RUSSIAN ART. A comprehensive essay on the art of Russia implies a survey of the art of many races, beginning from remote antiquity. This article, therefore, deals with those artistic activities that have been manifested in Russia proper since her appearance as an organised and independent state under St. Vladimir (972-1015).
As with their re ligion, the Russians took their art from Byzantium and up to the i4th century they preserved in their icons all the austerity and simplicity of design and also the economy of colouring of the Byzantine frescoes of the 11th and 12th centuries. The centres of activity during this period were at Kiev, Novgorod and Suzdal, and in all probability a great number of artists were Greeks. A very fine example from this period is the Odiguitry Madonna (12th century) in the Riabushinsky collection at Moscow.
The 14th century marks the beginning of a new style and icon-painting at that time flourished in Nov gorod. The new elements may be due to a fresh influx of Greek and perhaps Serbian painters, for there are certain characteristics in the Russian icons and frescos of this period which are common to the i4th century frescos both at Mistra (Greece) and in Serbia. However, in such works as the "Ascension" (1363) at Volotovo there is a sense for line and a simplicity of rendering not present in the Greek and Serbian frescos. In this work and also in the St. Theodore Stratilatos (137o) and the "Nativity" in the same monastery, can be clearly discerned all the great qualities which distinguish the Novgorod school in the following century. At the end of the i4th century (1378-1405) a Greek painter referred to by Russian chroniclers as "Philosopher Theo phanos the Greek" did works in various churches and monasteries in Moscow and Novgorod.
The golden age of Russian art, the 15th century, is marked by so much grace that some scholars attempt to ascribe it to Italian influence. The chief means by which this elegance is obtained is continuity of outline of the design and either rhythmical linear repetition or symmetrical linear opposition of the movement, imposed on the central figure by the artist's interpretation of the action in the subject. The colouring too shows improvement. Instead of slightly tinted drawings as were the earlier icons, we have icons with clear and harmonious colouring distributed in flat surfaces and emphasised by lines marking the light. The
most accomplished master of this period—and indeed in the whole history of Russian art—is Andrea Rublyov
probably a pupil of "Philosopher Theophanos the Greek," one of whose very few preserved works is the Holy Trinity (1408) in the Troitza Cathedral of the Troitza-Sergios monastery near Moscow (even the authenticity of this example is doubted by Kandakov). Another master whose name is frequently mentioned in old records together with Rublyov is Dionysios who worked at the Theraponte monastery. Some fine examples of the icons from this period are in the collections of B. E. Chanenko at Kiev and E. S. Ostruchov and S. P. Riabushinsky at Moscow.
After the inclusion by Ivan the Terrible of Novgorod province into the Russian Empire the centre of artistic activity shifts to the capital of the new Empire, Moscow. Design in icons loses simplicity and the figures lose their dignified proportions. Colouring becomes dull and practically identical in all icons, and even their sizes tend towards standardisation. The Byzantine architectural motives in the backgrounds of icons are supplanted by Russian ones, and even the type of faces bears a strong national character. In short, the Moscow school abandoned the high standards of its prede cessor and came into closer touch with national life. Gradually icon-painting turned into more a manufacture of devotional objects than art. Meanwhile between the end of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th century sprung up the Stroganovsky school which combined to some extent some of the elements of both its predecessors. The craftsmanship is certainly of a very high grade, but the harshness of design, the somewhat exotic brilliance of colour, the lack of relationship between the national architec tural forms in the background and the semi-Byzantine figures, the insistence on detail and finally—especially so in the later stages—the presence of undigested Western influence makes this school very inferior to the Novgorod school. However, it found great favour among the upper classes and became the most appreciated school in Russia. A great number of icons from this school are preserved ; an inferior example is hung at the National Gallery. The best known masters from this school are Istoma and Nikiphor Savin, Procopy Tchirin, Ivan Prokopiev and Spiri dion Timoviev.