmiadzin, Armenia

Carved cross, Etchmiadzin, Armenia

Carved fragment, Nikortsminda, Georgia

Fragment of the facade, Nikortsminda, Georgia

Capital, Bagrati, Georgia

Well, here’s ours - St. Demetrius Cathedral in Vladimir, in case someone forgot - and for comparison... And what do you think is more similar?

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White stone carving on the temple in Yuryev-Polsky March 6th, 2015

I have already told you more than once about a beautiful small town in the Vladimir region. Let me just remind you that he has no connection with Poland, he is Polish only because he is in the area that used to be called. Here, for example, they filmed The Golden Calf - exactly. But today’s post is not about that, but about what. Available here. For me personally, it is one of the three most beautiful in Russia, I also once talked about it, but today I wanted to tell you a little about its magnificent white stone carvings, which are difficult to ignore.

I will say right away that I dug through a lot of online information to try to identify the scenes depicted on the walls of the temple. I don’t think it’s possible to identify all the plots; it seems to me that experts won’t be able to do it either.

This cathedral is unique in that it is the last white stone cathedral of its kind in Rus', built before the Tatar invasion. It was consecrated on a very conveniently memorable date - 1234, and 4 years later there was a tragic battle on the City River, in which Yuri Vsevolodovich died and with which, to a large extent, the Tatar yoke began. Initially, it was taller and “slimmer” than the current cathedral - this one, like a boletus mushroom, presses into the ground. This is due to the fact that in the middle of the 15th century it collapsed and had to be restored. Yes, and the location of the white stone carving is also slightly different, although

Almost the entire cathedral is covered with outlandish ornaments; in themselves they are already works of art. But there are also not just ornaments, but also bas-reliefs depicting saints, princes, mythical creatures, and even an elephant! By the way, the elephant is not so easy to find; at the end of the post I will reveal the secret of its location =)

Let's take a closer look, however, at the carving itself. A significant technical and artistic innovation of the decorative system of St. George's Cathedral is the combination of individual images and figures, made in high relief, with the finest carpet ornament, covering both the free planes of the walls and the background around the high reliefs. The nature of this system can be judged by the facades of the northern and southern porches of St. George's Cathedral, where carved stones, executed in high relief, are combined with shoots of planar floral ornament. The same system of combining a carpet pattern with high relief figures of saints, animals and monsters is also on the second tier of facades.

This combination of two styles of carving on large planes of facades was technically very complex. At first they were decorated with high relief images, which were carved on individual stones at the construction site and then inserted into the masonry of the wall. At this first stage, the decoration of the building resembled the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl: reliefs protruded on the smooth surface of the wall. Then the carving of the carpet pattern began, which was carried out along the already finished wall, moving onto its architectural details and entwining high-relief sculptures. This work required from the carvers impeccable precision of the eye and hand, error-free movement of the cutter, since the slightest error would be irreparable. The finest pattern was first applied in one drawn outline: this is clearly visible on the southern wall of the western vestibule, the decoration of which remained unfinished. The combination of these two systems of carved decoration required a preliminary detailed and precise design, which took into account the placement of carved stones in advance so that the associated pattern could normally unfold its elements when approaching the high reliefs.

Floral patterns

Carpet ornament

Faces. I wonder if there is a description of all the scenes of this cathedral?

Above the portal was placed an image of the patron saint of the city and the temple - St. George, dressed in military armor and leaning on a high spear and an almond-shaped shield with the image of a leopard - the emblem of the dynasty of Vladimir princes.

Animal:

Figures of saints - patrons of the principalities. This series of reliefs, according to one version, revealed the main idea of the program for the carved design of the temple: heavenly powers provide special protection to the Vladimir princes and their God-chosen land.