Medieval Russian Art and Its Western European Connections

Sponsoring Organization(s)

Special Session

Organizer Name

Maria Tarasova

Organizer Affiliation

Siberian Federal Univ.

Presider Name

Anna Popkova

Presider Affiliation

Western Michigan Univ.

Paper Title 1

Notes on the Peculiarities of the Synthesis of Styles in the External Carving of Monuments of Vladimir-Suzdal Russia

Presenter 1 Name

Maria Orlova

Presenter 1 Affiliation

State Institute of Art Studies, Moscow

Paper Title 2

Western European Medieval Architecture and Architecture of Vladimir-Suzdal Principality in the Twelfth and Thirteenth Century: Common Features and Some Reasons for These Similarities

Presenter 2 Name

Alexandra Sitnikova

Presenter 2 Affiliation

Siberian Federal Univ., Krasnoyarsk

Paper Title 3

Muscovy Architecture in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century: Attitudes and Adaptation of a New Range of Features and Elements of Gothic and Late Renaissance Architecture

Presenter 3 Name

Yulia Tarabarina

Presenter 3 Affiliation

State Institute of Art Studies, Moscow

Paper Title 4

Gothic Legacy in the Medieval Architecture of Novgorod the Great

Presenter 4 Name

Maria Tarasova (Gründler Travel Award Winner)

Start Date

11-5-2019 10:00 AM

Session Location

Schneider 1140

Description

The influence of the Western European Art of Middle Ages on the Medieval Russian Art remains an understudied topic. Having thoroughly studied the Byzantine tradition and its impact on the iconography of Russian Art in the Kievan period and afterwards, the scholars declared the art of Byzantium the main source of international influence on the Medieval Russian Art. The Great Schism of 1054 that broke the communion between the Western and the Eastern branches of Christianity and led to creation of the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches gave ideological support for understanding Catholic and Orthodox art as different in their theological programs. These were the reasons that made comparative research of Medieval Russian Art and the Medieval Art of the European West seem disputed and questionable in its basis. But the history shows a lot of facts of cultural interaction between Western Europe and Medieval Russia after the East-West Schism. The facts prove that the history of art is not equal to the history of religion.

During the Suzdalian period in the twelfth century the Russian principalities developed political and cultural ties with the European countries. The prince Andrei Bogolyubsky invited architects from Western Europe (mostly from Southern Germany and Northern Italy) to Russia. As a result, the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal gradually fell under the influence of Romanesque architecture. The examples of this influence include The Church of Pokrova na Nerli, The Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir. The cathedrals represent a synthesis of Greek and Western European traditions that was possible only in Russia. The early Muscovite architecture of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries inherited the construction techniques from Vladimir – the fact that gives ground for a comparative research of Romanesque architecture of Western Europe and Muscovite cathedrals (e.g., The Assumption Cathedral in Moscow Kremlin).

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the city-states of Novgorod and Pskov created an original kind of culture under some influence from their western Baltic neighbors. Since Novgorod became one of the leading members in Hanseatic League, the cultural ties between this city and its northern European partners also became very strong. As a result, the Gothic style made an impact on forms of the gabled churches in Novgorod in the late fourteenth century (e.g., St. Theodor Church, Savior Church on Ilyina street). Also the influence of the European Gothic style is particularly evident in the type of tent-roof pillar churches widespread in Russia in the sixteenth century (e.g., The Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye near Moscow).

The proposed session invites the scholars from different countries to the discussion of the interconnectedness of the Medieval culture and of the influence Western European art of that epoch had on the Medieval Russian art. The session presents an opportunity to get a broader view on the cultural ties between Medieval Russia and the Western European world of the Middle Ages. With the help of historians and art historians who specialize in Medieval Russian or in Medieval European Art History (or, ideally, in both) the discussion will lead to getting insights into the integrity of all cultural processes in Middle Ages. Maria Tarasova

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May 11th, 10:00 AM

Medieval Russian Art and Its Western European Connections

Schneider 1140

The influence of the Western European Art of Middle Ages on the Medieval Russian Art remains an understudied topic. Having thoroughly studied the Byzantine tradition and its impact on the iconography of Russian Art in the Kievan period and afterwards, the scholars declared the art of Byzantium the main source of international influence on the Medieval Russian Art. The Great Schism of 1054 that broke the communion between the Western and the Eastern branches of Christianity and led to creation of the Roman Catholic and the Eastern Orthodox churches gave ideological support for understanding Catholic and Orthodox art as different in their theological programs. These were the reasons that made comparative research of Medieval Russian Art and the Medieval Art of the European West seem disputed and questionable in its basis. But the history shows a lot of facts of cultural interaction between Western Europe and Medieval Russia after the East-West Schism. The facts prove that the history of art is not equal to the history of religion.

During the Suzdalian period in the twelfth century the Russian principalities developed political and cultural ties with the European countries. The prince Andrei Bogolyubsky invited architects from Western Europe (mostly from Southern Germany and Northern Italy) to Russia. As a result, the principality of Vladimir-Suzdal gradually fell under the influence of Romanesque architecture. The examples of this influence include The Church of Pokrova na Nerli, The Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir. The cathedrals represent a synthesis of Greek and Western European traditions that was possible only in Russia. The early Muscovite architecture of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries inherited the construction techniques from Vladimir – the fact that gives ground for a comparative research of Romanesque architecture of Western Europe and Muscovite cathedrals (e.g., The Assumption Cathedral in Moscow Kremlin).

In the twelfth and thirteenth centuries the city-states of Novgorod and Pskov created an original kind of culture under some influence from their western Baltic neighbors. Since Novgorod became one of the leading members in Hanseatic League, the cultural ties between this city and its northern European partners also became very strong. As a result, the Gothic style made an impact on forms of the gabled churches in Novgorod in the late fourteenth century (e.g., St. Theodor Church, Savior Church on Ilyina street). Also the influence of the European Gothic style is particularly evident in the type of tent-roof pillar churches widespread in Russia in the sixteenth century (e.g., The Church of the Ascension in Kolomenskoye near Moscow).

The proposed session invites the scholars from different countries to the discussion of the interconnectedness of the Medieval culture and of the influence Western European art of that epoch had on the Medieval Russian art. The session presents an opportunity to get a broader view on the cultural ties between Medieval Russia and the Western European world of the Middle Ages. With the help of historians and art historians who specialize in Medieval Russian or in Medieval European Art History (or, ideally, in both) the discussion will lead to getting insights into the integrity of all cultural processes in Middle Ages. Maria Tarasova