If a Rus' wanted to see art, he went to church. The great Orthodox edifices of Kiev, Novgorod and Suzdal showcased all the best art and design the Byzantines could give the Russians: fresco, mosaic, icon painting, and architecture. The Primary Chronicle emphasizes the importance of beauty in converting the Russians to Christianity.
The greatest work of art in Kievan Rus' was St. Sophia's in Kiev, started in 1018. A massive masonry building, it consisted of a nave and four aisles, with 13 low domes.(1) The interior was sumptuously decorated with murals and mosaics. Jesus as the Universal Ruler, the Book of Judgment in his right hand, dominated the central dome. Archangels surrounded him. In the supporting half-dome the Virgin was portrayed as intercessor between God and man. Below and surrounding the Virgin are various scenes from the dissemination of the Gospels, the twelve principal Orthodox feast days, and a mural of Prince Yaroslav presenting a model of the church to Jesus In addition, in a stair tower which linked the cathedral to the prince's palace was painted with Byzantine secular scenes of acrobats, gladiators, and wild animals.. St. Sophia's served as a model for all of Novgorod's religious architecture.(2)
As the template of Byzantine architecture migrated further into Russia, it was both embraced and transformed. Churches in Novgorod and the north were simpler than their southern counterparts. Aisles were eliminated and the number of domes reduced. Novgorod's St. Sophia's featured five domes and considerably less ornamentation the cathedral in Kiev.(3) Fast and ready construction methods used involved a rubble-like masonry, stuccoed and whitewashed, with fine work reserved for brick trim at the entrances and cornices, and lavish interior murals. The height of the domes began to increase-from the low, saucer shape toward the onion domes we now associate with Russian architecture. This change was likely an adaptation to the heavy rains and snows of the north.(4) Byzantine aesthetics grafted onto the vital tradition of Russian carpentry, yielding a flurry of buildings in a new style. In Novgorod between 1103 and 1207 the Chronicles mention 68 new churches dedicated by private patrons.(5) In the northern forests the move to simplification lead to smaller, more unified churches, with white exteriors and a single dome.(6)
The craft of icon painting was the other art which Byzantium gave to the Rus'. Icons were painted in tempera (egg based) paints on prepared wood panels. Both the techniques and the images were controlled by rigid rules. Painting was done in layers, with colored underpaint and gilded areas. Images were static but powerful, depicting the saints, Christ, and the Virgin. Icons were displayed in churches and believed to have magical powers. Icons were occasionally stolen by victorious princes and taken to their own cities.(7)
Remarkably, an icon painter's house from the early 13th century has been found in Novgorod. It still contains amphorae of olive oil, paints, mineral dyes, ochre, amber, pottery mixing cups, prepared wooden panels, bronze frames, and birch bark documents that contain orders for icons. Historians believe they know the name of the artist and have identified murals by his hand.(8)
Predating Christian religious art were vigorous and elaborate decorative systems, which survive to this day in folk art. This art is found in stone and wood carving, gold and enamel work, decorative leatherwork, and jewelry. Artisans expressed themselves with animals, vegetative patterns, and knotwork. Sources seem to include Viking Scandinavia, the Islamic world, and indigenous crafts dating as far back as the Scythians. We find carved animals (birds, lions, and mythological beasts), woven knots and scrolls, stylized plants, and geometric patterns in objects from the period. Perhaps the most common decoration was the carved woodwork on homes, but embroidery may have been important as well. In other parts of the world, and in modern Russia, these arts all have symbolic significance and can be read as text. Perhaps the Rus' of Novgorod treated their decoration this way as well. What we can say for certain, however, was that a sense of beauty was part of every day life.(9)
Period manuscripts are written in a stiff calligraphic style, which seems rather clumsy and slow to letter. The letters are formed with the broad part of the quill held perpendicular to direction of the text, the writing having none of the fluidity of Romanesque or Gothic hands of Western Europe. The decoration is lush, however. Surrounding the text are decorative elements from Russian folk art and Byzantine manuscripts. Peacocks, architectural elements like arches and columns, lacework patterns, and scrolls adorn the texts in vivid saturated colors and gold. People are present as well, sometimes drawn following the stylistic conventions of icons and religious paintings and sometimes as stylized decorative elements and letters. The Radziwill copy of The Primary Chronicle has marvelously free drawings which provides a vivid "comic strip" of Rus' history.
(1)Hamilton, p. 22.
(2)Ibid, p. 66-69 and Vernadsky, Kievan Russia, p. 263.
(3)Hamilton, p. 39.
(4)Ibid, p. 42.
(5)Ibid, p. 38.
(6)Ibid, p. 43.
(7)Ibid, pp. 97-118.
(8)Society for Medieval Archaeology, p. 100.
(9)Ibid, p. 96.