Kiev psalter. Book miniature of Russia. An excerpt characterizing the Kiev Psalter

Book miniature of Rus. Kyivska Psalter.

Translations from Ukrainian (in some places clumsy, I beg your pardon).

History of Ukrainian culture, vol. 2. Ch. 2.5. V.S.Alexandrovich - Educational and decorative-uzhitkov art.

The least known page in the history of Ukrainian art in the second half of the 13th - first half of the 15th centuries is a miniature of handwritten books. The modest nature of ideas about it is a consequence of not only a small number of surviving memorials: unlike other types of art, it has not been reflected in written sources. Talking about the numerous donations to the church of Prince Vladimir Vasilkovich, the Galicia-Volyn Chronicle never mentions the decoration of the manuscripts. The only authentic monument of this environment is a partially restored miniature depicting St. Basil the Great and Ephraim the Syrian in the 1288 "Parenesis" of Ephraim the Syrian (NLR) 25.

Another illuminated manuscript from this period is the Conversations of St. Gregory the Dvoeslov on the Gospel of the second half of the 13th century. (RNB). The codex is decorated with the original miniature "Savior with St. Gregory the Dvoeslov, Eustachius and two angels." Constructed according to the "Prayer" scheme, the composition with the frontal figure of Christ and two smaller figures, subordinate to him, outstretched on a plane, has a hieratic character. The original miniature "Conversations" by Grigory Dvoeslov is a rare example of book miniature art. The thematic repertoire of the Ukrainian illuminated manuscript book had a rather limited character and illustrations were first of all adorned with the Gospel texts, therefore the basis of the repertoire of Ukrainian miniatures was the images of the authors of the canonical Gospels.

The only richly illustrated Gospel known in the Ukrainian lands until the middle of the 15th century. - Lavrishevskoe (Lavrishevske) 26, copied, probably in Volyn at the turn of the XIII - XIV centuries. Continuing the practice of manuscripts illustrated with portraits of evangelists, the codex - along with traditional illustrations - has 14 more miniatures and preparatory drawings for them, of which 12 illustrate the text of the Gospel books, two - images of St. Job and the Archangel Michael. The miniature with the Archangel Michael has its original character and is made on a separate sheet in front of the text, therefore, obviously, it indicates the circumstances of the origin of the code.

The complicated iconographic version of the miniature with the Evangelist is demonstrated by the unique surviving illustration of the Kovrov Gospel, where the image of John with Prokhor on the island of Patmos is supplemented not only by the half-figure of Christ, but also by the half-figure of the Archangel Michael, which is unique for the corresponding iconography.

The most famous memo of Ukrainian miniatures of the period under review is Kiev Psalter of 1397(RNB). It belongs to a relatively small group of richly illustrated psalters of the Byzantine tradition, and for the artistic heritage of the Ukrainian lands it is a unique memorial. Its pages are decorated with hundreds of closely related miniatures, which follow the original of the Constantinople imperial scriptorium of the XI century. 27 This orientation testifies not only to the tastes of the customers, but also to the landmarks of the Ukrainian art of the princely era.

25. Nikalaeў M. Chamber of Knigapisnaya. Rukapisnaya book in Belarus ў X - XVIII stagodzi. - Minsk, 1993. - P. 26. In the newer literature, a version has been put forward about the origin of several more illustrated codes from the same environment, but it requires a deeper study: Zapasko Ya. - S. 185 - 193.

26. His miniatures are examined in detail: Smorąg-Różycka M. Miniatury "Ewangeliarza Ławryszewskiego". Zagadnienie stylu // Folia Historiae Artium. - Kraków, 1992. - T. 28. - S. 13 - 38.

27. Likhachev V. D. Miniatures of the Kiev Psalter and their Byzantine source // Byzantium and Russia. In memory of V. D. Likhacheva. - Moscow, 1989 .-- S. 220.

D. Krvavich, V. Ovsiychuk, S. Cherepanova. Ukrainian mystery, part 2. First seen. Lviv, 2004
3.3 Easel and monumental painting

Kiev Psalter.
... Kiev, to a greater extent than Europe, adhered to the Byzantine tradition, and this creative process was fueled by contacts with Constantinople and Athos. A sign of this is the miniature illumination of the Kiev Psalter (Public Library named after M.E. Saltykov-Shchedrin, St. Petersburg). This ingenious work revealed the level of artistic culture of Kiev and the vast regions of the Ukrainian lands, because this creative response was felt in Galicia as well. The book, "described in the city of Kiev", is decorated with 303 illustrations. It depicts scenes from the Old Testament, and also, according to its prophetic character, from the New Testament. There are few Gospel themes: several scenes of the Theotokos ("Introduction to the Temple", "The Meeting of Mary with Elizabeth", "Theotokos Hodegetria", all, with the exception of "Meeting" holidays). Most of all the Old Testament, dedicated to the history of the church. Miniatures are freely located in the margins, aesthetically complementing monolithic text blocks along with splash screens and initials. The manuscript was illustrated by two outstanding Kiev artists, who were brilliant in drawing and possessed a high artistry of the painting manner. Their palette is unusually rich, it includes red, pink, purple, light purple, orange, olive, green, blue, light blue, white, gray and black. By the way, only hellish forces, devils and entrances to caves are painted in gray and black. All local colors are covered with an assist - golden parallel lines. The selection of chromatic elements was carried out in accordance with the iconographic canons. However, the canonical limitation was repeatedly overcome for the sake of the figurative-emotional content, which strengthened the coloristic expression. The color in the Psalter clearly highlights two images: red and blue - King David, and blue-blue or gray-violet - Christ.
Reality is still conveyed with the help of techniques prevailing in the Byzantine pictorial system: rocky slide-platforms, conventional trees, architectural motives. However, here already lies the emergence of a new perception of the world, full of poetic moods. The poetry of reality is expressed primarily in miniatures of the battle genre - two dozing horsemen; Absalom pursuing David; in scenes of an everyday nature - a conversation between Saul and David; the council of the wicked; construction of the temple. The masterpieces are several miniatures depicting the dance: "The Tympanic Virgins, Benjamin and the Sons of Naphtali", "The Dance of the Israeli Maidens before Saul", "The Dance of the Prophetess Miriam", in which the color and plasticity of graceful figures are raised to the level of high spirituality.

The history of the Kiev Psalter is revealed by the owner's and other memorable records in the manuscript, as well as by the numerous, although not always reliable, news about it in the printed literature of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Its history begins to be traced from the moment of donation to the Nikolskaya church of the city of Vilna by Avram Ezofovich Glembitsky, where it was kept constantly throughout the XVI-XVIII centuries.

In 1827, M.K.Bobrovsky received the position of rector of the Vilna St. Nicholas Church, who, being a professor of Holy Scripture and Hermeneutics at Vilna University, regularly took parchment to his home for study and storage. Since the end of the 20s of the XIX century, the Kiev Psalter was constantly at the house of M.K.Bobrovsky. After the Polish uprising of 1831, the University of Vilna was closed by order of the tsarist government, and M.K.Bobrovsky was offered the place of rector of the Shereshevsky parish in the Pruzhany district of the Grodno province, he, leaving Vilna, did not return the manuscript of the St. Nicholas Church. Thus, M.K.Bobrovsky became the first private owner of the Kiev Psalter.

The next owner was V. Trembitsky, who bought the manuscript from M. K. Bobrovsky. But he became a full-fledged owner only in 1848, after the death of M.K.Bobrovsky. The new owner did not own it for long and in 1861 he died himself. Further, the history of belonging to the Kiev Psalter is a little confused and vague. Presumably, V. Trembitsky's heirs sold it. But in 1874 it was believed that it was with Count A.S. Zamoysky (1800-1874). Nothing is known about the attitude of A.S. Zamoysky to the unique Slavic manuscript that appeared in his collection, and likewise about the circumstances under which the transfer of the Kiev Psalter from the Warsaw Zamoysky library to the collection of its new owner, Prince P.P. Vyazemsky (1820-1888). Further, Count S.D.Sheremetyev (1844-1918) buys from Vyazemsky the entire manuscript collection (about 500 manuscripts), which he donated to the Society of Lovers of Ancient Writing in 1881.

The Kiev Psalter entered the Leningrad Public Library along with the entire collection of the Society of Lovers of Ancient Writing in 1932.

In 1963, the Kiev Psalter was restored according to the model of the restoration of the Ostromir Gospel, which had been carried out several years earlier. It was embroidered into separate notebooks, the parchment was cleaned of dust, dirt and wax stains, the warped sheets were straightened by moistening them with distilled water and keeping them under pressure, small lost parts of the parchment were replenished with new fragments. Since no chemical reagents were used in the restoration process, the ink used to write the text of the Psalter retained all shades, and the colors of the miniatures retain their former brightness and freshness.

Currently kept in the Russian National Library in the collection of manuscripts of the Society of Lovers of Ancient Writing and Art, without binding in the form of separate notebooks.

Kiev Psalter

The text is written liturgical charter... The manuscript is decorated miniatures on the fields.

Story

The history of the Kiev Psalter is revealed by the owner's and other memorable records in the manuscript, as well as by the numerous, although not always reliable, news about it in the printed literature of the 19th - early 20th centuries. Its history begins to be traced from the moment of donation to the Nikolskaya church of the city Vilna Avram Ezofovich Glembitsky, where it was kept constantly throughout the XVI-XVIII centuries.

In 1827 he received the post of rector of the Vilna St. Nicholas Church M.K.Bobrovsky who being a professor Holy Scripture and hermeneutics v Vilnius University, regularly took parchment to his home for study and storage. Since the end of the 20s of the XIX century, the Kiev Psalter was constantly at the house of M.K.Bobrovsky. After Polish uprising 1831, the University of Vilnius was closed by order of the tsarist government, and M.K.Bobrovsky was offered the place of the rector of the Shereshevsky parish in Pruzhany district Grodno province, when leaving Vilna, he did not return the manuscript to the Nikolskaya Church. Thus, M.K.Bobrovsky became the first private owner of the Kiev Psalter.

The next owner was V. Trembitsky, who bought the manuscript from M. K. Bobrovsky. But he became a full-fledged owner only in 1848, after the death of M.K.Bobrovsky. The new owner did not own it for long and in 1861 he died himself. Further, the history of belonging to the Kiev Psalter is a little confused and vague. Presumably, V. Trembitsky's heirs sold it. But in 1874 it was believed that it was with Count A.S. Zamoysky (1800-1874). Nothing is known about the attitude of A.S. Zamoysky to the unique Slavic manuscript that appeared in his collection, and likewise about the circumstances under which the transfer of the Kiev Psalter from the Warsaw Zamoysky library to the collection of its new owner, Prince P.P. Vyazemsky (1820-1888). Further, Count S.D.Sheremetyev (1844-1918) buys from Vyazemsky the entire manuscript collection (about 500 manuscripts), which he donated to the Society of Lovers of Ancient Writing in 1881.

The Kiev Psalter entered the Leningrad Public Library along with the entire collection of the Society of Lovers of Ancient Writing in 1932.

V 1963 year Kiev Psalter restored based on the restoration model Ostromir Gospels, produced several years earlier. It was embroidered into separate notebooks, the parchment was cleaned of dust, dirt and wax stains, the warped sheets were straightened by moistening them with distilled water and keeping them under pressure, small lost parts of the parchment were replenished with new fragments. Since no chemical reagents were used in the restoration process, the ink used to write the text of the Psalter retained all shades, and the colors of the miniatures retain their former brightness and freshness.

Currently stored in Russian National Library in the collection of manuscripts of the Society of Lovers of Ancient Writing and Art, without binding in the form of separate notebooks.

Literature

• Vzdornov G.I. Kiev Psalter of 1397. Research on the Kiev Psalter: In 2 volumes / G. I. Vzdornov. - M.: Art, 1978 .-- 634 p. - 25,000 copies.(in the lane, super area)
• Lifshits A. L. About one graphic feature of the Kiev Psalter of 1397 // Old Russian art. Sergius of Radonezh and the artistic culture of Moscow in the XIV-XV centuries .. - St. Petersburg. : Dmitry Bulanin, 1998 .-- S. 338-341.(in lane)

Links

• Kiev Psalter of 1397. Archived from the original on November 30, 2012.- a scanned book in the Presidential Library.

Old Russian illuminated manuscripts of the 13th-15th centuries
XIII century	Spasskoe Gospel Simonov Gospel Orsha Gospel The Eusebius Gospel The Putenian Gospel The Kholmsk Gospel Words by Gregory Dvoeslov Uvarovskaya helmsman Lobkovsky prologue
XIV century	Fedorov Gospel The Chronicles of George Amartol Lavrishevsky Gospel Khludov Gospel Siysk Gospel Galich Gospel Psalter of the Terrible Kiev Psalter Gospel Khitrovo
XV century	Zaraisk Gospel Pereyaslavl Gospel Morozov Gospel Andronikov's Gospel Anikiev's Gospel Kirillo-Belozersky Apostle Rogozhskoe Gospel Gospel of the Cats Sheremetyevo Gospel Servant of the Vyazhischsky Monastery Ostrovskoe Gospel Gostinopolsky Servant Buslaevskaya psalter Chertkovsky Apostle Valaam Gospel Gennadiy Bible
Old Russian manuscripts of the XI-XII centuries Russian icons of the XIII century

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