RUSSIAN ART

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18445, 5 January 1922, Page 6

RUSSIAN ART

COLOURING OF THE IKONS. In the good old days when Russian cities were fresh and clean—the country districts were always very much as they are now — in ' that golden age a venerable custom obtained in Russia—that of whitewashing the houses every spring. The practice _ was noticed by the French, who mention it in their Dictionaire d’Architecture.' Another Russian custom which did not attract the attention of foreigners was the yearly varnishing of ikons with linseed oil. Perpetually impregnating the surface of the paintings with fresh varnish caused them to darken more and more so that in time the original colouring' disappeared completely. Thus was an impression given that the old ikons were primarily of a darkish tone, and “dark paints” became a feature of religious pointing in Russia. So much store was set by the hue of the ikon that the faithful spared neither trouble nor expense in obtaining the proper brown shade which was considered in accord with the best tradition. The year 1913 brought _ about an entire revolution in the appreciation of ikon painting. Some experiment in restoration showed that the original colouring of the old paintings was not at all sombre. On the contrary, when the glass-like, film of varnish was removed there appeared brignt colours, purples and vermillions and greens of various shades. It was a marvellous discovery which excited the enthusiasm of the connoisseurs. Experts began zealously <o restore old ikons, and at the exhibition of old Russian art organised' by the Moscow Archaeological Institute in 1915 a considerable number of ikons were presented to the public in their original splendour, free from the mummifying film of varnish. The highly reputed ikons of the fourteenth and fifteenth century of the Novgorod school, richly represented at the exhibition, appeared in a totally different light. Andrei Rubley and Dionysi, the two masters of the school of Russian painting, were seen to possess many characteristics in common with the Italian pre-Raphaelites. They appear to have had a particular liking for frail forms, for meditative and eostatio attitudes, for transparent colours in the key. of pale yellow, violet, and olive green. To the Russian art student the discovery of the genuine original colouring of the ikons was of tremendous importance. The view which had prevailed that the ikons were simply copies from the Byzantine could now, be energetically rejected. The discovery gave a great incentive to research in ancient Russian art. A society for the study of old ikons was formed under the chairmanship of Nera dovaki, one of the custodians of the Museum of Alexander 111 in Petrograd. The museum at once acquired 1500 ikons from the private collection of' Mr Likhatchov. It already possessed as many of its own. The society started a periodical in Retrograd, The Russian Ikon, and there appeared in Moscow another publication, Sofia, devoted to the etudy of the ikons and frescoes in. Moscow cathedrals. The Russian ikon became a thing of value on the art market. The most precious were the Novgorod ikons of the fifteenth century, which are almost the oldest, only a few from the fourteenth century having been preserved. The ikons of the Stroganov school of the end of the sixteenth and the seventeenth century (the school :s called after the name of the pa,tron whose signature is to be seen on the ikons) were also very much prized. . It is comparatively easy to date the ikons owing to their architectural accessories. In the earlier specimens, painted by the monk Rubley and his disciples, there are to be found on the background of the paintings buildings in the Russian style. The effect of the graceful figures, which evoke the visions of Fra'Angelico, moving in a Russian landscape is very charming. A perfect harmony is achieved between the slender bodies in their bending attitudes and the undulating lines of the Russian cupolas, horseshoe arches,/ and innumerable barrelshaped -vaultings. The Russian architecture in the tifteenth century, with its playful, one may almost term it, “rococo character, lends a striking note to the Italian figure composition, an amalgamation thus having been produced of unrivalled beauty. : The works of the Strogonov school are less remarkable, because of their more pronounced western character. On the background of the composition there are Raman buildings, with classic orders on the facades, of which the Russians, however, did not see many in their environment. Only a few cathedrals were restored in Moscow in. the “Italian’’ style, the people remaining- faithful to their traditional mode of building Painting being a more responsive art, foreign influences oould manifest themselves in 3con painting to a much larger extent than in architecture. .But whereas in the treatment of details of scenery of architectural accessories, of motives of decoration, the Russian painter of the seventeenth century proved to be more accessible to foreign fashions, he became more and moie conventional with regard to figure painting. On thc trtie pag of a gospel illuminated in 1684 this difference is easily .noticeable. ■ We are here met with a “Roman facade of the epoch, with the naturalistic flower ornamentation and the picturesque draperies of the seventeenth century, with the scrolls on the head piece of the miniature, which scrolls wero a very popular _ motive of the baroque stylo; oven the interfacings in the corner, although of medieval provenance, tetill occurred in the_ seventeenth century in . western decoration.. The same cannot bo said of the type of the saint. He is conceived in the conventional manner of the late Byzantine style. In comparing this figure with the unrestrained figures on paintings of the fifteenth century of the Rubley school one is oven more stpruck with the utter rigidity of the Hieronymus of the gosnol of the seventeenth century, 'file change was due to hieratic influences. With the centralising of Russia and the hegemony of Moscow the Russian clergy assumed a particular role in the propagating of centralistic ideas. A return to Byzantium, to the sources of Russian culture, the task imposed by Providence of taking the place of the mined Byzantine Empire—these wore the catchwords of the Russian church. Ecclesiastical art was com pelted to adapt itself to this spirit. As time went on the church got an ever stronger hold on ikon painting; no free inspiration, no fresh influences could manifest themselves. The art was degraded- to a craft exercised on the lines of a. fixed canon.