The main thing about the Byzantine exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery. Old Russian art

The exhibition “Masterpieces of Byzantium” is a great and rare event not to be missed. For the first time, a whole collection of Byzantine icons was brought to Moscow. This is especially valuable because it is not so easy to get a serious understanding of Byzantine icon painting from several works in the Pushkin Museum.

It is well known that all ancient Russian icon painting came from the Byzantine tradition, that a lot of Byzantine artists worked in Rus'. There are still disputes about many pre-Mongolian icons as to whether they were painted by Greek icon painters who worked in Rus', or by their talented Russian students. Many people know that at the same time as Andrei Rublev, as his senior colleague and, probably, a teacher, the Byzantine icon painter Theophanes the Greek worked. And he, apparently, was by no means the only one of the great Greek artists who worked in Rus' at the turn of the XIV-XV centuries.

And therefore, for us, the Byzantine icon is practically indistinguishable from the Russian one. Unfortunately, science has not developed exact formal criteria for determining “Russianness” when we talk about art until the middle of the 15th century. But this difference exists, and you can see this with your own eyes at the exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery, because several real masterpieces of Greek icon painting came to us from the Athens "Byzantine and Christian Museum" and some other collections.

I want to once again thank the people who organized this exhibition, and first of all, the initiator and curator of the project, a researcher at the Tretyakov Gallery, Elena Mikhailovna Saenkova, the head of the Department of Old Russian Art, Natalia Nikolaevna Sharedega, and the entire Department of Old Russian Art, which took an active part in the preparation of this unique exhibition.

Raising of Lazarus (XII century)

The earliest icon in the exhibition. Small in size, located in the center of the hall in a showcase. The icon is a part of a tabla (or epistylion) - a wooden painted beam or a large board, which, in the Byzantine tradition, was placed on the ceiling of marble altar barriers. These tabla were the fundamental basis of the future high iconostasis, which arose at the turn of the XIV-XV centuries.

In the 12th century, 12 great feasts (the so-called Dodekaorton) were usually written on the epistyle, and the Deesis was often placed in the center. The icon that we see at the exhibition is a fragment of such an epistyle with one scene from the Resurrection of Lazarus. It is valuable that we know where this epistylion comes from - from Athos. Apparently, in the 19th century it was sawn into pieces, which ended up in completely different places. In recent years, researchers have been able to discover several of its parts.

Resurrection of Lazarus. XII century. Wood, tempera. Byzantine and Christian Museum, Athens

"The Resurrection of Lazarus" is in the Athens Byzantine Museum. The other part, with the image of the Transfiguration of the Lord, ended up in the State Hermitage Museum, the third - with the scene of the Last Supper - is in the Vatopedi Monastery on Athos.

The icon, being not a work of Constantinople, not a metropolitan work, demonstrates the highest level that Byzantine icon painting reached in the 12th century. Judging by the style, the icon belongs to the first half of this century and, with a high probability, was painted on Athos itself for monastic purposes. In painting, we do not see gold, which has always been an expensive material.

The gold background, traditional for Byzantium, is replaced by red here. In a situation where the master did not have gold at his disposal, he used a symbolic substitute for gold - red.

So we have one of the earliest examples of red-backed Byzantine icons - the origins of the tradition that developed in Rus' in the 13th-14th centuries.

Virgin and Child (early 13th century)

This icon is interesting not only for its stylistic decision, which does not quite fit into the purely Byzantine tradition. It is believed that the icon was painted in Cyprus, but perhaps an Italian master took part in its creation. Stylistically, it is very similar to the icons of Southern Italy, which for centuries was in the orbit of the political, cultural and religious influence of Byzantium.

However, the Cypriot origin cannot be ruled out either, because at the beginning of the 13th century there were completely different stylistic manners in Cyprus, and Western masters also worked alongside the Greek ones. It is quite possible that the special style of this icon is the result of interaction and a peculiar Western influence, which is expressed, first of all, in the violation of the natural plasticity of the figure, which the Greeks usually did not allow, and the deliberate expression of the drawing, as well as the decorative details.

The iconography of this icon is curious. The Baby on it is shown in a white and blue long shirt with wide stripes that go from the shoulders to the edges, while the Baby's legs are bare. A long shirt is covered with a strange cloak, more like a drapery. As conceived by the author of the icon, we have before us a kind of shroud in which the body of the Infant is wrapped.

In my opinion, these robes have a symbolic meaning and are connected with the theme of the priesthood. The Christ Child is also represented in the image of the High Priest. Associated with this idea are wide bands-claves running from the shoulder to the lower edge, an important distinguishing feature of the hierarchal surplice. The combination of white-blue and gold-bearing clothes, apparently, is connected with the theme of the covers on the Altar Throne.

As you know, the Throne in both the Byzantine church and in the Russian one has two main covers. The lower robe is a shroud, a linen cover that is placed on the Throne, and a precious indium is already laid out on top, often made of precious fabric, decorated with gold embroidery, symbolizing heavenly glory and royal dignity. In Byzantine liturgical interpretations, in particular, in the famous interpretations of Simeon of Thessalonica at the beginning of the 15th century, we encounter precisely this understanding of two veils: the funeral Shroud and the robes of the heavenly Master.

Another very characteristic detail of this iconography is that the Baby's legs are bare to the knees and the Mother of God pinches His right heel with her hand. This emphasis on the heel of the Child is present in a number of iconography of the Theotokos and is associated with the theme of the Sacrifice and the Eucharist. We see here an echo of the theme of Psalm 23 and the so-called Edenic promise that the son of the woman will strike the tempter on the head, and the tempter himself will bite this son on the heel (see Gen. 3:15).

Thus, the bare heel is at the same time a hint at the sacrifice of Christ and the coming Salvation - the embodiment of the high spiritual "dialectic" of the well-known Easter hymn "Death tramples death."

Relief icon of St. George (mid-13th century)

Relief icons, which are unusual for us, are well known in Byzantium. By the way, Saint George was quite often depicted in the relief. Byzantine icons were made of gold and silver, and there were quite a lot of them (we know about this from the inventories of Byzantine monasteries that have come down to us). Several of these wonderful icons have survived and can be seen in the treasury of the Cathedral of San Marco in Venice, where they came as trophies of the Fourth Crusade.

Wooden relief icons are an attempt to replace jewelry with more economical materials. In the tree, the possibility of sensual tangibility of the sculptural image also attracted. Although sculpture as an icon technique was not very common in Byzantium, it must be remembered that the streets of Constantinople were lined with ancient statues before the destruction of it by the crusaders in the 13th century. And the Byzantines had sculptural images, as they say, "in the blood."

The full-length icon shows the praying Saint George, who addresses Christ, as if flying down from heaven in the upper right corner of the centerpiece of this icon. In the margins - a detailed life cycle. Two archangels are shown above the image, which flank the not preserved image of the “Throne Prepared (Etymasia)”. It introduces a very important temporal dimension into the icon, reminding of the coming Second Coming.

That is, we are not talking about real time, or even the historical dimension of ancient Christian history, but about the so-called iconic or liturgical time, in which the past, present and future are woven into a single whole.

In this icon, as in many other icons of the mid-13th century, certain Western features are visible. During this era, the main part of the Byzantine Empire was occupied by the crusaders. It can be assumed that the customer of the icon could be associated with this environment. This is evidenced by a very non-Byzantine, non-Greek shield of George, which is very reminiscent of the shields with the coats of arms of the Western knights. Around the edges of the shield is a peculiar ornament, in which it is easy to recognize an imitation of the Arabic Kufic script, in this era it was especially popular and was considered a sign of the sacred.

In the lower left part, at the feet of St. George, there is a female figurine in a rich but very austere vestment, which falls at the feet of the saint in prayer. This is the unknown to us customer of this icon, apparently named after one of the two holy wives depicted on the back of the icon (one is signed with the name “Marina”, the second martyr in royal robes is an image of St. Catherine or St. Irina).

St. George is the patron saint of warriors, and, given this, it can be assumed that the icon ordered by an unknown wife is a votive image with a prayer for her husband, who is fighting somewhere in this very turbulent time and needs the most direct patronage of the main warrior from the rank of martyrs.

Icon of the Mother of God with the Child with the Crucifix on the back (XIV century)

The most artistically remarkable icon of this exhibition is the large icon of the Mother of God with the Child with the Crucifix on the back. This is a masterpiece of Constantinopolitan painting, most likely painted by an outstanding, one might even say, great artist in the first half of the 14th century, the heyday of the so-called "Paleologian Renaissance".

In this era, the famous mosaics and frescoes of the Hora monastery in Constantinople, known to many under the Turkish name Kahriye-Jami, appear. Unfortunately, the icon was badly damaged, apparently from deliberate destruction: just a few fragments of the image of the Mother of God with the Child have been preserved. Unfortunately, we see mostly late additions. The turnover with the crucifix is ​​much better preserved. But here, too, someone deliberately destroyed the faces.

But even what has been preserved speaks of the hand of an outstanding artist. And not just a great master, but a man of extraordinary talent, who set himself special spiritual tasks.

He removes everything superfluous from the scene of the Crucifixion, focusing on the three main figures, in which, on the one hand, one can read the ancient basis that never disappeared in Byzantine art - amazing sculptural plasticity, which, however, is transformed by spiritual energy. For example, the figures of the Mother of God and John the Theologian seem to be painted on the verge of the real and the supernatural, but this line is not crossed.

The figure of the Mother of God, wrapped in robes, is painted with lapis lazuli, a very expensive paint that was literally worth its weight in gold. On the edge of the maforium there is a golden border with long tassels. The Byzantine interpretation of this detail has not been preserved. However, in one of my writings, I suggested that it is also connected with the idea of ​​the priesthood. Because the same tassels along the edge of the robe, still complemented by golden bells, were an important feature of the robes of the Old Testament high priest in the Jerusalem temple. The artist very delicately recalls this inner connection of the Mother of God, who sacrifices her Son, with the theme of the priesthood.

Mount Golgotha ​​is shown as a small mound, behind it is visible the low wall of the city of Jerusalem, which is much more impressive on other icons. But here the artist seems to be showing the scene of the Crucifixion at the level of a bird's eye view. And so the wall of Jerusalem is in depth, and all attention due to the chosen angle is concentrated on the main figure of Christ and the figures of John the Theologian and the Mother of God framing Him, creating an image of an exalted spatial action.

The spatial component is of fundamental importance for understanding the concept of the entire two-sided icon, which is usually a processional image perceived in space and movement. The combination of two images - Our Lady Hodegetria on the one hand and the Crucifixion - has its own high prototype. The same two images were on both sides of the palladium of Byzantium - the icon of Hodegetria of Constantinople.

Most likely, this icon of unknown origin reproduced the theme of Hodegetria of Constantinople. It is possible that it could be associated with the main miraculous action that took place with Hodegetria of Constantinople every Tuesday, when she was taken out to the square in front of the Odigon monastery, and there a weekly miracle took place - the icon began to fly in a circle on the square and rotate around its axis. We have evidence of this from many people - representatives of different nations: Latins, Spaniards, and Russians who saw this amazing action.

The two sides of the icon at the exhibition in Moscow remind us that the two sides of the Constantinople icon formed the indissoluble dual unity of the Incarnation and the Redemptive Sacrifice.

Icon of the Mother of God Kardiotissa (XV century)

The icon was chosen by the creators of the exhibition as the central one. Here is that rare case for the Byzantine tradition, when we know the name of the artist. He signed this icon, on the bottom field it is written in Greek - "Hand of an Angel". This is the famous Angelos Akotantos, an artist of the first half of the 15th century, from whom a fairly large number of icons remain. We know more about him than about other Byzantine masters. A number of documents have survived, including his will, which he wrote in 1436. He did not need a will, he died much later, but the document was preserved.

The Greek inscription on the icon "Mother of God Kardiotissa" is not a feature of the iconographic type, but rather an epithet - a characteristic of the image. I think that even a person who is not familiar with Byzantine iconography can guess what it is about: we all know the word cardiology. Cardiotissa - cardiac.

Icon of the Mother of God Kardiotissa (XV century)

Particularly interesting from the point of view of iconography is the pose of the Infant, who, on the one hand, embraces the Mother of God, and on the other, as if tipped back. And if the Mother of God looks at us, then the Child looks to Heaven, as if far from Her. A strange pose, which was sometimes called Leaping in the Russian tradition. That is, on the icon there is a Baby who seems to be playing, but He plays in a rather strange way and is very uninfantile. It is in this position of the overturning body that there is an indication, a transparent allusion to the theme of the Descent from the Cross, and, accordingly, the suffering of the God-Man at the moment of the Crucifixion.

Here we meet with the great Byzantine drama, when tragedy and triumph are combined into one, a holiday is both the greatest grief and at the same time a wonderful victory, the salvation of mankind. The Playing Child will foresee His coming sacrifice. And the Mother of God, suffering, accepts the Divine plan.

This icon contains the infinite depth of the Byzantine tradition, but if we look closely, we will see changes that will lead to a new understanding of the icon in a very short time. The icon was painted in Crete, which at that time belonged to the Venetians. After the fall of Constantinople, it became the main center of icon painting throughout the Greek world.

In this icon of the great master Angelos, we see him teetering on the verge of turning a unique image into a sort of cliché for standard reproductions. Images of light-gaps are already becoming somewhat mechanistic, which look like a rigid grid laid on a living plastic base, which was never allowed by artists of an earlier time.

Icon of the Mother of God Kardiotissa (XV century), fragment

Before us is an outstanding image, but in a certain sense already borderline, standing at the turn of Byzantium and post-Byzantium, when living images gradually turn into cold and somewhat soulless replicas. We know what happened in the same Crete less than 50 years after the painting of this icon. We have reached the contracts of the Venetians with the leading icon painters of the island. According to one such contract in 1499, three icon-painting workshops were to produce 700 icons of the Mother of God in 40 days. In general, it is clear that a kind of art industry begins, spiritual service through the creation of holy images turns into a craft for the market, for which thousands of icons are painted.

The beautiful icon of Angelos Akotantos is a bright milestone in the centuries-old process of devaluation of Byzantine values, of which we are all heirs. All the more precious and important is the knowledge of the true Byzantium, the opportunity to see it with our own eyes, which we were given by the unique “exhibition of masterpieces” in the Tretyakov Gallery.

Tomorrow, an exhibition of unique exhibits from the collections of Greek museums will open in Lavrushinsky Lane

State Tretyakov Gallery
February 7 - April 9, 2017
Moscow, Lavrushinsky lane, 10, room 38

The exhibition is organized within the framework of the cross year of culture of Russia and Greece. In 2016, the Ascension icon by Andrei Rublev and a whole exhibition of Russian icons and sculptures of the 15th-19th centuries from the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery were shown in Athens. The return exhibition in Moscow will present 18 exhibits (12 icons, 2 illustrated manuscripts, liturgical items - a processional cross, air, 2 katsei) from the collections of the Byzantine and Christian Museum in Athens, the Benaki Museum, the collection of E. Velimesis - H. Margaritis.

The exhibits date back to the end of the 10th - beginning of the 16th century and give an idea of ​​the different periods of Byzantine art and different artistic centers. The exhibition allows you to appreciate the perfection of the work of the masters, as well as to understand the ways of comprehending the spiritual world in the Middle Ages, revealing the nuances in the exquisite color of icons, in luxurious miniatures of manuscripts, on the pages of which Byzantine artists sought to recreate the beauty of the mountain world.

At the exhibition, each of the works is a unique monument of its era. The exhibits provide an opportunity to present the history of Byzantine culture and trace the mutual influence of the traditions of Eastern and Western Christian art. The earliest monument in the exposition is a silver processional cross of the end of the 10th century with images of Christ, the Mother of God and saints engraved on it.

The art of the 12th century is represented by the icon "The Resurrection of Lazarus", which embodies the refined, refined style of painting of this time. The collection of the Tretyakov Gallery contains an icon of Our Lady of Vladimir of the same era, created in Constantinople in the first third of the 12th century and then brought to Rus'.

One of the most striking exhibits of the exhibition is a relief with the image of the Great Martyr George with scenes from his life. It serves as an example of the interaction between Byzantine and Western European masters, which laid the foundation for the phenomenon of master crusaders - an interesting page in the history of the 13th century. The wood carving technique in which the figure of St. George is made is not characteristic of Byzantine art and was obviously borrowed from the Western tradition, while the magnificent framing of stamps was created in accordance with the canons of Byzantine painting.

The icon of the Mother of God with the Child, painted at the beginning of the 13th century, presumably by a Cypriot master, demonstrates a different path of mutual influence of the medieval art of East and West. In the artistic culture of this period, associated with the revival of the empire and the Palaiologos dynasty, the movement towards ancient traditions was perceived as a search for one's cultural identity.

The mature style of art of the Palaiologos era belongs to the double-sided image of the Mother of God Hodegetria, with the Twelve Feasts. The Throne Prepared” at the end of the 14th century. This icon is a contemporary of the works of Theophanes the Greek. Both masters use the same artistic techniques - in particular, thin lines penetrating the faces of the Mother of God and the Child, symbolizing the energies of divine light. This image, obviously, is a list from the miraculous icon of Constantinople Hodegetria.

Several items tell about the wealth of the decorative and applied arts of Byzantium, among which are a katseya (censer) depicting the great martyrs Theodore and Demetrius and an embroidered air (veil) on the Holy Gifts.

The technique of the artists was especially virtuosic, decorating the manuscripts with complex exquisite ornaments in headpieces, initials and miniatures with images of the evangelists. The level of their mastery is demonstrated by two gospel codes - the 13th and the beginning of the 14th century.

The post-Byzantine period is represented by three icons of Greek masters who left for Crete after the fall of Constantinople in 1453. These works allow us to trace the synthesis of the creative finds of European art and the traditional Byzantine canon.

The Byzantine artistic tradition stood at the origins of the formation of the art of many peoples. From the very beginning of the spread of Christianity in Kievan Rus, Greek artists and architects passed on to Russian masters the skills of temple construction, fresco painting, icon painting, book design, and jewelry art. This cultural interaction continued for many centuries. From the 10th to the 15th century, Russian art went from apprenticeship to high mastery, preserving the memory of Byzantium as a fertile source that spiritually nourished Russian culture for many years.

The exhibition "Masterpieces of Byzantium" is located next to the halls of the permanent exhibition of ancient Russian art of the XI-XVII centuries, which allows the viewer to trace the parallels and see the features of the works of Russian and Greek artists.

Project curator E. M. Saenkova.

Source: State Tretyakov Gallery press release

Art

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The State Tretyakov Gallery is one of the largest art museums of Russian fine arts. To date, the collection of "Tretyakov Gallery" has about a hundred thousand items.

With so many exhibits, one can wander through the exposition for several days, so Localway has prepared a route through the Tretyakov Gallery, passing through the most important halls of the museum. Don't get lost!

Inspection starts from the main entrance, if you stand facing the ticket office, on the left there is a staircase leading to the second floor. Room numbers are written at the entrance, above the doorway.

Hall 10 is almost completely devoted to the painting by Alexander Andreyevich Ivanov "The Appearance of the Messiah" (better known name is "The Appearance of Christ to the People"). The canvas itself occupies an entire wall, the remaining space is filled with sketches and sketches, of which a great many have accumulated over the twenty years of work on the painting. The artist painted “The Appearance of the Messiah” in Italy, then, not without incident, transported the canvas to Russia, and after criticism and non-recognition of the painting in his homeland, he died suddenly. It is interesting that Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol and Ivanov himself are depicted on the canvas, among others.

In room 16, on the right in the direction of travel, there is a touching painting by Vasily Vladimirovich Pukirev "Unequal Marriage". Rumor has it that this canvas is autobiographical: Pukirev's failed bride was married to a wealthy prince. The artist also immortalized himself in the picture - in the background, a young man with his arms crossed on his chest. True, these versions do not have actual confirmations.

Hall №16

On the left in the same hall is the painting by Konstantin Dmitrievich Flavitsky "Princess Tarakanova". The painting depicts the legendary impostor, who tried to impersonate the daughter of Empress Elizabeth Petrovna. There are many versions of the death of Princess Tarakanova (real name unknown), the official one is death from consumption. However, another one went “to the people” (including thanks to the work of Flavitsky): the adventurer died during a flood in St. Petersburg, in a prison cell of the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Hall №16

In the 17th hall there is a painting by Vasily Grigorievich Perov "Hunters at rest". The canvas presents a whole plot composition: an older character (on the left) tells some kind of fictitious story that the young hunter sincerely believes (on the right). A middle-aged man (center) is skeptical about the story and only chuckles.

Experts often draw a parallel between Perov's painting and Turgenev's Notes of a Hunter.

Hall №17

Room 18 houses the most famous painting by Alexei Kondratievich Savrasov, The Rooks Have Arrived, painted in the Kostroma Region. The Church of the Resurrection, depicted in the picture, exists to this day - now there is the Savrasov Museum.

Unfortunately, despite the many excellent works, the artist remained in the memory of the people "the author of one picture" and died in poverty. However, it was Rooks that became the starting point for a new genre of landscape school in Russia - a lyrical landscape. Subsequently, Savrasov wrote several replicas of the painting.

Hall №18

In the 19th room there is a painting by Ivan Konstantinovich Aivazovsky "Rainbow". Surprisingly, the artist, who painted about six thousand canvases in his life, always remained faithful to his chosen genre - marine art. The presented picture in terms of plot is no different from most of Aivazovsky's works: the canvas depicts a shipwreck in a storm. The difference lies in the colors. Usually using bright colors, for "Rainbow" the artist chose softer tones.

Hall №19

Room 20 contains the famous painting by Ivan Nikolaevich Kramskoy "Unknown" (it is often erroneously called "The Stranger"). The painting depicts a regal, chic lady passing by in a carriage. Interestingly, the identity of the woman remained a mystery to both the artist's contemporaries and art historians.

Kramskoy was one of the founders of the "Wanderers" society - an association of artists who opposed themselves to representatives of academism in painting and organized traveling exhibitions of their works.

Hall №20

On the right, in the direction of travel, in room 25, there is a painting by Ivan Ivanovich Shishkin "Morning in a pine forest" (sometimes the canvas is mistakenly called "Morning in a pine forest"). Despite the fact that now the authorship belongs to one artist, two people worked on the picture: the landscape painter Shishkin and the genre painter Savitsky. Konstantin Apollonovich Savitsky painted bear cubs, in addition, he is sometimes credited with the very idea of ​​\u200b\u200bcreating the picture. There are several versions of how Savitsky's signature disappeared from the canvas. According to one of them, Konstantin Apollonovich removed his last name from the finished work himself, thereby refusing authorship, according to another, the collector Pavel Tretyakov erased the artist's signature after buying the painting.

Hall №25

In hall 26, three fabulous paintings by Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov hang at once: “Alyonushka”, “Ivan Tsarevich on the Gray Wolf” and “Bogatyrs”. Three heroes - Dobrynya Nikitich, Ilya Muromets and Alyosha Popovich (from left to right in the picture) - perhaps the most famous heroes of Russian epics. On Vasnetsov’s canvas, brave fellows, ready to take up battle at any moment, look out for an enemy on the horizon.

Interestingly, Vasnetsov was not only an artist, but also an architect. So, for example, the extension of the main entrance hall of the Tretyakov Gallery of the Ball was designed by him.

Hall №26

In the 27th hall there is Vasily Vasilyevich Vereshchagin's painting "The Apotheosis of War", which belongs to the series of paintings "Barbarians", painted by the artist under the impression of military operations in Turkestan. There are many versions as to why such pyramids of skulls were laid out for the sake of. According to one legend, Tamerlane heard from the women of Baghdad a story about their unfaithful husbands and ordered each of his soldiers to bring a severed head of traitors. As a result, several mountains of skulls were formed.

Hall №27

Hall 28 houses one of the most famous and important paintings of the Tretyakov Gallery - Boyar Morozova by Vasily Ivanovich Surikov. Theodosia Morozova is an associate of Archpriest Avvakum, an adherent of the Old Believers, for which she paid with her life. On the canvas, the noblewoman, as a result of a conflict with the tsar - Morozova refused to accept the new faith - is being taken along one of the Moscow squares to the place of detention. Theodora raised two fingers in a sign that her faith was not broken.

A year and a half later, Morozova died of starvation in the earthen prison of the monastery.

Hall №28

Here, in the 28th hall, there is another epic canvas by Surikov - “Morning of the Streltsy Execution”. Streltsy regiments were sentenced to death as a result of a failed rebellion caused by the hardships of military service. The painting deliberately depicts not the execution itself, but only people waiting for it. However, there is a legend that initially the archers already executed by hanging were written on the sketches of the canvas, but one day, having entered the artist’s studio and seeing the sketch, the maid fainted. Surikov, who did not want to shock the public, but to convey the state of mind of the condemned in the last minutes of their lives, removed the images of the hanged from the picture.

WHAT WERE BRINGING: 18 works of art, including 12 icons.

Despite the rather small number of works (the exhibition occupied only one hall), the project fully justifies its name "Masterpieces of Byzantium". Almost every exhibit here is truly a masterpiece. Firstly, their antiquity is impressive - we can see objects here from the end of the 10th to the beginning of the 16th century. Secondly, they are all very beautiful and, as they say, excellent in their artistic level. Surviving after the fall of Constantinople in 1453 and the collapse of the Byzantine Empire, carefully preserved during the Ottoman rule over Greece and neighboring Orthodox lands, now they are not only objects of worship or paintings, but also evidence of the tragedies of history.

A typical example is the 14th-century Crucifixion icon (with Hodegetria on the back) - one of the finest examples of Byzantine art of the Palaiologos era. Graceful subtle writing, pleasing to the eye harmony of gold and azure - and at the same time the faces of the saints have been barbarously destroyed.

WHERE: The Athenian Byzantine and Christian Museum shared its exhibits with Moscow.

It, alas, is known only to connoisseurs, and tourists who come to Athens for ancient art often forget about it. However, it is one of the most interesting museums in the city. Founded in 1914, it was originally located in a small villa that once belonged to a socialite, the wife of a Napoleonic officer, the Duchess of Piacenza. By the end of the 20th century, the mansion, which stood in the middle of a luxurious park, clearly no longer contained all the huge collections of the Byzantine Museum. By the 2004 Olympics, the museum was opened after reconstruction - under the lawns and flower beds of the park, in the thickness of the earth, there were three underground floors, while the mansion remained untouched on the surface. The colossal underground space is filled with sacred art of the Byzantine and post-Byzantine period. And its visitors will probably not notice that some things have flown to Moscow.

However, the absence of the famous "St. George" of the XIII century in the permanent exhibition will clearly catch the eye of visitors to the Athens Museum. This unusual icon is made in relief technique. Orthodox artists usually did not do this, but this work was created during the Crusades, under the influence of Western European masters. But the frame is familiar, canonical - from brands.

Another important exhibit of the exhibition, by the way, placed by the curators in the most spectacular place in the hall, is a large-scale icon of Our Lady of Kardiotissa. This epithet is translated from Greek as "Heart" and is a variant of the iconography of "Glykophilus" ("Sweet kiss"). When you look at the masterpiece, you understand that this canon of the image received such tender nicknames not in vain: the Baby so affectionately pulls his hands to the Mother, so sweetly presses his cheek against her that you almost forget that in front of us is an object of worship, and not a sketch from life . The name of the icon painter has also been preserved (this is not very common for Rus', but the Greek masters often signed their works). Angelos Akotantos lived and worked in Crete, which at that time was under the rule of the Venetian Republic. He is considered one of the most important Greek painters of the 15th century.

Probably, from the Constantinople workshops of the late 14th-early 15th century comes an icon that will be of interest to all owners of the popular name “Marina” in Russia. The fact is that St. Marina of Antioch is rarely depicted in traditional Orthodox art. The late Paleolog icon, in which the saint appears in a bright red maphoria and with a crucifix (a symbol of martyrdom) in her hand, comes from the church of St. Gerasimos in Argostolion on the island of Kefalonia and is one of the oldest surviving images of the great martyr.

OTHER MEETINGS: in addition to this museum, Greek private collectors took part in the exhibition in Moscow. You understand, to see things from such collections is a unique chance.

From the collection of E. Velimesis - H. Margaritis comes a small but very exquisite icon "John the Baptist Angel of the Desert" of the 16th century. This plot is also familiar to Russian icon painting - John the Baptist is depicted with wings, his own severed head lies on a dish at his feet, and on the other side an ax is stuck between the trees. However, the subtlety and harmony of writing will suggest that this beauty comes from those lands where the icon-painting tradition, founded in Byzantine icon-painting workshops, has not disappeared for centuries.

From the Benaki Museum in Athens, founded in 1930 by the millionaire Emmanuel Benakis, the oldest piece of the exhibition arrived - a silver processional cross created at the end of the 10th century. Fine engravings of figures of Christ and saints can be seen on this double-sided piece of jewelry. In addition to John Chrysostom, Basil the Great and other popular saints, a rare saint, Sisinius, is depicted on the cross. From the inscription on the hilt it is known that he was the patron saint of the customer of this cross.

PLACE: the exhibition is located in the main building of the Tretyakov Gallery in hall number 38 (usually Malyavin and the Union of Russian Artists). The curators of the exhibition especially emphasize that in the neighboring halls there is a permanent exposition of ancient Russian art. And, having enjoyed the Athens exhibition, it is worth taking two steps and seeing what they were doing at the same time in the northern corner of the Orthodox lands.

TICKETS: no need to buy in advance. The exhibition takes place in the hall, located among the permanent exhibition, and to get to it, you just need to buy a regular entrance ticket to the museum. Good news for those who are tired of besieging the site with online ticket sales for an exhibition of masterpieces from the Vatican in the nearby Engineering Building (which was recently extended until March 1).