Moscow School

The Moscow school was a school of late medieval Russian icon and mural painting that flourished in Moscow from 1400s to the end of the sixteenth century, succeeding the Novgorod school of icon painting and eventually developing the stylistic basis for a national art. Russian medieval painting had a long-standing seat in Kiev, which then shifted to Novgorod, Yaroslavl, and other cities. One of the painters that came from Novgorod to Moscow was Theophanes the Greek (1340–1410), who was born and trained in Constantinople, assimilated the Russian manner and spirit at Novgorod, and was at the forefront of the creation of the Moscow style. His pupil, Andrei Rublyev, (c. 1360– c. 1430) is known as the greatest Russian icon and fresco painter of all time.

Brief History

The first flowering of the Moscow school occurred under the influence of the painter Theophanes the Greek, born and educated in Constantinople, who assimilated the Russian painterly manner at Novgorod in 1370 and then moved to Moscow at about 1395. During his thirty years in Moscow, Theophanes decorated more than forty churches, as well as numerous private houses, illuminated book manuscripts, and panel icons.

After studying art and philosophy at the University of Constantinople, Theophanes worked in Chalcedon, Galatia, and Kaffa (now Feodosia and Crimea) before coming to Russia. He was a highly educated man well versed in philosophy, geometry, and painterly techniques, which was reflected in his finest frescos, such as Transfiguration of Jesus (1408), St Makarios of Egypt (1378), and panel icons such as Our Lady of the Don (Donskaya, 1380?), Dormition of the Theotokos (Uspenie Bogoroditsy, 1392) and others. Theophanes worked in a highly expressive free manner, in clear dynamic lines. He didn't use a lot of detail, preferring a restrained palette of orange-browns and silver-blues for their symbolic and philosophical value. His manner of painting originates from the Macedonian school (the Greek-Slavonic Orthodox School) characterized by the subjective style and high spirituality of the figures; he did not use templates but painted directly from imagination and the mystical spirit.

Theophanes' most important successor was the most distinguished Russian medieval painter, the monk Andrei Rublyov, who painted pictures of overwhelming spirituality and grace. As icon painters did not sign their works (believing that they merely channeled the spiritual essence of God), the icons can be attributed only by style and execution. Rublyov painted in the Byzantine tradition, where spirituality and asceticism were regarded as more important than naturalism. His work is distinguishable for its particular subtlety, luminosity of color, and its clean, strong composition. Rublyov's work reflects the finest art of Moscow school of the fifteenth century. Works attributed to him are the icons The Old Testament Trinity (1411 or 1425–27) and St John the Baptist, St Paul, St Peter and Ascension, all done circa 1408 for the Cathedral of the Dormition of the Virgin at Vladimir. The Old Testament Trinity, representing the three angels who visited Abraham, is painted in tempera and gold leaf. It is considered to be his masterpiece and is currently held at the Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow.

From Rublyov's death to the end of the fifteenth century, Moscow was marked by a sudden growth and prosperity. The Boyars (the Slav grand dukes) drove out the Mongols and succeeded in uniting central Russia. After the fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks in 1453, Moscow became the seat of the Russian Orthodox Church and the center of Eastern Orthodoxy. The iconographer whose work reflected the spirit of the times was Dionisy (1440–1508), the layman who rose to prominence after decorating the walls of the Uspensky Sobor (Dormition Cathedral) in the Kremlin. In 1502, Dionisy travelled to Beloozero, 350 miles from Moscow, in search of spiritual connection and, together with his sons, left the frescoes in the Cathedral of the Ferapontov Monastery as his legacy. Dionisy's work is more intellectual than spiritual, characterized by simplified, stylized drawing, elongated figures and a subtle color scheme of turquoise, pale green, and rose against darker blues and purples.

As a direct result of the Great Fire of Moscow in 1547 that destroyed parts of the Kremlin and many of the capital's icons, the Tsar Ivan IV (better known as Ivan the Terrible) ordered the creation of new icons and murals in the Russian capital. He ordered icon painters from Novgorod, Smolensk, Dmitrov and Zvenigorod to Moscow. At the beginning of the seventeenth century, the Moscow school was superseded by the Stroganov school of art which, with its richness and refinement, reflected the tastes of the nobility. The use of gold and silver replaced the luminous color, and the detail became more naturalistic. The founding of the new capital of St. Petersburg in 1703 opened a new chapter of Russian art.

Impact

Cubism, suprematism, and constructivism all relied to some extent on traditional icon painting. They inherited the clear outlines and pure geometric form, balanced composition, light and uplifting colors from the established iconography canon, which were reconceived as abstract forms and symbols. The work of the Russian artist Kasimir Malevich, especially The Black Square (1915), can be related to the icon tradition as it aspires to similar visual simplicity and spirituality. The nonobjective art exhibited at The Last Futurist Exhibition of Paintings 0.10 in Petrograd (1915–1916) inaugurated the suprematist art movement that, although innovative and groundbreaking, nevertheless engaged in a dialog with the spatial positioning, simplicity, and spiritual values of the icon painting. The French artist Henri Matisse who saw Russian icons in 1906 in Paris and delighted in their finesse, visited Russia in 1911. He commented on their moving simplicity, saying that "from them we ought to learn how to understand art." The Russian sculptor Vladimir Tatlin, who used symbolic forms in his work, recognized how the icons incorporated other materials in the surface of the painting (metal, gold leaf). Finally, the Russian filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky made a film titled Andrei Rublyov (1966) based on the life and work of the famous iconographer, who was canonized a saint by the Russian Orthodox Church in 1988.

Bibliography

Alpatov, Mikhail V. Andrey Rublev. Moscow: Iskusstvo, 1972. Print.

Bunge, Gabriel. The Rublev Trinity. Trans. Andrew Louth. Crestwood: St. Vladimir's Seminary P, 2007. Print.

De Madariaga, Isabel. Ivan the Terrible, First Tsar of Russia. New Haven: Yale UP, 2005. Print.

Flam, Jack. Matisse: The Man and His Art. Ithaca: Cornell UP, 1986. Print.

Hunt, Priscilla. "Andrei Rublev’s Old Testament Trinity Icon in Cultural Context." The Trinity-Sergius Lavr in Russian History and Culture: Readings in Russian Religious Culture, vol. 3. Ed. Deacon Vladimir Tsurikov. Jordanville: Holy Trinity Seminary P, 2006. Print.

Kandinsky, W. Concerning the Spiritual in Art. New York: Dover, 1977. Print.

Lazarev, Viktor N. The Russian Icon: From Its Origins to the Sixteenth Century. Ed. Gerold I. Vzdornov. Collegeville: Liturgical P, 1997. Print.