This article continues the story about the history of Russian fine arts development. Today I will introduce you to icons and miniatures of this period.
Icons
Parallel to the monumental painting of church walls, a more intimate art flourished - icon painting. This intimate branch of church painting gave the artist greater freedom of creative expression.
The ancient icons that have come down to us in significant numbers are, unfortunately, difficult to date with high accuracy. Therefore, when studying them, one has to speak not about specific years or decades, but about periods spanning entire centuries.
Novgorod School
The founder of Russian icon painting is traditionally considered to be the monk of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, Venerable Alimpy (11th-12th centuries). Tradition says that angels helped him in his work, "as his pupils."
The distinctive features of Novgorod writing are a strict, characteristic and sharp drawing, with a predominance of straight lines.
Vladimir and Yaroslavl Schools
Vladimir, which rose to the political Olympus in the 12th century under the scepter of Andrei Bogolyubsky, became the cradle of its own brilliant icon painting school.
Yaroslavl, which spun off from Vladimir, became an independent center of artistic thought. Yaroslavl icons, unlike Vladimir ones, have survived better, showing the world Russian identity in the faces of saints.
Miniatures
The miniature represented the most free and daring area of ancient Russian art. The miniaturist, creating for solitary contemplation, for the chosen ones, was not bound by the strict dictate of church canons.
The oldest known miniatures adorn the Novgorod Ostromir Gospel of 1056-1057, created by the deacon Gregory.
In the 14th century, an anonymous miniaturist becomes to some extent a chronicler of Rus. He no longer needs to borrow Byzantine allegories of zodiac signs; now his hand recreates Russian sledges, boats, clothes, princely faces and the faces of warriors.