Russian icons, frescoes, paintings on biblical themes are one of the artistic wonders of European civilization.
Answering Goethe's question about the origin of Russian icon painting, Karamzin argued that it was a product of “Byzantine, which entered Russia along with the Christian faith under Vladimir. Greek painters were our teachers. But Byzantineism was very soon melted down in the crucibles of Russian spirituality. Such giants of the human spirit and wizards of the brush as Alimpiy, Andrei Rublev, Dionisy, Guriy Nikitin grew up in Russia. Peasant painting by the masters of Palekh became a kind of fusion of many schools and discoveries of great Russian iconographers.
Palekh - the famous "village-academy" 300 kilometers north-east of Moscow. Here for many centuries, talents from the people have created an original school of icon painting and frescoes. The lacquer miniatures of Palekh artists on folk and literary motifs: caskets, caskets, plates, brooches, which appeared already in Soviet times, are known all over the world. They are a modified artistic heritage of ancient Russian spiritual painting.
The celebration of the 1000th anniversary of Christianity in Russia has drastically changed the vector of public consciousness. The return of Palekh artists to the Gospel is not just a sign of a new time. The creative workshop "Paleshane", where young artists have united around the famous master B. Kukuliev, relies in its current searches on the experience of painters, their grandfathers and great-grandfathers, on the experience of world art. This is the second birth of the religious principle in the folk art of Palekh. Having started with the creation of icons, generations of Palekh artists returned to icon painting through the centuries. Many famous artists gravitated towards biblical subjects. The great German painters and engravers A. Durer and G. Holbein (junior), the famous Frenchman G. Dore and the famous Dutchman - publisher and engraver - N. Piscator at different times and in their own manner illustrated the Bible - both the Old and New Testaments.
Modern editions of biblical texts, as their interpretation, use this particular foreign graphic arsenal. For the first time, the "Paleshans" make an independent attempt at domestic color illustrations for the Gospel, comprehending and continuing the ancient Russian traditions of icon painting.
From the feast of the Baptism of the Lord to the wide Maslenitsa - for almost two months in the ancient Novodevichy Convent an exhibition "The Gospel in the Colors of Palekh" worked. Its organizers - the All-Russian Association for International Cultural and Humanitarian Relations, the Moscow Patriarchate, the State Historical Museum - seemed to test the impressions of this unusual work on a wide audience.
Palestinian artists are inspired by high marks. But I also had to work a lot. The hierarchs of the Russian Orthodox Church and scholars-theologians expressed their benevolent comments and advice. The work is now finished. And ahead is an unusual art edition: "The Gospel in Palekh Colors".
Promotional video:
The Gospel in Palekh Colors
Under this name in February - March 1994 in Moscow, in the Novo-Devichy Monastery, an exhibition of the creative workshop "Paleshane" was held.
Inspired by the great task - to colorfully depict the life of Jesus Christ - a group of young artists (Nikolai Borisovich Kukuliev, Sergey Yakovlevich Adeyanov, Vasily Semyonovich Makashov, Vladimir Avenarovich Bushkov, Sergey Grigorievich Velikanov) under the leadership of the famous master Boris Nikolaevich Kukuliev presented their more than three years of work, performed at one breath.
This event, from my point of view, is exceptional and absolutely wonderful, unfortunately, it passed without much noise and was not in the center of attention of the general public. But everyone who looked at the original illustrations for the Bible changed their expressions, their eyes began to glow with admiration, joy and kindness. I wanted as many people as possible to learn about the unusual exposition.
Palekh icon - Last Supper
The exclusivity of the exhibition lies in the fact that these are the first illustrations to the Gospel, made by Palekh artists. Is it not surprising that at the end of the 20th century, young artists returned to the biblical theme, performing illustrations in the traditions of the original ancient icon-painting school of their great-grandfathers.
And the exhibition is remarkable in that the presented illustrations for the Bible are made with the highest art, delight in the severity and subtlety of the drawing, the brightness and purity of colors. Most of all, the deep understanding by the artists of the essence of the Holy Scripture, which they carefully tried to convey to us, is disturbing.
When you see the austere, carefully written beauty of illustrations, you understand that only Palekh artists with their centuries-old traditions of icon painting combined with an original, expressive manner of painting lacquer miniatures on themes of Russian folk tales, epics, and stories could have created them.
Palekh icon painting had a very high and very old technique. Her perfection, her sophisticated techniques, her “good quality” and unique beauty have been preserved by many generations of icon painters.
Palekh was farther than Kholui and Mstera, from the main roads and the navigable Klyazma. It has always been difficult to get here by local country roads. Palekh did not live in isolation. Having his own tradition, his own way of life, he lived a special life, created his own style and had his own destiny, not much like the fate of the neighboring icon-painting villages of the Vladimir-Suzdal land.
On the basis of documents, it is known that icon painting in Palekh existed already at the beginning of the 17th century, while the settlement arose here much earlier and, perhaps, the occupation of icon painting was also up to the 17th century. In ancient documents, Palekh is mentioned as one of the centers of icon-painting craft throughout the Vladimir-Suzdal land.
Palekh icon - Crucifixion
Like other villages, Palekh had its own historically developed peculiarity, which largely determined the originality of Palekh icon painting.
For a long time, the icon-painting craft in Palekh by the nature of production was associated with the peasant environment. Palekh icon painters traded their products for delivery "through the marketplaces and drowned villages for exchange for an egg and onion." Most likely, these icons were cheap and intended for the life of the peasants. But along with this, Palekh had a direct and immediate connection with ancient Russian art, proceeded from the high traditions of its various schools and went its own way.
Gradually, Palekh gained fame as a recognized center of icon painting and entered the circle of original "nests" of the Vladimir-Suzdal land.
Repeatedly Palekh icon painters were summoned to the tsar's icon-painting workshops in Moscow and other cities to make custom-made icons.
Living far from their homes for a long time, the Palestinians had the opportunity to get acquainted with the icons of the Novgorod, Moscow tsarist and so-called Stroganov letters. So over the course of 50-60 years, a kind of Palekh style was formed, which brought its techniques to perfection.
It was a legacy of miniature, precious art, the luxury of jewelry and "busyness" which captivated the refined taste of the court boyars headed by the Stroganovs. Wealthy merchants and industrialists Stroganovs collected icons from generation to generation and ordered them according to their tastes. Their main residence was in Solvychegodsk. There, by the end of the 16th - beginning of the 17th century. they organized their own icon painting workshops. Moscow commissioned icons and those that were made in the Stroganov workshops in Solvychegodsk are united under the common name "Stroganov's letter".
The icons of such a letter are executed with miniature precision and meticulous writing out of all details. The icons themselves are often small in size, stand out for their brightness in color and an abundance of gold. The icon of "Stroganov's letter" is perceived as a precious piece of applied art.
Palekh icon - Resurrection of the daughter of Joir
In the 18th century. Palekh icon painting continued the line of Old Russian painting, which was most clearly manifested in the art of the cities of the Volga region: Yaroslavl, Rostov the Great and Kostroma. The Palekh style has absorbed the fabulous poetry and exquisite ornamentation of the "Stroganov icon", the gold-forged splendor of the "royal letters", cheerfulness, picturesque decorativeness and free vitality of frescoes and icons of the Volga region.
Despite the need to comply with the strict, established canon and immutable rules in the depiction of icon images, legalized by the church, many elements and details of the icon changed depending on the place where the icon was painted and on the time of its creation. The manner of depicting faces and figures, landscape and its details changed. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. the Palekh style has improved, it is more graphic and plastic.
In the second half of the XIX century. the production of icons began to focus on large enterprises. The Safonov workshop stood out especially. In the hands of Safonov was almost half of the entire icon business in Palekh. More than 200 icon painters stayed with him at work. Paleshi masters made a wide variety of icons in various styles of ancient Russian art. The icons were painted cheap on special orders. They were transported to the most remote places in tsarist Russia. Safonov also accepted large contracts for painting temples.
Palekh icon - Washing of feet
All the complex experience of making and painting icons in Palekh was based on ancient traditions passed down from generation to generation. But there came a revolution, a civil war. Active anti-religious propaganda began, churches were closed and destroyed. The Bolsheviks persecuted religion.
The question arose about the existence of Palekh icon-painting workshops. Really close? To interrupt the historical line of the rarest art?
But the talented artists of Palekh with a huge school behind them had the strength and energy to rebuild art production.
The famous all over the world face miniatures of Palekh on folk and literary motives appeared in 1923, when an artel of "Old Russian Painting" was organized there. Although the Palekh masters borrowed the technique of making papier-mâché from the Fedoskino artel, the oldest lacquer craft, the Palekh artists retained the technique of painting with egg paints and the artistic style of icon painting.
Moreover, a new direction in their work crossed the borders of the Motherland and reached the world level. Palekh boxes, miniatures, fabulous paintings of Palekh painting are now famous all over the world. They receive the highest prizes at World Fairs, Exhibitions, and Competitions. It would seem that Palekh found himself again, choosing the main direction of his creative activity. But real life again intervened in his fate, as we are convinced of today.
The growth of the spiritual needs of society, the state recognition of the church and its importance in education again turn the famous artists to icon painting.
Palekh icon
This process, as it were, of the rebirth of the ancient art of Palekh, we observe today.
The cited history of Palekh was probably necessary in order to more fully imagine what great origins and traditions shaped the creativity of modern Palestinians, who literally decided to confess in the biblical theme - and so brilliantly accomplished it in color illustrations of the Gospel.
When I met the artist V. S. Makashov at the exhibition, I asked: to whom, when and why such a grandiose idea came up? He simply replied that the idea came from time. Yes, our present time. And because there was an urgent need for the spiritual revival of the people, to which the artists strove to make their own contribution, and because at that time it became possible to carry out their old idea. Previously, they could not do this. And so I wanted to confirm to the people that the great folk art still exists, as it does, despite the chaos and confusion of our existence, and the Russian culture Paleshan could best confirm this by the revival of the great traditions of Palekh icon painting.
Palekh icon - Last Supper (detail)
Vasily Semyonovich knew that famous German and Dutch artists wrote on biblical subjects, but he especially liked the illustrations to the Gospel of the famous French painter G. Dore. But they were made, as he put it, "in the German or French spirit," and for the Russian Orthodox people it was necessary to create their own, in the traditions of the great Russian icon painting. And it was a shame somehow, he added, that with the worldwide glory of Russian icons, no attempts were made to make Russian illustrations for the New Testament. In addition, there was a great desire to help people figuratively understand the Gospel with a colorful depiction of the life of Jesus Christ. Visual perception not only explains the text of the greatest book of mankind, but more strongly affects and deepens the understanding of the philosophical essence of the Holy Doctrine. I think that the Palestinians have succeeded.
Palekh icon - Beheading of John the Baptist
I hope that the huge, inspired work embodied in the publication "The Gospel in the Colors of Palekh" will receive national recognition and exaggerate the worldwide fame of Palekh.