Painting of Orthodox churches. St. George's Church in Staraya Ladoga. Painting under the choir platform
As the church fathers teach, a temple is not just walls in which services are held. According to religion, symbols have meaning. Individual parts of the temple have significance during divine services, while they carry a certain message, which is fully revealed and expresses the entire teaching of the Church. The paintings of the temple contain His invisible presence, and the more the picture corresponds to the canons, the more strongly this presence is felt, bringing more grace.
First paintings
Since ancient times, images in churches were intended to give information to the people. The temple is a continuation of the forms of the cathedral; they must carry not only a preaching goal, but also meet poetic and figurative functions. In addition, painting is a reflection of the transformation of ideals and the progress of popular thought.
How art developed
From the end of the 14th century, the principality of Moscow took the leading role in painting, leading during this period the unification of lands and the battle to overthrow the yoke of the Tatar-Mongols. The school, one of whose graduates was Andrei Rublev, had a significant influence on the formation of painting.
The flourishing of art is associated with the name of this icon painter. This period coincided with the early Renaissance in Italy. A worthy successor to Rublev was Dionysius, whose painting of an Orthodox church is characterized by sophistication, sophistication, and a light and bright palette.
After Dionysius, one can observe a desire for some kind of structured story unfolding on the walls of the cathedral. Often such church paintings are overloaded. At the beginning of the 17th century, an important part of which was landscape painting, which reflected the diversity of nature.
The century is rich in dramatic events in the history of the state, but, at the same time, it developed and secular culture, influencing the painting of the temple. For example, the most significant painter of this period, Ushakov, calls for truthfulness in drawings. Peter I, who ascended the throne, strengthened the secularism of perception. The ban on the use of stone in the construction of buildings outside St. Petersburg had an even greater impact on the decline of mural art.
Steps towards the revival of temple painting were taken only by the middle of the century. It was at this point that images began to be placed in stucco frames. TO end of the 19th century century, classicism prevailed in the painting of cathedrals, which is characterized by an academic style of writing, combined with alfrey and ornamental paintings.
Religious painting of the 19th-20th centuries
Temple painting of this period developed according to the laws of Russian Art Nouveau, which originated in Kyiv. It was there that one could get acquainted with the works of Vasnetsov and Vrubel. The walls of the Vladimir Cathedral, painted by Vasnetsov, were photographed in detail, showing the splendor of the painting to the whole country.
Many artists sought to imitate this technique when working in other temples. Temple painting from this period greatly influenced the techniques of other artists. A close study of temple painting made it possible to gain an unforgettable experience that facilitates the selection of a style suitable for a particular architecture.
Date of publication or update 11/01/2017
“The house that is to be built for the Lord must be very majestic, for glory and adornment above all the lands” (1 Chron. 22:5)
Traditions of temple painting
The tradition of the magnificent decoration of the temple comes from the Old Testament tabernacle and the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem, which, according to the instructions of God Himself, were richly decorated, including images of cherubs, palm trees, fruits and flowers.
The first Christian images appear around 200. For example, in a house in Dura Europos (Mesopotamia), reconstructed by the Christian community for its own purposes, the baptismal chapel was decorated with frescoes. Believers brought symbols and signs to the catacombs: a grapevine - a symbol of the sacrificial blood of Christ and communion, a cross, an anchor - a symbol of hope, etc. The image is no longer a decoration of the room, but primarily a bearer of meaning.
The art of Christian catacombs sets itself the task of choosing from a huge range of subjects from the Old Testament and the New Testament the most revealing and suitable. In the premises of the early Christian catacombs one can see the beginning of the formation of iconographic programs. Thus, in the entrance area there are images associated with the theme of Baptism, in the niche area - with Eucharistic themes, and in the upper register of the premises - with heavenly allegories.
After the victory of Christianity and icon veneration in the Byzantine period, the development of iconography was led by several. Firstly, the image had to be identical with the prototype, recognizable. Icons began to not only be created in accordance with established rules, but also provided with appropriate inscriptions. Now the worshiper could come into contact with the image, which had to be facing him so that a genuine meeting could take place between them. Secondly, each image had to occupy its proper place in accordance with the hierarchy: first Christ, then the Mother of God, then the angels and saints in the proper order of precedence. The principles of church decoration that incorporated these principles began to be used in churches starting from the 9th century. - most often, planned in the form of a cross inscribed in a square with a dome in the middle. This perfect type of Byzantine cross-domed church, which provided the best opportunities for the hierarchical arrangement of images, was transferred to Rus'.
Story Ancient Rus', which was replete with enemy raids and fires, left us only a small part of the rich heritage of the picturesque decoration of temples. We will point out just a few of the survivors. In the Kyiv St. Cyril Church, fresco painting from the 12th century has been preserved to this day. In the central asp there are images of the Eucharist and the holy order, on the pre-altar pillars - the Annunciation and the Presentation, on the southern and northern walls - the Nativity of Christ and the Dormition of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The entire space of the vestibule is occupied by the image of the Last Judgment - one of the earliest in the painting of Russian churches. The Church of the Transfiguration of the Savior on Nereditsa (1198) in Veliky Novgorod gained worldwide fame thanks to its fresco paintings that covered all the internal surfaces of the walls and vaults. The frescoes not only had independent value, but also perfectly coordinated with the structure of the temple, forming a synthesis of architecture and painting. The interior of the Cathedral in honor of the Transfiguration of the Lord of the Pskov Mirozhsky Monastery (1140) is also completely painted with frescoes that have survived to this day.
The central medallion with Christ Pantocrator in the dome is placed in such a way that it can be distinguished when viewed from west to east. Under the image of the Almighty, along the lower edge of the dome sphere, seraphim (the forces of God) are depicted. In the drum of the dome are eight archangels, heavenly ranks. The apostles are also depicted in the dome drum, and the prophets are also depicted below. The order of the prophets may be determined by the order of the holidays on the walls and vaults of the temple. In particular, the inscriptions in the scrolls of the prophets may correspond to holidays located nearby. The apostolic rank of the drum is based on the hierarchical primacy of the supreme apostles Peter and Paul, as well as the first-called apostles (Andrew, Peter, James and John). The inscriptions of the skufia dome can be short texts of alleluaries, prokeimns and sacramental verses of great holidays.
The middle area of the temple is dedicated to the life of Jesus Christ. The classical cycle consists of scenes from the twelve feasts: Annunciation, Nativity, Presentation, Baptism, Transfiguration, Raising of Lazarus, Entry into Jerusalem, Resurrection (Descent into Hell), Ascension, Descent of the Holy Spirit and Dormition of the Virgin Mary, as well as the Crucifixion. To this series are often added several images that demonstrate the story of the passion of Christ - the Last Supper, the Washing of the Feet, the Kiss of Judas, the Descent from the Cross and the Assurance of Thomas, as well as the story of the birth of Christ, - the Adoration of the Magi, the Flight into Egypt and the history of His preaching activity - cycle of miracles and parables. According to established tradition, on the northern side of the temple there are scenes from the Passion Cycle, reflecting the events of Great Friday and Saturday - the Crucifixion, Lamentation, and the Descent into Hell. Preceding and subsequent events are often located in the east or west. By the 14th century, iconographic motifs appeared in the decoration of temples that were not directly related to the life of Jesus Christ. They are located in side naves, chapels, porches or narthexes and often depict episodes from the life of the Virgin Mary.
The composition of the scenes depends on the theological program of the temple. So, say, in a church dedicated to the Mother of God, scenes from the life of the Virgin Mary, the theme of the Akathist, will prevail. St. Nicholas Church will contain scenes from the life of St. Nicholas, Sergievsky - St. Sergius, etc.
In the middle part of the church, on the pillars, if there are any, there are images of saints, martyrs, saints, the most revered in a given parish. The “sails” depict the four evangelists - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John. Along the northern and southern walls, from top to bottom, there are rows of images of the apostles from the seventy and saints, saints and martyrs. The lower tier is often built of single figures - these are either holy fathers, or holy princes, monks, stylites, warriors. These figures are distributed according to their rank and function, placing them in accordance with the order of their feast days in the liturgical calendar.
Above the floor level, in the area where the worshipers stand, on the walls there are images of alternating hanging panels - “towels”, which seem to carry sacred images located above.
Since the Sacrament of the Eucharist is celebrated in the altar, its paintings are dedicated to subjects related to this Sacrament. The first row of the painting, starting from the bottom, represents the fathers of the liturgists: Saints Basil the Great, John Chrysostom and Gregory the Theologian and with them other saints, as well as holy deacons, as participants in the divine service. Above is the Eucharist itself: the communion of the apostles under two forms - bread and wine. Even higher, above the Eucharist in the conch of the apse, there is a figure of the Mother of God, standing or sitting (type of Oranta or Hodegetria). Insofar as the altar is a place of offering Bloodless Sacrifice, established by the Savior Himself, then at the top, above the image Mother of God, often place an image of Christ. In the side apses there are painted images of the parents of the Mother of God - Joachim and Anna, or the Forerunner of Spasov John.
On the walls separating the altar from the nave, Old Testament prototypes of the Eucharist can be represented: the sacrifice of Abel; Melchizedek bringing bread and wine; Abraham sacrificing Isaac; Abraham's hospitality.
On the western wall of the temple there are scenes of the Last Judgment, a vision of the prophet Ezekiel. Image meaning Last Judgment is that a person, leaving the temple, must remember the hour of death and his responsibility before God. Above it, if space allows, is an image of the six-day creation of the world. In this case, the images of the western wall represent the beginning and end of human history on earth.
The painting of the narthex consists of wall paintings on the themes of the paradise life of primordial people and their expulsion from paradise, as well as Old Testament events from the period of natural law.
The spaces between individual pictorial compositions are filled with ornaments, where subjects are mainly used flora or images corresponding to the content of Psalm 103, where a picture of earthly existence is drawn, listing various God's creatures. The ornament can also use elements such as crosses in a circle, rhombus and other geometric shapes, and octagonal stars.
Modern practice of pictorial decoration of the temple
Modern painting practice, as a rule, follows the traditional principles of placing scenes and individual figures of saints on the walls and vaults of churches, depending on their size and space-planning structure.
As an example, let us cite the painting of the Cosmodamian Church in the city of Zhukovsky, built in 2006 according to the design of the architect M. Kesler, by artists of the creative workshop under the direction of K. Okhotin and D. Lazarev.
The temple is a main volume of 12x12 meters in cubic shape, passing through sails into an octagon, covered with a spherical dome with a light drum. The central aisle of the temple, dedicated to the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, is adjoined from the south by the Kosmodamianovsky aisle, covered with a cross vault, from the east - a semicircular apse, and from the west - a vestibule with a vestibule, above which there are choirs. In the exterior decoration, special niches were used to place the exterior paintings of the temple.
The first place anyone entering enters is a small, narrow room in the outer vestibule. His painting is dedicated to the history of the creation of the world - the Sixth Day. The walls and ceiling are covered with an ornament on a dark background, reminiscent of the primordial darkness, from which six round white background medallions with images of the days of creation protrude.
The painting of the inner porch is dedicated to the life in paradise of the first people: Adam and Eve. The walls are covered with floral patterns on a white background, reminiscent of the Garden of Eden. On the ceiling, round medallions depict scenes from the Book of Genesis: the fall of Adam and expulsion from paradise. Two medallions with Archangels flank the walls of the vestibule. In its southern part, where the candle box is located, the cycle of Old Testament history continues: the earthly labors of Adam and his children, the sacrifice of Abel and Cain, the murder of Abel by Cain, the story of Noah. The Old Testament cycle is completed by the image of the Mother of God “The Burning Bush”, located on the ceiling of the narthex and revealing the Old Testament prophecies about the Mother of God.
If two porches take us to the times of the Old Testament from the creation of the world to the prophecies about the Mother of God, then the main volume of the temple with a dome is scenes from the life of the Mother of God and the New Testament, ending with the Last Judgment and the vision of the heavenly city of Jerusalem by John the Theologian.
In the center of all these scenes we are greeted by a large image of the Mother of God in the conch of the apse of the altar and the composition of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary hovering above the temple, occupying the entire dome with an area of about 250 sq.m. The dome is divided into two registers depicting the Earthly and Heavenly Church. In the skufya of the dome and in the drum are located: the shoulder-shaped image of Christ Pantocrator, cherubs and archangels in medallions, forming a single whole with the composition of the Intercession and, as it were, crowning it.
In the eastern part of the vault in the upper register there is the figure of the Mother of God and the heavenly powers and saints standing before Her. Opposite them, in the western part of the vault in the upper register there is an image of the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael. In lower case are located historical characters related to the Feast of the Intercession: St. Roman the Sweet Singer in front of the Royal Doors and the saints, Emperor Leo and Queen Theophania present in the Blachernae Church during the appearance of the Mother of God, as well as princes, boyars and monks with the icon of the Most Pure One. On the western vault, Andrew the Fool for Christ’s sake is depicted, pointing out to his disciple Epiphanius the appearance of the Mother of God. In the northern part of the vault there is a plot from the sixth kontakion of the Akathist to the Intercession - the vision of the Virgin Mary by Roman the Sweet Singer in a dream.
The “sails” depict the four Evangelists - Matthew, Mark, Luke, John.
The walls of the quadrangle are divided into four registers. The top one contains the Twelfth Feasts of God and the Old Testament prophets with scrolls. In the second register from the top there are plots of parables and miracles of Christ.
In the third - the life of the Mother of God. In the lower case there are half-figures of selected saints, both ancient and newly glorified.
On the western wall, all four registers are occupied by the Last Judgment. Above, above the choirs, is Christ on the throne in glory with the Mother of God and John the Baptist standing before him.
To the right and left of the choirs are 12 apostles sitting on thrones. Behind them are Angels standing. In the center of the composition is Itimasia. To the right of Itimasia are the peoples awaiting Judgment. Below are trumpeting angels calling for Judgment. To the left of Itimasia are depicted the faces of saints - saints and righteous wives, below them are the apostles Peter and Paul, leading the righteous to paradise. In the center, under Itimasia, the body of a serpent writhes from left to right, dragging it to hell.
A direct continuation of the theme of the Last Judgment and the completion of the New Testament cycle is the vision of Heavenly Jerusalem to John the Theologian. It opens through the choir arch on the west wall. In the girth arch of the choirs there are half-figures of the Old Testament righteous in round medallions. Abel Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and others, which compositionally connects the Old and New Testament, the beginning of painting and its end.
Since the southern aisle is dedicated to St. To the unmercenary healers Cosmas and Damian, the theme of his painting is associated with miracles of healing and resurrection.
In the conch of the altar of the chapel there is an image of the Old Testament Trinity. Below, on the walls of the apse, there is an ornamental frieze with cherubs in medallions. Below them are life-size figures of liturgists: Saints Gregory the Dvoeslov, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Gregory the Theologian.
In the center of the chapel in the cross vault there is an image of the Cross in a medallion. Around it are 4 medallions with half-length images of archangels.
In the lower case there are figures of Sts. healers and martyrs, standing frontally at full height.
The painting of the chapel is completed by the composition of the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles, located on the western wall of the chapel at its full height.
The basement of the walls throughout the temple is decorated with white “towels” with ornaments.
The Cathedral of Christ the Savior by Archpriest Leonid Kalinin, the painting of the Kosmodamianovsky Church is one of the best examples of church art of the last ten years and can be recommended as a standard.
During the Great Consecration of the Temple in May of this year. Metropolitan Juvenaly of Krutitsky and Kolomna in his speech likened the splendor of this church to Sophia of Constantinople, which so impressed the ambassadors of Prince Vladimir with its beauty that this led to the adoption of Christianity by Russia. We need church splendor no less today, when the road to the temple can become shorter thanks to the perception of its beauty.
Architect Mikhail Yurievich Kesler
Magazine "Blagoukrasitel" No. 20 (summer 2009)
The painting of the walls of the Church of the Deposition of the Robe was carried out in 1644 by order of Patriarch Joseph by icon painters Sidor Pospeev, Ivan Borisov and Semyon Abramov. The entire church was painted by them in less than three months. It is known that when creating a new picturesque decoration of the temple, the masters were usually guided by the previous, more ancient system his paintings. Some evidence about the period of Nazariy Istomin’s work on the iconostasis in the Church of the Deposition of the Robe indicates the existence in the temple of old paintings made before 1605. It is possible that the church was first painted soon after construction, and the system of painting its walls in its main features dates back to the end of the 15th century.
The location of the temple paintings is strictly canonical. The dome contains an image of Christ Pantocrator, the upper tier of the drum contains images of the Old Testament prophets, and the lower tier - evangelists. The vaults and adjacent lunettes decorate scenes of the gospel story of Christ from the Nativity to the Ascension and the Trinity included in this cycle (part of the composition is located behind the iconostasis).
The western pillars of the church are occupied by paintings with images of holy Russian princes and Moscow metropolitans. On the eastern pillars, hidden by the iconostasis, above the arches connecting them to the eastern wall, and in the arches themselves, there are images of the church fathers.
The Church of the Deposition of the Robe is dedicated to the Feast of the Theotokos, so the program for most of the wall painting was composed of compositions on the theme of “praise to the Mother of God,” depicted in two story cycles. The frescoes and tempera paintings are located on the walls in four tiers, of which the upper two are occupied by the cycle of the Life of the Mother of God, telling about the life of the Virgin Mary, and the lower two illustrate the solemn hymn glorifying Her - the Great Akathist.
At the top of the pillars, in the arches and on the vaults of the temple there are medallions with half-figures of selected saints, mainly the heavenly patrons of the family of the first king from the house of Romanov - Mikhail Fedorovich, during whose reign the painting of the temple was done. In the slopes of the windows there are figures of saints (holy monks) and images of heavenly powers - cherubim and seraphim.
The program for painting the altar part of the temple repeats the iconographic schemes of the painting of the Assumption Cathedral with the solemn composition of the Great Entrance in the conch (upper part) of the central apse and the composition of the Cathedral of All Saints, which occupies the entire wall of the apse in the Church of the Deposition of the Robe.
The large decorative frescoes of the lower tier of the temple deserve special attention. It is known that the lower tier of the interior decoration of churches inevitably suffered from the touch of the clothes of worshipers, which affected the condition of the frescoes. In Byzantium, there was a tradition of covering these sections of walls with marble or covering them with fabrics. Over time, real fabrics were replaced by decorative frescoes. In the Church of the Deposition of the Robe, the lower tier of the temple walls is decorated with light ornamental paintings imitating fabric decor, which is called “towels”. The frescoes really resemble hanging fly towels, decorated with elaborate ornamental embroidery; a lattice-like pattern is found in genuine Byzantine and Italian textiles from the 15th century.
Restoration work carried out in the 1950s revealed the fresco painting of 1644 from later copy-pasting and renovations, including those done in the 19th century with oil paint. Current state paintings allows us to fully appreciate the artistic style of the masters who created them, despite the existing late insertions and even losses of painting (for example, in the upper part of the western wall, in the composition “Entrance to Jerusalem”). The color structure of the frescoes was most likely set by the light, harmonious colorful combinations of icons on the iconostasis that had already been installed in the temple by the time work began on its painting. The abundance of white, blue, green and cherry tones in the interpretation of the figures, as well as pink, ocher and turquoise in the depiction of architectural backgrounds, gives a special lightness and festivity to the atmosphere in the Church of the Deposition of the Robe. The small size of the temple and the richness of the iconographic program determined the size of the fresco compositions, reminiscent of small icon stamps. At the same time, in their strict tiered rhythm, the monumental scale of the compositions of the festive cycle on the vaults and in the lunettes of the temple, the solemn grandeur of the figures on the pillars, the traditions of monumental painting of the previous era - the end of the 16th century, which were still preserved in Russian art of the first half of the 17th century, can be traced.
The painting of the temple is a harmonious and clear system that has developed over the centuries. It could be said to have taken shape already in the 8th century; the canons of painting were established in Byzantium under Patriarch Photius. During the period of middle Byzantium, the basic principles of this system took shape.
Firstly, the main attention is paid to the hierarchical arrangement of images: the dome part always becomes the central zone.
Secondly, the principle of communion (Eucharist) was established, the center of which is the altar apse.
Thirdly, the plots reflect the principle of liturgy, i.e. the order of conducting worship, the relationship with calendar periods. Fourthly, the relative position of plots from the Old and New Testaments is important.
The location of iconographic subjects in the temple is also not accidental: they are clearly distributed in accordance with the meaning and semantic load in the process of worship. A clear order allows you to create unity and harmony, a clear structure of religious action. At the same time, each temple has its own unique atmosphere, reflecting the individuality of the master. With examples modern temple painting, in which the individuality of the masters was clearly manifested, you can get acquainted.
The middle part of the temple has zoning. The first zone is the domes and the upper level of the vaults, which also includes the apse conch. The second zone is the sails and the upper parts of the walls. The lower parts of the walls form the third zone. The first zone is the most significant; the faces of Jesus Christ, the Mother of God, angels are painted here, as well as scenes in which the divine principle manifests itself in heaven, crowning everything that happens below. The dome may contain images of Christ Pantocrator, the Holy Spirit appearing as a dove, the Cross, the monogram of the Lamb and Christ. Later, images of the New Testament Trinity, the Lord of Hosts, and the Fatherland began to be depicted. On the peripheral part of the dome there are images of the apostles, forefathers, prophets, and sometimes the Virgin Mary, John the Baptist, and the Heavenly Powers. The middle zone of the temple tells about the life of Jesus Christ: according to the classical cycle, the scenes of the Annunciation, Nativity, Presentation, Baptism, Transfiguration, Raising of Lazarus, Entry into Jerusalem, Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Descent of the Holy Spirit, Dormition of the Virgin Mary are mentioned here. These scenes can be supplemented with images that remind believers of the Passion of Christ. The story of the birth of Christ and his preaching are also often indicated. By tradition, the location of these plots is also oriented to the cardinal points. It should be noted that a temple dedicated to a particular saint will more often present scenes related to him.
In the lower zone, where worshipers are usually located, panels are depicted on the walls, which seem to bind, leading the eyes upward to the images of the upper part of the temple. Harmony and a sense of unity - all this is achieved by a single painting system, the traditions of which have not been lost to this day.
Orthodox church painting system
Even in Byzantium, a harmonious system of arranging subjects in wall paintings was developed Orthodox churches. She reflected the fundamental truths Christian doctrine, first of all, Christological dogma, i.e. the doctrine of Christ the Savior. However, painting had more than just a teaching function. A person who came to the temple did not just look at certain images, but he himself became an accomplice in certain events of sacred history. Byzantine artists achieved such an impression that the saints depicted on the walls and vaults of the temple were not present in an illusory pictorial space (there was no such space in Byzantine painting), as if beyond the surface of the wall, but were perceived as being in the real three-dimensional space of the interior along with the worshipers. In accordance with the doctrine of icon veneration VII Ecumenical Council the images of Christ and the saints reveal their living, present presence, so that “the honor given to the image passes to the prototype, and the one who worships the icon worships the being depicted on it.”
And today all images in an Orthodox church are arranged in strict accordance with the hierarchy. The most important, most sacredly significant areas of the temple are located at the top - the dome and the arch of the altar (apse concha), they symbolize the spiritual sky. Next come the vaults of the temple and the upper parts of the walls, which are usually reserved for depicting the events of the gospel history. Finally, the lower zones of the interior represent the earthly world, where the person who came to the temple is among the saints.
The average iconographic program of a modern Orthodox church can be designated as follows:
– Christ the Pantocrator is located in the dome, usually in a waist medallion;
- in the drum of the dome, between the windows - prophets;
– in the conch of the altar there is a figure of the throned Mother of God with the Child on her knees or Oranta praying;
– on the side cross vaults there are medallions with angels. In separate niches of the altar and the temple there are saints. In the western part of the temple, on the vaults under the choirs, there are full-length and half-length figures of saints in medallions. A special set of saints, together with a locally revered saint, may be depicted on the walls of the narthex;
– multi-figure scenes of holidays (the most important events of the Gospel history) are located both in the naos (i.e., the middle part of the temple) and in the narthex. In the naos, the festivities occupy the trompas at the base of the dome, the niches between them and the upper parts of the walls. The scenes are arranged in a circle, clockwise;
- in the narthex, the holidays and some other scenes from the Gospel included in their cycle are located on the walls and in the end niches. Here can be depicted: the Annunciation, the Nativity of Christ, the Presentation of the Lord, the Baptism of the Lord, the Transfiguration of the Lord, the Raising of Lazarus, the Entry into Jerusalem, the Crucifixion of Christ, the Resurrection of Christ, the Ascension of the Lord and Pentecost (the Descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles), as well as some secondary scenes, showing in more detail the Passion of Christ and the events after His resurrection - the Washing of the Feet at the Last Supper, the Descent from the Cross, the Assurance of Thomas. At the same time, some compositions, for example the Descent from the Cross, occupy a place on a par with the Twelve Feasts.
The descent of the Holy Spirit on the Apostles is depicted, as a rule, in a small dome above the Throne in the altar.
In fact, all of these artistic compositions are not a simple narrative cycle, but reflect the most important tenets of Christianity. The story about this or that event in them is replaced by the expression of its idea, significance in the matter of saving humanity by Christ.
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From the book The First Book of an Orthodox Believer author Mikhalitsyn Pavel EvgenievichChapter 3. The system of painting an Orthodox church Even in Byzantium, a harmonious system for arranging subjects in the wall painting of Orthodox churches was developed. It clearly expressed the fundamental truths of the Christian doctrine, primarily the Christological dogma, i.e.
From the book Andrey Rublev author Sergeev Valery NikolaevichConstruction of an Orthodox church. Church architecture, its patterns and features In the classical definition, a temple is a building especially dedicated to God, in which believers gather to receive the grace of God through Holy Communion and other sacraments. Temples differently
From the book Sexual need and lustful passion author compiler Nika From the author's bookSection 1: Reproductive system as a system given by God for procreation. Sexual function includes the need for procreation. We will not dwell on the question of the need for reproduction, but will only note that reproduction is inherent in all organisms, and through
