Novgorodian Icon-Painting (part 2) 

I  II  III  IV  V  VI  VII  VIII  IX  X  XI  XII  XIII

Three icons painted in a similar manner form a group apart from the others. Two of them come from Novgorod. The first is the so-called Ustyug Annunciation. The  reliable source "Rozysk Dyaka Viskovatogo" claims that this icon was brought to Moscow by order of Ivan the Terrible from the Yur'yev Monastery in Novgorod. The exact date of its genesis is not known. It might have been painted soon after the consecration of the Cathedral (1130 or 1140), or some time later. The Ustyug Annunciation portrays a rare iconographic version of the Annunciation, with the Child descending to the Virgin's womb. From the hand of the Ancient of Days in the upper part of the icon there issues a straight ray  pointing to the Virgin's womb. In this way the artist showed with the utmost directness possible for his time that the "immaculate conception" occurred in accordance with the Will of the Most High.

The Annunciation, 1130 - 1200 yy.

The monumental figures of the Archangel Gabriel and the Virgin bespeak the artist's thorough knowledge of contemporary Byzantine work. Though the figures are somewhat massive, which distinguishes them from the images on Greek icons, they are well-proportioned. The Archangel's movement is conveyed. His cloak falls convincingly in elegant folds, and the folds of his tunic are no less beautiful. The Virgin's veil is depicted with the same sensitive feeling for the texture of the material. The modelling of the faces is marked by a special softness. The dark olive-green ground is visible only in the shadows. Further modelling is achieved by the gradual superimposition of dark-yellow ochre, each subsequent layer containing more white but in such proportions that the transition from one layer to another is almost invisible. The uppermost layer, covering the lightest parts, is nowhere completely white but retains a slightly yellowish hue.

Pink paint on top of the ochre sets off the cheeks, the forehead, the neck and the line of the nose. In general, the colouring of the Ustyug Annunciation is somewhat sombre, which, indeed, is typical of all icons of the pre-Mongolian period. The brightest colours are to be found in the upper part of the icon which shows the Ancient of Days supported by cherubs and glorified by seraphs. Here cinnabar is boldly combined with blue, azure, green and white. The harsh colour of this part of the icon, with its Slavonic inscriptions, is somewhat at odds with the overall colour scheme. This is certainly a consequence of the individual taste of the Novgorodian artist who strove for a special "sonority" of colour.

The Holy Face, 1130 - 1200 yy.

Very close stylistically to the Ustyug Annunciation is a magnificent two-sided icon of the Holy Face at the Tretyakov Gallery. Its Novgorodian origin is certain, as attested to by many of its features. The inscriptions on the reverse side are uniquely Novgorodian. The image on the reverse is the Adoration of the Cross, and there are similarities between the angels in this scene and the angels in the cupola of the Nereditsa. The Nereditsa was painted in the same broad and colourful manner as the Holy Face. Finally, the composition on the obverse and partially on the reverse side of the icon was reproduced in a headpiece of the Novgorodian manuscript  known as the "Zakhar'yevsky Prolog". The dating of this manuscript as 1262 makes it clear that as early as the thirtheenth century the Holy Face icon was one of Novgorod's most venerated treasures.

One is immediately struck by the difference of style in the images on the two sides of the icon, which were executed by different artists and probably at different periods. The face of Christ, the hair with fine gold lines running through it, is painted in a soft, "fused" manner with almost imperceptible transitions from light to shadow. The sombre and restrained colour scheme is based on combinations of olive and yellow tints. The large, expressive eyes are the main focus of the icon. Being a master of line, the artist radically departed from convention by painting the face, and in particular the curve of the eyebrows, asymmetrically.

The Adoration of the cross, Late XII century.

An entirely different style marks the image on the reverse. The bold, free, dashing manner of painting, the sharp contrasts of light and shadow, the multicolour palette with its lemon-yellow, cinnabar, pink, azure and white tints indicate the hand of a Novgorodian master, a contemporary of the artists who decorated the Church of Nereditsa.

The last work belonging to this group is a magnificent icon from the Russian Museum bearing a half-length image of an Archangel. It was, most likely, a part of a now lost Deesis tier. The icon is one of the most beautiful works of ancient Russian painting. The modelling of the face and the gold lines in the hair is the same as on the icons of the Holy Face and the Ustyug Annunciation. The Russian Museum icon, however, is superior to them in delicacy of execution and a special nobility of conception. It would be hard to find in all ancient Russian painting a more spiritual face with such an original blend of sensuous charm and deep sorrow. For emotional impact, the huge velvety eyes of the angel can be compared only to the eyes of Our Lady of Vladimir. This is the work of a great master who had organically assimilated all the intricacies of Byzantine painting.

Archangel, 1130 - 1200 yy.

It is extremely hard to date this group of icons with any accuracy. The Ustyug Annunciation could have been painted soon after the consecration of the Cathedral of St. George (1130 or 1140), but it is impossible to prove this as it was not the principal church icon like the icon of St. George and could therefore have been a later votive offering. The reverse of the Holy Face, the Adoration of the Cross, bears traces of having been painted at the end of the twelfth century.