Baroque Painting of Great Pechersk Church: Unknown Compositions and Spatial Pauses

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to present the visual sources of the original Baroque mural paintings of the Dormition Cathedral, as well as to discover the reason for the absence of murals in some compartments of the upper tier before 1843. The research methodology is based on historical, cultural analysis, and art study analysis. Scientific novelty. The author specifies which compartments of the upper tier in the Great Church (Dormition Cathedral) remained without paintings until the 1840s. The reason (the confidentiality of preservation of the Lavra treasury) for which these compartments were not painted in the late 1720s-1730, in 1772-1777 is established. The author reveals and attributes the compositions of the original Baroque decoration of the Church painted in the late 1720s-1730, and conducted the art historical analysis. Conclusions. According to archival documents, the upper side-altars of the Saint Apostle Andrew the First Called (altar part), of the Transfiguration of the Lord (altar part), of the Venerable Anthony of Pechersk and of the Venerable Theodosius of Pechersk were not painted in the 18th century. The absence of murals in these compartments was due to the will to have secret places to keep the Lavra treasures. Fragments of the compositions in the photos (1898; the collection at the National Preserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra”) are murals of the Great Church of the late 1720s – 1730.

Key words: sacral culture, Orthodoxy, sacral mural painting, Ukrainian Baroque painting, Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, Dormition Cathedral.