Byzantine Enamels in Jewellery Art of the Times of Kyivan Rus

Abstract

The purpose of the article is to identify the influence of Byzantine enamel on the development of ancient Kyivan Rus jewellery art. Research methodology. The method of analysis and synthesis, typological method, comparative analysis method, historical and cultural method, art history analysis method were applied. Scientific novelty. The art of Byzantine enamel is considered; the features of the enamel technique, types and specifics of use in jewellery art of the 9th–13th centuries in Kyivan Rus are outlined; the problems of the reception of Byzantine enamel by ancient Kyivan Rus masters are investigated. Conclusions. We can conclude that Byzantine enamel, having become one of the leading techniques of jewellery art during the time of Kievan Rus, acquired its own artistic forms and was enriched with motifs based on the synthesis of pagan, Byzantine and Old Rus mythology. Regarding the colour scheme of Byzantine and Old Rus enamels, we can state their inconsistency, which was due to the creation of enamel from available components and the difference in production technology, characteristic of Kievan and Constantinople masters. No less indicative is the originality of the drawings of the masters of Kievan Rus, which, unlike the Byzantine ones, are distinguished by simplification, inaccuracy, a lower level of detail, a certain transformation of proportional relationships, and most importantly – a unique image of figures (elongated and elegant proportions), which distinguishes them from the Byzantine canon.