Analysis of murals on the old Russian sites of the near caves of the Kiev-Pechersk lavra

Author(s):  Ya.V. Litvinenko, National Kiev-Pechersk Historical and Culture Preserve, Kiev, Ukrain, LitPit11@gmail.com

Issue:  Volume 45, №2

Rubric:  Topical issues of russian history

Annotation:  In the article author considers the murals into the Old Russ sites of the Near caves of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The first time wall painting was discovered during the archaeological works on the sites of «Ven-erable Nestor» and «Venerable Mercury» in 1978-79. However, unfortunately at that time the fragments of the wall painting did not receive the proper assessment. The author attempts to attribute surviving fragments of wall painting. This attempt bases on the dating of funerary structures, which located on few segments of underground labyrinths. Also according to these fragments, the author hypothetically recon-structs the artistic program of murals that were inalienable part of the design of the interiors of the Lav-ra‟s labyrinths throughout their history. For attributing of painting, the author uses descriptive and com-parative methods. They allow clarifying the period of creating of the murals. In this article for the first time the analysis of the wall painting of the Old Russ period into the Near caves is introduced into scien-tific discourse. The article is the beginning of the forthcoming much work remained to be done for study-ing the interiors of the Lavra‟s caves

Keywords:  Near caves, painting, burial, arkosolium, artistic program

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