Paired compositions "Birth of Christ" and "Death of Theotokos" on monumental painting of the Cathedral of Nativity of Theotokos in Savvino-Storozhevsky monastery (1649–1650): the role in the programme and features of iconography

Abstract

The article is devoted to the origins of the appearance of paired compositions The Birth of Christ and The Death of the Virgin on monumental painting of the Nativity of the Virgin Church in Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery 1649–1650. The tradition of reproducing ancient programs that developed in the second quarter – the middle of the 17th century makes it possible to attribute the monastery cathedral in Zvenigorod to this practice. The presence of large paired compositions in naos find similarities with Russian monuments of the 12–16th century, rather than with paintings of their time. Both compositions are in harmony with The Birth of the Virgin on the western wall and The Praise of the Virgin in the central conch. The combination of four scenes reveals the main meaning of the entire program, which consists in the idea of the glorification of the Virgin. The scenes of the Life of the Virgin, located on the eastern wall of the naos, testify to their presence here even before the construction of the iconostasis of the 17th century. Meanwhile, the iconographic analysis of paired compositions brings them closer to the monuments of their time. Firstly, it is noticeable in the composition The Birth of Christ which is structurally close to the multipart icons of the 16–17th centuries. In the scene The Death of the Virgin there is a similarity with the temple icon from the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin of 1472–1474, and a veil embroidered for her in the 1640s. The results of the study show that paired compositions could be part of the old painting, while in the middle of the 17th century they, along with the entire program, were updated and supplemented with new elements.