Rublyov was trained wholly in the Byzantine (Byzantine art) tradition, in which the spiritual essence of art was regarded as more important than naturalistic representation. The hieratical character of the mid-Byzantine style had, with the 14th century, given way to a more intimate, humanistic approach, but to this Rublyov was able to add an element that was truly Russian, a complete unworldliness, and it is this that distinguishes his work from that of his Byzantine predecessors. Nor was any later Russian painter ever quite able to equal Rublyov either in his handling or in the interpretation of his subject. See also Moscow school.
Stroganov school
▪ Christian art
school of icon painting that flourished in Russia in the late 16th and 17th centuries. The original patrons of this group of artists were the wealthy Stroganov family, colonizers in northeastern Russia; but the artists perfected their work in the service of the tsar and his family in Moscow. Representing the last vital stage of Russian medieval painting before the westernization of Russian art at the end of the 17th century, the so-called Stroganov school produced not so much a coherent style as a type of icon. Designed specifically for private use, this type was characterized by its small size, its miniature technique, and its exquisite refinement of detail. The icons of the Stroganov school, while retaining Byzantine-inspired Russian forms, nevertheless represent a radical departure from most of what had been valued in the long tradition of Russian painting; monumentality was replaced by precious virtuosity and deep emotion by decorative elegance. The preoccupation with style and technique over content was, perhaps, typical of the end of a cultural phase.
In its richness and refinement, the art of the Stroganov school reflected the tastes of royal and noble patrons. Working in a muted colour range dominated by golden brown, the Stroganov masters substituted for the colouristic brilliance of the earlier Russian tradition a lavish use of gold and silver linear highlights whose strongly abstract patterns matched the mannered fragility of the figures. They embellished their icons with frames and halos of beaten gold and silver. The naturalism proscribed by the church for major representations was ingeniously introduced by the Stroganov school in background details of architecture, vegetation, and even atmospheric effects. Finally, the Stroganov masters excelled at composition; though their works are very small and sometimes include many figures, they never appear crowded.
The Stroganov school remained influential until the end of the 17th century, but after about 1650 it gradually declined and lost its refinement. The foundation of the new capital of St. Petersburg in 1703 by Tsar Peter I the Great marked a turning point in Russian art: although icon painting continued to follow the Russo-Byzantine tradition throughout the 19th century, the major artistic activity shifted to secular art and Europe's Baroque style.
Novgorod school
▪ art
important school of Russian medieval icon and mural painting that flourished around the northwestern city of Novgorod from the 12th through the 16th century. A thriving merchant city, Novgorod was the cultural centre of Russia during the Mongol occupation of most of the rest of the country in the 13th and 14th centuries. During that period it preserved the Byzantine traditions that formed the basis of Russian art and at the same time fostered the development of a distinct and vital local style, a style which, though provincial, contained most of the elements of the national Russian art that eventually developed in Moscow in the 16th century.
The first important phase of the Novgorod school lasted through the 12th century and the first half of the 13th, a period during which the Byzantine tradition spread from southern Kiev, the first capital and cultural centre of Russia, to the northern centres of Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal. In this period fresco painting was the dominant art form. In the second half of the 12th century the hieratic, aristocratic artistic tradition of Kiev was abandoned in favour of a more informal approach that combined Byzantine severity of style with a tenderness of gesture and an anecdotal picturesqueness. This spirit was matched in the beginning of the 13th century by a shift toward lighter, brighter colours and flatter forms, a softening of facial types, and an increasing definition of form by means of a graceful, rhythmic line. The progressive importance of line over modeled form in Novgorod painting brought about a gradual change in the Byzantine image. Strongly modeled Byzantine figures were characterized by a direct and penetrating gaze that in turn engaged that of the viewer. But as the predominance of line flattened the figures and faces in Novgorod painting, the direct gaze receded into a dreamy, abstracted, introspective look. In addition, the line invited a contemplation of its abstract patterns; Novgorod painting began to emphasize the lyricism of these patterns rather than the immediate presence of the figures.
In the early 14th century, a new artistic impetus was provided by the introduction of the iconostasis, a screen standing before the sanctuary on which icons, formerly scattered over the walls of the church, could be hung in a prescribed arrangement. The stylistic tendencies of the previous period of artistic activity, which had been dominated by fresco painting, were brought to bear on the visual problems created by the iconostasis and coalesced into a definitive Novgorod style. The complex of paintings on the iconostasis demanded a coherent overall impression. This overall effect was achieved through the use of strong, rhythmic lines and colour harmonies in each icon. Novgorod painters used jewellike juxtapositions of brilliant yet delicately balanced colours, dominated by yellow, emerald green, and fiery vermilion. The silhouette became all-important, as did the line, which assumed unprecedented grace with an elongation of the figure that became standard in Russian art. A number of Greek artists who arrived from Constantinople at the end of the 14th century brought a more varied subject matter to the Novgorod school and introduced the use of more complex architectural backgrounds. The most influential of these Byzantine immigrants was a mural painter, Theophanes The Greek. Theophanes contributed a greater understanding of the human form and a subtler use of colour and design to later Novgorod painting.
At the end of the 15th century Novgorod painting became somewhat repetitive, and, although works of outstanding quality continued to be produced, they lacked the freshness of the earlier paintings. The leadership in Russian painting passed in the 16th century to the more cosmopolitan art of the Moscow school (q.v.), and the final dissolution of the Novgorod school came with the forcible transfer of Novgorod artists to Moscow after a fire in the capital in 1547.
iconostasis
▪ architecture
in Eastern (Eastern Orthodoxy) Christian churches of Byzantine tradition, a solid screen of stone, wood, or metal, usually separating the sanctuary from the nave. The iconostasis had originally been some sort of simple partition between the altar and the congregation; it then became a row of columns, and the spaces between them were eventually filled with icons. In later churches it extends the width of the sanctuary, though the height may vary, and is covered with panel icons. The iconostasis is pierced by a large, or royal, door and curtain in the centre, in front of the altar, and two smaller doors on either side. It always includes the icon of the Incarnation (mother with child) on the left side of the royal door and the second coming of Christ the Pantocrator (Christ in majesty) on the right. The sacrament of the Eucharist, revealed through the doors between the two main icons, is thus the manifestation of Christ in the church during the time between his two comings. Icons of the four Evangelists, the Annunciation, and the Last Supper are set over the royal doors themselves. Representations of the archangels Gabriel and Michael, the 12 Apostles, the feasts of the church, and the prophets of the Old Testament are arranged on the iconostasis in complicated patterns, with all figures facing the royal doors.