Kaluga icon painting: on the issue of the integrity and boundaries of the artistic phenomenon

Golubev Valentin Aleksandrovich ORCID: 0000-0002-9490-3192 Assistant, Department of History of Russian Art, Russian State University for the Humanities 119234, Russia, Moscow region, Moscow, Leninskie Gory str., 1, sq. W 237 golubev.valent@yandex.ru

IntroductionIn this article we want to express our vision of the boundaries of "Kaluga icon painting" as an independent and integral artistic phenomenon.

Over the past two decades, a certain impression has been formed about it among researchers and collectors, mainly due to the publications of V. G. Putsko, T. G. Nechaeva and M. A. Chernov ^{[26, 27]}. The Kaluga iconographic heritage is devoted to both individual articles by V. G. Putsko, as well as occasional mentions, passages in publications not directly related to Kaluga iconography (the author's main publications affecting the issues of interest to us are listed in the bibliography to the article ^[27]). However, researchers' ideas about Kaluga icon painting are rather conditional, dating and attribution differ from different authors and require clarification. Moreover, it is not completely clear what exactly we mean by "Kaluga icon painting" as an artistic phenomenon: what is the difference between Kaluga icons and the works of other centers and trends in late Russian icon painting, where the chronological boundaries of this phenomenon lie and what is its place in the general artistic landscape of sacred fine art of Modern times.

On the history of the study of Kaluga lettersV. G. Putsko has repeatedly written about the monuments of icon painting of the New Time on the Kaluga land.

The advantages of his publications are the author's attention to archival data (for example, two of his articles are entirely based on the presentation of archival sources – inventories of the property of churches in Kaluga and Peremyshlsky Uyezd ^{[39, 42]}) and diligent analytical work with the material, which often helps him to determine the dating of individual monuments and entire complexes with high accuracy. For example, based on the inventory of 1801, the icon "Life-giving Spring" from the local iconostasis of the church of St. Nicholas on Kozinka is dated to the end of the XVIII century ^{[41, p. 346]}, and a number of icons of the iconostasis complexes of the lower church of St. George "beyond the top" is associated with the addition of the Predtechensky and Utolimovsky chapels in 1824 ^{[38, p. 346]}. 104]. However, his articles differ in the specifics characteristic of local history studies: the author describes the monuments, systematizes them, but does not try to determine the characteristic features and trends of the regional iconographic tradition as a whole. Sometimes icons associated with a completely different type of artistic culture appear as Kaluga icons in his publications. Thus, one of his articles ^[40] mentions a fragment of an iconographic frame depicting the Passion of the Lord ^{[40, p. 320, Fig. 1]}, originating, according to the church inventory and family tradition of the former owners, from the Annunciation Church, and a miniature icon of the Assumption of the Mother of God ^{[40, p. 324, Fig. 4]}. Both images, apparently, were imported, since they differ from the reference works of Kaluga icon painters. 

M. A. Chernov and T. N. Nechaeva in their 2010 program article with the aphoristic title "Written in Kaluga ..." ^[26] made an important step in identifying the specifics of Kaluga icon painting. Their brief scientific statement is based on a chronologically organized number of monuments attributed as "Kaluga" by characteristic parameters: icons are either connected with Kaluga by the history of existence, or they have the signature of the author, or they are decorated with salaries (in this case, the regional markers are the stamps of Kaluga coiners and foremen, as well as city stamps with the coat of arms cities of Kaluga). The authors of the publication did not set themselves ambitious goals, according to them, they sought to "introduce readers to some preserved Kaluga icons of the XVIII—XIX centuries and share their observations about the peculiarities of the local style" ^{[26, p. 15]}.

Far from detracting from the programmatic significance of the research by T. N. Nechaeva and M. A. Chernov, we will allow ourselves to note that the icon with the image of the Kaluga aqueduct is dated by the authors in 1807 (the year of the creation of the aqueduct indicated on the icon), whereas in the book by O. Y. Tarasov ^{[49, p. 63, color Table 30]} the icon it has already been published with the correct date of creation – 1837. There can be no doubt about the dating in this case, since the year of creation is indicated in the dedicatory inscription on the back of the icon ^{[8, p. 259]}. Some other monuments have been dated too widely by the authors ^{[26, p. 34, il. 23]} (out of caution?), although V. G. Putsko's earlier publications provide quite convincingly reasoned dating. The main merit of the authors, in our opinion, is a large-scale illustrative application. This material still needs a thorough analysis, within which it is possible to identify groups of icons associated with individual masters and workshops.

N. I. Komashko and I. L. Buseva-Davydova wrote about Kaluga as an iconographic center with a characteristic regional style of writing ^{[13, p. 18, 3, p. 131-135]}. We have also devoted three articles to individual Kaluga icons ^{[8, 7, 6]}. The publications are devoted to individual monuments that are fairly accurately dated by various parameters and attributed as Kaluga by a number of signs.

Kaluga icon painting as an independent artistic phenomenonWhat do we mean by the phenomenon of Kaluga icon painting?

It is obvious that the entire iconographic heritage of the Kaluga Region does not fit into this concept. We are interested in the formation and evolution of a certain trend in icon painting, characterized by independence and integrity. In other words, we are investigating icons that came out of the workshops of local icon painters, in which one can observe a line of succession, one's own distinctive recognizable handwriting.

So, firstly, the icons of the Kaluga script include works of tempera painting. Naturally, icons were also painted in Kaluga in a picturesque manner, imitating the samples of oil academic painting. Here is an example of a signed and dated icon of the Lord of Hosts (Fig. 1), on the back of which the inscription is placed in a square frame: "This Holy // Image of the Lord of Savoy is written // in 1828, the Month of November // The Artist // Gavriil Postnikov Painted The City of Kaluga." If there was no inscription, it would hardly be possible to associate the icon with Kaluga, based only on the nature of the painting. The icon is painted in oil paints according to the methods of academic painting: although the result of the artist's work betrays his provincial origin, it is quite obvious that he belongs to the tradition of religious painting, which is emphasized in the self–definition - "artist". Although such icons were painted in Kaluga, they cannot be counted among the "Kaluga iconography", since it is difficult to discern regional specifics in them.

Tempera religious painting in the XVIII and XIX centuries was definitely perceived as a special kind of art with its own specific technological features and aesthetic criteria. For example, in 1769, the Tula icon painter Grigory Belousov submitted a report to the ecclesiastical consistory of his diocese, in which he asked to be released from the supervision of Ivan Uralsky, who worked in the technique of oil painting (according to the resolution of the Kolomna consistory, I. Uralsky had to be someone like an iconographic censor and responsible for the quality of the work of local masters), since Belousov himself "had icon-painting art written from an egg, in the likeness of Greek scripture, and he Uralsky writes from oil with pictorial art, and so it is impossible for him, Uralsky, for lack of egg-writing skill, to have supervision over me" ^{[23, p. 416]}.

In this context, it is appropriate to note that in the records management of the XVIII and XIX centuries, a distinction is made between those icon painters who worked in the technique of oil painting, and those who adhered to the tradition of tempera painting. For example, in the book "expenses of a sum of money ..." for the construction of the Holy Cross Church in Kaluga at the Kaluga Bishop's House, it is noted that money for the painting of some icons was given to "a painter to a full-time minister Fyodor Ivanovich Novikov" (GAKO. F. 33. Op. 3. Vol. 1. D. 160. "Decrees of the Senate, Synod, Kaluga the spiritual consistory of 1825-1827. Inventory of the property of the churches of the Kaluga Bishop's House on the territory of the Lavrentiev Monastery in 1827": A book of expenditure of the amount of money used for materials and works on the occasion of the construction of a stone chapel near the city of Kaluga in the Yamskaya Sloboda belonging to the Lavrentiev Monastery, which is now the Bishop's House: the temple in the name of the Holy and Life-giving Cross of the Lord. l.10 vol.), while the philistine Mikhail Fedorov Krasnoshchekov, who painted most of the icons for this church, is not called a "painter" (GAKO. F. 33. Op. 3. Vol. 1. d. 160. l. 8 vol.,. 10 vol., 12 vol., 13 vol.). In the inventories of some churches, picturesque icons are especially noted, especially if they are few and stand out in the interior.

Secondly, Kaluga icons for us are traditional iconography, both in their iconography and in the nature of the style. These features of the monuments of iconography in the testimonies of the XVIII and XX centuries were emphasized repeatedly. In his "travel notes" academician Vasily Fedorovich Zuev (1754-1794) notes that in Kaluga churches "the images and decorations inside are made more to the ancient taste than to the current one" ^{[10, p. 35]}. Already in the XX century, local historian A. D. Malinin, describing the Kaluga Znamenskaya Church, characterized the scene of the Last Judgment on its western wall as "characteristic, luxurious Byzantine iconography" ^{[21, p. 143]}. At the same time, he adds that according to the city legend, the author of the wall painting was a court artist of the era of Peter I, for some reason hiding in Kaluga. It turns out that the author means by this formulation painting in the tradition of the icon-painting workshop of the Armory, since it was for him conditionally "Byzantine", that is, old-fashioned in comparison with Western European religious art, but at the same time it is said that the master was a "courtier". The same meaning usually lies behind the definition typical for imperial Russia – "Greek writing" ^{[13, p. 11]}. The monuments of Kaluga iconography appear in the inventories of church property as examples of the "Greek" type: "The Church of the Hodegetria of the Most Holy Theotokos. The real one painted on the walls with Greek scripture ..." (GAKO. F. 33. Op. 3. d. 8. Inventory of the property of the churches of the city of Kaluga for 1800. Inventory of the city of Kaluga of the Church of the Hodegetria of the Most Holy Theotokos. l. 14); "The said Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord is stone, inside it there is a wall Greek scripture in Oltar, with the chapel of the Kazan Most Holy Theotokos ..." (GAKO. F. 33. Op. 3. D. 8. Inventory of property ... Inventory of the Church of the Transfiguration of the Lord, which is under the mountain. L. 26); "The altar is painted with Greek work" (GAKO. F. 33. Op. 3. D. 7. The book of the inventory of the property of the city Transfiguration Church (On Glubokoe) for 1800. l. 1). If in the XVI and XVII centuries. "Greek letter" often referred to imported post-Byzantine icons ^[43] In Modern Russia, this concept has become ambiguous, since the epithet "Greek" in Modern times was used to express such widely interpreted in practice ideas and concepts as "traditional", "old", "old-fashioned". For Empress Elizabeth Petrovna, the "Greek" letter, in contrast to the "picturesque", were icons painted in the tradition of the masters of the Armory with a strong touch of Baroque. Apparently, in the vocabulary of the Empress, the epithet "Greek" denoted a style that was perceived, firstly, as conservative and traditional (i.e., dating back to the last XVII century); secondly, as an alternative to the picturesque manner; thirdly, it could really be considered as art close to the late Balkan icon ^{[3, c. 76],[24, c. 63]}. Sometimes this term acquired the meaning of a euphemism for the designation of works of Old Believer iconography, which is also important for us to note. So, for the provincial inhabitants (for example, in the Simbirsk province), these are icons executed in the traditional style (read "Old Believers") and in compliance with a number of norms and principles of pre-schismatic iconography ^{[48, pp.7-8]}.

Iconographic features of Kaluga iconsFirstly, for researchers of the late icon, images of locally venerated saints and icons are important, albeit indirect markers indicating a particular region of origin of the monument.

Naturally, the Kaluga land is no exception (this aspect of the iconography of Kaluga icons is touched upon in the article by V. G. Putsko ^[35]). Full-scale or small figures of St. Tikhon or Blessed Lawrence of Kaluga, attributed in the margins, often appear on Kaluga icons. The same can be noted with respect to the venerated icons of the Mother of God in the region: Kaluga, "Quench the disease", "Recovery of the dead" and "From the troubles of the suffering" ^[12]. Multipart icons are especially indicative, where several locally venerable images or saints are combined in one pictorial space (Fig. 2). However, such iconographic details reflect only the peculiarities of the local pantheon, whereas iconographic originality also implies the presence of specific plots, local excuses or specific iconographic motifs that have been loved (perhaps formed) in the region. Therefore, we will try to briefly and consistently describe the characteristics of the local iconographic assortment. At the same time, it is important to take these features into account in the aggregate, since it is the sum of factors and related features that forms regional specifics.

Secondly, working in line with the general trends of Modern times, Kaluga icon painters experienced a strong influence of the Northern European engraving, which largely determined the appearance of the compositional structure and a set of pictorial motifs in their works. A clear evidence of this is the Piscator Bible with the owner's record of the outstanding Kaluga icon painter Semyon Faleev ^{[2, p. 88]}. Analyzing in her article the preserved wall painting of 1747 in the quadrangle of the Kazan Church "under the mountain", A. L. Pavlova demonstrated that "the Bible of Piscator served as the main model in painting for most compositions" ^{[30, p. 88]}. Another example of the use of engravings of the Piscator Bible by Kaluga masters is the icon of the Mother of God "Joy of All the Sorrowing" from 1792 from the collection of the GTG ^{[50, p. 138-139]}, the author of which used as a sample the first sheet from the series "The Lord's Prayer" (engraver Johannes Viriks, based on a drawing by Martin van Heemskerk), which is part of the Piscator Bible. In the XIX century, the presence of pictorial motifs drawn from the Piscator Bible and other Western European engravings is also felt. The influence of the Northern European engraving was also noted by us in the image of the Tri-Postas Deity (Fig. 3) from the collection of I. A. Sysolyatin ^{[45, pp. 96-97]}, written in 1802. "The closest to the monument under study seems to be the 1588 engraving by Raphael Sadaler "The Holy Trinity" modeled after Martin de Vos" ^{[45, pp. 96-97]} (compare with the image of the Trinity from the set of nine engravings "Virtutes Iesu Christi Filii Dei ..." on the website of the National Library of Spain: http://bdh-rd.bne.es/viewer.vm?id=5484 ). Echoes of European graphics are also found in the figures of soldiers in Roman armor and with a plume on the helmet, presented in manneristic angles, which can be seen, for example, on the icons of the Miracle of Blessed Lawrence of Kaluga (Fig. 4) and the Hieromartyr Kharlampy ^{[19, cat. 27, pp. 16-17, 88-89]} (fig. 5).

Thirdly, it is worth noting the influence of Little Russia, first of all, the Kiev influence (which was noted by V. G. Putsko ^{[36, p. 331]}). The fact is that the famous pilgrimage route to the shrines of Kiev ran through Kaluga, which caused the special popularity of Kiev saints and shrines: in Kaluga iconography, images of the Pechersk venerables, especially Saints Anthony and Theodosius, are quite common. You can also often see lists from the local icon of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra (Assumption of the Kiev-Pechersk Monastery), images of the Great Martyr Barbara, which, accordingly, is associated with the cult of the relics of this saint stored in Kiev. It is not surprising that a number of iconographic motifs and compositional techniques are borrowed by Kaluga iconographers from illustrations of liturgical and teaching books of the Kiev press ^{[41, p. 347],[6, p. 151],[7, p. 163, note 38]}.

Fourthly, the iconographic originality of Kaluga iconography was partly determined by the broad sympathies of the townspeople for the Old Believers and the neighborhood with the Chernihiv Old Believers' settlements, which was expressed in the frequent use of Old Believers' markers by Kaluga iconographers (pre-reform spelling, double-cross, pre-schismatic vestments of the saints, etc.). However, these features indicate not only that the icons belong to the Old Believers, but also the general tendency of Kaluzhans to pre-Reform piety, even if they formally belong to the dominant church ^{[51, p. 14-18],[17, p. 270-284]}. Icons of pre-Reform iconography, executed in a conservative style, could well be in demand by representatives of the official church, which was reflected even in specialized Old Believer confessional questionnaires addressed to icon painters ^{[22, p. 752]}.

Fifthly, there were also a few iconographic types that were in demand in Kaluga and almost unknown in other regions. For example, V. G. Putsko notes a tendency in the use by Kaluga icon painters of one of the types of iconography of the Mother of God "The Sign". We are talking about an excision in which the Mother of God is inscribed in a ring with heavenly powers, placed as if against the background of a four-pointed scarlet diamond-shaped glory with concave edges. In the triangular segments of scarlet glory peeking out from behind the blue ring, a tetramorph is depicted ^{[36, p. 336]}. V. G. Putsko gives an example of two monuments - the icon of the Mother of God the Sign from the Vozdvizhensky chapel of the Church of St. George "behind the top" (ca. 1701) ^{[26, p. 19, fig. 3]} (the article and its illustrations are also available in electronic format: [Electronic resource]. URL: https://antiqueland.ru/articles/374 / (accessed 21.04.2023)) and presumably the former temple icon of the Church of the Sign, "what's on the Green" (circa 1720), now stored in the Church of St. Nicholas on Kozinka (in high resolution, a snapshot of the icon is available on the website of the Church of St. Nicholas on Kozinka: URL: https://nikolo-kozinsky.ru/chtimyie-ikonyi (accessed: 04/21/2023)). Of course, the two monuments do not yet speak about the prevalence of torture, but it seems to us that this series can be supplemented with the image of Our Lady of the Sign from a private collection (Fig. 6), written in the 1810s (in the lower right corner the inscription "written awi [?] (181[?]) godi"), since the image easily fits into the style of Kaluga icons of the first quarter of the XIX century. We hope that further research will help to support this hypothesis of V. G. Putsko or will allow us to abandon it.

A number of monuments are being built, reproducing with varying degrees of detail the rather unusual and complex composition of the Theotokos iconography "Life-giving Spring". The earliest surviving examples of this series, directly related to Kaluga, is located in the Resurrection Military Cathedral of the village of Starocherkasskaya, where it was originally invested by the contributor (Fig. 7) (photographing the icon in detail can be seen on the website of the Resurrection Military Cathedral of the village of Starocherkasskaya ([Electronic resource]. URL: https://vsobor.ru/?p=716 (accessed 21.04.2023)). In the lower part of the icon there is a lengthy inscription, which reads that the image "... was copied in the city of Caligula from the image of the life-giving spring in 1756." This phrase clearly indicates the existence of some Kaluga icon of the same iconography created in the first half of the XVIII century ^[1],[18]. The inscription in the cartouche duplicates the date of creation – 1756 ("... written in 1756"). The iconographic type represented on the icon of the Resurrection Cathedral is reproduced on the icon from the local rank of the central iconostasis of the Church of St. Nicholas on Kozinka, dated by V. G. Putsko at the end of the XVIII century (before 1801) ^{[41, p. 346]}. An abbreviated version of the same iconography was reproduced on the icon of the Mother of God "The Life–giving Spring", created around 1824 (the icon dates from the chapel - about 1824 ^{[29, p. 865]}) for the iconostasis of the Forerunner chapel of the Church of George "behind the top" ^{[41, p. 348]}.

         We also came to the conclusion that there is a special kind of iconography of Christ the Almighty in Kaluga. This type is distinguished by a set of the following features: the right pigtail of Christ is thrown over the neck, while the left one descends to the shoulder; an elegant gesture with the little finger of the left hand holding the Gospel open and tilted, as it were; the distinctive features of the type are also the lower one, dressed under a chiton, a shirt with shoulders and a fold - the hall of the chiton to the right side the center of the cervical incision (Fig. 8). We see the search for protographs of this excision as promising for further research.

Attribution difficultiesThere are a significant number of icons in public and private collections that produce the effect of recognition, but do not have direct signs that help link these icons directly with Kaluga or Kaluga province.

We are referring to a common phenomenological perception that we share with other researchers. The presence of a visually readable specific system of signs forming the matrix of the artistic system is confirmed by a number of catalog descriptions in which certain icons are defined as "Kaluga" ^{[19, cat. 19, pp. 72-73; cat. 20, pp. 74-75],[11, cat. 130, pp. 338-339],[4, cat 151, p. 123]}. However, the lack of a clear and precise presentation of this system, as well as the individual specifics of visual perception of various researchers that are difficult to account for, give rise to contradictions in the attribution of icon painting monuments. For example, the image of the Hieromartyr Kharlampy in the life of the beginning of the XIX century (GRM. Inv. No. DRZH B-289) ^{[28, pp. 258-259, cat. 231]} by T.N. Nechaeva and M. A. Chernov is attributed as a work of Kaluga icon painters ^{[26, p. 63, fig. 94]}, whereas N. V. Pivovarova refers it to the icons of the Branch and Starodubye ^{[31, p. 250, note 113]}. Therefore, it is necessary to determine the principles and components of the phenomenon, which in total or in certain combinations make up the phenomenon we are studying as a whole.

As a rule, the attribution of monuments of late icon painting became more differentiated according to the process of identifying new (or rather forgotten) regional art centers. Controversial situations demonstrate terminal positions in the relationship between the larger and older center and the local direction that has emerged from it; geographically close centers (Mstera – Syzran, Yaroslavl – Romanov). In our case, as some researchers have noted, Kaluga is artistically and culturally close to other iconographic centers of the Pooch region ^{[13, p. 18]} as a single macroregion. That is why some works of Tula (about the influence of Kaluga iconography on Tula and the similarity of these two regional traditions: ^{[3, p. 135]}) and Serpukhov icon painters are sometimes difficult to distinguish from the works of Kaluga icons. For example, the icon of Our Lady of Kazan with 16 stamps from the Transfiguration Church in the village of Spas-Zagorye, Maloyaroslavetsky district, Kaluga region, painted in 1793 by Serpukhov icon painter Yakov Ikonnikov, is extremely close to the artistic language of Kaluga icon painters, namely the main painting-like direction in Kaluga iconography (see below) ^[47].

About the time of the formation of Kaluga icon paintingas an artistic system

From the second quarter of the XVIII century, we have received evidence of the appearance of local iconographic dynasties.

So, among the Kaluga icon painters of the first half of the XVIII century, there are two Faleevs – Fedor Semenov and Semyon Faleevs. The degree of relationship between Semyon Faleev and Fyodor Semenov Faleev has not yet been clarified. It is logical to believe that they were directly related and Fyodor Semenov was Semyon Faleev's son.  This opinion is shared by A. S. Preobrazhensky (the opinion was expressed in a private conversation) and A. L. Pavlova ^{[30, p. 99, note. 3]}, as well as I. A. Kochetkov ^{[46, p. 1085]}. The icons of the Faleev letters have also been preserved: the image of the Archangel Michael and the Trinity of the Old Testament hand of Fyodor Semenov Faleev and the icon of the Mother of God of Jerusalem by Semyon Faleev, painted in 1740 (Fig. 9). It is known that Semyon Faleev also painted a temple icon for the Annunciation Church. The compilers of the dictionary of icon painters ^[46] indicate that this icon is kept in the KHM (now KMII), but we did not find this icon in the funds of KMII. According to V. G. Putsko, the temple icon of the Annunciation Church, created by Semyon Faleev, is the icon of the Annunciation, now kept in a kiosk behind the right choir of the central chapel of the Church of St. Nicholas on Kozinka. This latest version seems more plausible to us ^{[36, pp. 340-341]} (a snapshot of the icon is available for viewing on the website of the Church of St. Nicholas on Kozinka: URL: https://nikolo-kozinsky.ru/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/Blagoveshhenie-2.jpg (accessed: 04/21/2023)).  We do not provide information about the icons of Semyon Faleev that have not been preserved or have not yet been found here.

Faleev's works, like other icons of the first half of the XVIII century ^{[26, pp. 19-26, fig. 3-7]} (or in electronic format: [Electronic resource]. URL: https://antiqueland.ru/articles/374 / (date of circulation 21.04.2023)) represent, in our opinion, quite high-quality examples of the tradition of the likeness with a tangible continuity to the high style of the icon-painting workshop of the Armory Chamber. However, there are still no obvious and expressive features that would allow us to talk about the existence of a separate regional artistic direction at this stage.

Certain changes in this issue occur only in the second half of the XVIII century. This is a common feature for many regional centers of Modern times. As a rule, the path to stylistic originality is associated with the unification of writing techniques, the development of a standard assortment of compositional cliches and pictorial motifs. Selective (individual pictorial motifs, color combinations) perception of the general artistic fashion for European styles (primarily Baroque, Rocaille and classicism) also determined the local originality of icon painting (for the reception of European styles in the late Russian icon, see: ^[16]).

Iconography and identity strategies

Nevertheless, already in the first half of the XVIII century, local craftsmen began to associate themselves with their city, as evidenced by the signatures on the icons ^{[46, p. 531, 839]}. Toponymic epithets in author's signatures are a characteristic feature of regional identity. In our opinion, regional identity is an important factor contributing to the development of local artistic tradition, because realizing themselves affiliated with a particular region, icon painters intentionally or arbitrarily try to stand out from their nonresident colleagues  there is not only a competition in quality, but also special stylistic differences that serve as a "brand". Similar processes are observed in the neighboring region – the Old Believer settlements of Chernihiv region – where the local icon-painting tradition gained fame even outside the confessional framework: sometimes the phrase "Klintsovskaya iconography" (according to the settlement of Klintsy) was used as a household name for all Old Believer iconography ^{[3, p. 171-173]}. The missionary Archpriest Timofey Verkhovsky also distinguished the local Starodub icon painting style. Describing the church in Churovichi, he notes that "the iconostasis is decent; icons of Sloboda, quite good iconography" ^{[5, p. 174]}.

However, in the matter of style in Kaluga until the 1760s, there is still too close a connection between Kaluga icon painting and the heritage of the Armory, so strong that it is difficult to call this art regional. At the same time, Kaluzhans in the second quarter of the XVIII century remain committed to the original old manner of painting, devoid of obvious Baroque influences in color and drawing. In contrast to Kaluga, in Moscow in the second quarter of the XVIII century, a progressive line of "traditions of the Armory Chamber" was developing. In icons of this new type, "the color system and techniques for depicting the folds of clothes are changing," and in the coloring, "the color dominant began to form a combination of rich blue and red colors, complemented by white, brown, pink, as well as gold and silver" ^{[9, p. 13-14; cat. 51, p. 132-133; cat. 52; pp. 134-135; cat. 57, pp. 146-147]}.

Since the 1760s, works have been appearing in Kaluga in which the presence of common features is felt. This transitional stage is connected with the process of transformation of the system of likeness, in which individual techniques acquire deliberate and stylized. This is influenced by the trends of European artistic fashion, perceived both directly and indirectly, for example, through graphic samples.

Among the prominent names of Kaluga icon painters of the second half of the XVIII century, it is worth mentioning Andrei Mikhailov, whose signature icon is kept in the collection of the GIM (with the signature: "Andrei son Mikhailov wrote this image of the Kaluga icon workshop" (Apostle Luke. Andrey Mikhailov. Kaluga (?), 1775 133 x 63 cm. GIM. Inv.: ND I-937; Number in the State Catalog: 22002202; ^{[13, p. 18, note 27]}). It is also worth noting Andrei Filippov ^{[13, p. 18, note. 27],[23, p. 10]} and Peter Dmitriev, whose hand belongs to the icon of the Nativity of Christ in 1796 from the collection of V. I. Mikhalevsky in Moscow ^{[3, p. 134, fig. 142]}. To the works of these masters, it is already possible to apply the criteria highlighted by Nechaeva and Chernov, according to which Kaluga icons have a special cold gamut with nuanced combinations of pink, blue and bluish color, a recognizable landscape landscape, as well as the rounded shape of the faces and general techniques for performing carnation ^{[26, p. 16, 19]}.

Indeed, in these and a number of other works of the last third of the XVIII century, some commonality is noticeable. We, in turn, will note those features that seem to us a sign of local taste: sometimes it is the shape of the figure, sharply narrowing from the hips to the ankles. The feeling of weightlessness of the figures is emphasized by small feet, often depicted decoratively, so that the figures seem to stand on their toes. In some variants, the process of stylization of painting-like forms tends in the opposite direction, and this is more common: the feet of the feet become more massive, the outlines of the hands show a tendency to some flattening; the forms of the body become more standardized, they are easy to decompose into separate motifs, from which various masters make up the landscape. These features are well read in the ensemble of icons of the iconostasis of the main chapel of the Church of St. Nicholas on Kozinka, created (taking into account the construction of the stone church in 1775 ^{[44, pp. 71-72]}) in 1775 – early 1780s (Fig. 10).

The commonality of the artistic language in the Kaluga monuments of the last third of the XVIII century, apparently, was formed by a number of factors. It also reflected familiarity with the iconographic art of the Old Believers of the Branch and Starodubye, as well as Little Russian iconography and book engraving.  The assimilation of aesthetic principles and individual features of large European styles is noticeable. Obviously, the system of guild craft associations, which included icon painters, also played a role. On the one hand, the system of craft standards, albeit conditional, contributed to additional attention to the work of colleagues, as well as the use of common samples, materials (which partially determined the commonality of tonal and color relations in the works of masters of one corporation), the formation of common principles of work. At the same time, the iconography of Kaluga, forming its own independent artistic style, did not become monotonous at all. Already at the end of the XVIII century, several stylistic lines begin to stand out.

The main stylistic trends in Kaluga icon painting Conditionally, at this stage of the study, we can identify the following areas (the subsequent classification is the fruit of our long-term observations, which will be described in detail in further publications) in local iconography, formed by the end of the XVIII century:

The first direction: similarThe main direction in the iconography of Kaluga, genetically going back to the likeness of the Armory, with a clearly noticeable reception of this artistic system through the aesthetics of provincial Baroque, classicism and already in the first half of the XIX century – Empire.

The formation of this stylistic line should be attributed to the 1760s-1790s, that is, to the period of Andrei Filippov's creative heyday.

Here it is worth noting the main markers of this artistic phenomenon, focusing on which, it would be possible to attribute the icon to the Kaluga icon painting tradition:

Firstly, these are keeled three-bladed completions of mullions. Of course, they are not unique to Kaluga iconography and are found on icons of an earlier time that are not directly related to Kaluga. However, it is in Kaluga that this detail will become a favorite and widely replicated. At the same time, in the first third of the XIX century, the typology of this element becomes more complicated – sometimes it acquires strictly geometric outlines of a stepped pediment, evoking associations with classical architecture.

Secondly, it is a characteristic landscape in the background. The horizon line is usually about the same level. The landscape features a typical set of shapes and elements: hills, hills, a broken tree trunk, small ledges and cliffs, a river or stream with a small bridge. In tonal and color execution, these landscape plans of Kaluga icons seem to inherit the traditions of the Armory, but still these old samples are now perceived through the prism of a simplified understanding of academic painting with its three-color ranking of near and far plans. Some elements speak of the reception of the culture of the bucolic landscape with a rocaille, sentimental and later romantic style orientation. By itself, such a landscape is also not a unique feature. Obviously, in this case we are dealing with the influence of the capital. A number of icons of the Moscow circle of the Elizabethan and Catherine eras demonstrate similar principles of depicting the landscape in the background.

Thirdly, we note the cumulus clouds depicted in the contour. This detail also refers to landscape forms, but we single it out separately, because it is extremely expressive and very often found in Kaluga icons.

Fourthly, it is the use of floral ornament with the motif of bouquets and roses, in which various influences can be seen: such details could be borrowed from European textiles used for sewing vestments; the influence of Ukrainian icon painting, in which similar motifs are found, is not excluded.

Fifthly, among the monuments of the first group, the use of white markings and white inscriptions of strict classicist font is noticeable.

Sixth, there is a cold color that distinguishes icons of this type from samples of other groups: there are various gradations of gray, light orange, bright blue, crimson, lilac.

Seventh, there is a typical technique of modeling the feet of feet shod in boots or other shoes. Masters often emphasize the anatomical structure of the foot with the help of gold-plated cuts. Gold highlights the arch of the foot, the thumb and the remaining four, which are perceived as a single volume.

Eighth, on the icons of the first and second groups there are decorated ornaments (to a greater extent this is typical of the icons of the Old Believers-priests of the south-western regions, however, it is also found on the Kaluga icons of the first group). At the same time, an ornament with a repeating motif of a curved stem is sometimes used for the decoration of fields, with a black lacquer finish on top of gold, which strongly resembles the decoration of fields on icons painted in the village of Pavlovo-on-Oka (compare the ornament of the Pavlovskys ^{[25, cat. 301, p. 423; cat. 306, p. 428; cat. 312, p. 434]} with an ornament of Kaluga icons – icons of St. John the Theologian in 1860 by the hand of Ivan Ivanov Kasalapov ^{[26, p. 66, fig. 100-101]} or the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (circa 1865) from the Church of St. Nicholas on Kozinka (a picture of the icon is available for viewing on the website of the Church of St. Nicholas on Kozinka: URL: https://nikolo-kozinsky.ru/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/nicola-3.jpg (accessed: 04/21/2023))).Here again it is worth recalling the thesis of N. I. Komashko, which includes the iconographic art of Kaluga in the context of the culture of the Pooch region as a macroregion ^{[13, p. 18]}. At the same time, the village of Pavlovo is located quite far from Kaluga – much downstream of the Oka, close to its confluence with the Volga.

The second direction: "starodubsky" or "Old Believers"

The direction is close and sometimes difficult to distinguish with high samples of iconographic products of Old Believer settlements and townships of Chernihiv region. On such icons you can find signs of iconography of Old Believers-beglopopovtsy:""motifs of flowers and bouquets", as well as decorative elements in the form of wreaths, garlands on the background, icon margins, sometimes on architecture ... the shape and method of modeling shoes and boots", etc. ^{[14, p. 35]}. Attribution in this case is complicated by the cultural and economic ties of the Kaluga Old Believers with their fellow Believers from Chernihiv settlements (M. P. Cheltsov in his article explores the almost detective story of the transfer of Priest Theodosius to the Branch of the ancient pre-schismatic iconostasis from Kaluga ^{[53, p. 25-29]}). So, based on archival data (RGADA. F. 248. Op. 29. d. 1766, 1797, 1838; Op.113. D. 1491; F. 7. Op. l. D. 555. L. 167 vol.), M. V. Pochinskaya points to the significant role of the Kaluzhans in the development of the Old Believer settlements of Chernihiv region: "As evidenced by the materials of the first censuses of Starodub settlements, immigrants from Kaluga accounted for a significant share among the settlers" ^{[34, pp. 11-12, 77, note. 150]}. Kaluzhans are periodically mentioned among the inhabitants of the Old Believer monasteries and the runaway priesthood that passed to the Old Believers ^{[15, p. 213]}. It is also known that from the first third of the XVIII century, Kaluzhans went to the Old Believers' monasteries located in the Bryn forests on the way to Starodubye from Kaluga to study icon painting: "The Bryn forests were famous for their great popularity, and many people went there in order to learn literacy or icon writing in the schismatic hermitages there. So the priest of Mozhaisk uyezd, the village of Prechistensky, before his admission to the clergy in 1710, lived abroad in the monasteries of Cyril's Consent, where he studied icon writing with elder Nikita for five months" ^{[51, pp. 25-26]}. At the same time, Starodub icons were often brought by Old Believers to Kaluga. For example, on the back of one icon from a private collection, executed in a typical Starodub manner, it reads: "The price is fifteen rubles // 15 ?= // Submit an icon of the ino//ki I Zmaragd in Kaluga ..." (Fig. 11, 12). In such circumstances, the geographical location of the icon's existence no longer has obvious evidentiary force.  In other words, if the icon belongs to this stylistic direction, then its Kaluga provenance (it was bought in Kaluga, is located in the Kaluga church) is not a strong argument in the question of attribution. All these data lead to the conclusion that the iconography of the Kaluga Old Believers is part of a broader tradition of iconography of beglopopovtsy of the south-west of Russia. Nevertheless, we believe that in Kaluga they could paint icons in a manner close to Starodubsky, but at a higher level and with a preference for a cold scale in color. Nevertheless, some icons can be isolated from the circle of iconography monuments of the Branch and Starodubye and associated with Kaluga. For example, the icon of the Most Holy Theotokos "Quench the sickness" from the collection of the temple of the Sign that "on the Greenery" (community of the Russian Orthodox Church) with a dating inscription (1773) (Fig. 13) can be defined as the work of Kaluga beglopopovtsy (in which we agree with the position of M. A. Chernov, who attributed the icon as Kaluga ^{[53, c. 8]}). According to iconographic features, it is close to the Old Believers' culture, and stylistically it is perceived as a monument combining features of both the Starodubskaya and the main trend in Kaluga iconography.

Icons of the Borovsk Old Believers do not fall into our classification. Oddly enough, Borovsk, being a major Old Believer center of Beglopopovites, has not formed its own artistic tradition (researcher M. A. Chernov holds a different opinion, but he has not yet published his research on this issue). However, to complete the picture, we will give some information about icon painting in Borovsk. It is known that in the last quarter of the XIX century, the icon-painting workshop of Maxim Ivanovich Isakov functioned in Borovsk ^{[32, cat. No. 179, pp. 357-359]}, the products of which seem to be something close to the icon-painting tradition of Guslits and Mstera. Apparently, these icons were designed for Old Believers-priests. In addition, we have heard references to the specific iconography of one of the local bespopovschinskih tolk. I. F. Tikhomirov mentions that Yevgraf Egorov – mentor of the "three-beginnings", which appeared in the 1860-1870s in Borovsk – himself supplied the adherents of his community with icons of his own writing, the appearance of which "was distinguished by a particularly rude and angry appearance of the depicted" ^{[51, pp. 167-168]}. Unfortunately, we have not yet been able to identify a group of monuments that could match this description.

The third direction Another direction is represented by a group of icons focused on the culture of the provincial Kaluga nobility and the higher clergy.

This group includes the family icon of the Kaluga noblemen Pyramidov (circa 1801) ^[7], the image of the martyr Anastasia and the righteous Anna in front of the icon of Our Lady of Smolensk (1829) by Kozma Zherdev ^{[7, p. 162, fig. 12]} and a tray icon depicting the Likhvinsky Pokrovsky Good Monastery (1818-1832) ^[6]. The artistic language of these works is closer to the Moscow iconography of the Catherine era and the two subsequent reigns. This is not surprising, since the cultural ties between Kaluga and Moscow were quite strong throughout the XVIII century and did not weaken in the XIX century. V. G. Putsko mentions a small icon of the Crucifixion from the sacristy of the Church of St. George "behind the top", the inscription on which reads: "the icon painter of the Moscow printing office wrote" ^{[37, p. 33]}. In the appearance of Kaluga icons of the third direction, a commonality of coloristic and tonal relations is felt, however, in the Kaluga version, Moscow features undergo some changes. They also show a closer connection with the great European styles of Modern times.

Kaluga icon painting in the second half of the XIX century

            Kaluga iconography of the second half of the XIX century largely remains terra incognita, since monuments of Kaluga iconography dating back to the time after the 1850s with the signatures of masters and annual or city stamps on salaries are almost not found. The most recent dated works, as if completing the heyday of the Kaluga icon-painting tradition, are a multi-part image depicting Russian saints of 1857, written by Kosma Mikhailov ^{[33, cat. No. 234. pp. 44-47]}, and an icon of John the Theologian in silence letters of Ivan Kasalapov of 1860 ^{[26, p. 66, fig. 100-101]}. Based on formal and stylistic features, it is not possible to single out a certain group of monuments expressing a later stage of the tradition's existence associated with the works of the first half of the century. Nevertheless, we believe that Kaluga icon painting as a definite phenomenon persisted, undergoing further transformations. Indirectly, this can be evidenced by even a few archival data (for example, "The statement of the Kaluga philistine Nikita Lvov Panov, who petitions for permission to produce icon-painting skills." GAKO. F. 278. Op. 1. d. 4. "The book of the Kaluga craft Council, based on protocols and sentences for 1880". l. 198 vol. No. 252. From October 6). However, we do not know in what manner this and other masters, whose names are found in the documents of the Chamber of Crafts, worked. They could paint icons in an academic manner or in the widespread manner of Vladimir icon-painting villages in the last quarter of the XIX century. Late, but unfortunately, single examples of Kaluga icon painting may be an icon with selected saints (it was exhibited at Jackson's auction on June 3, 2014 (lot 45) as an 18th-century Russian icon) (Fig. 14) and an image of the Bogolyubskaya Mother of God, dated according to the inscription in 1900 (1900 98 x 45 see KMII. Inv.: W 0935; Number in the State Catalog: 13686423). On the lower field of the last icon in a rectangular cartouche –frame there is an inscription indicating that the icon was created in 1900 and donated by the peasant Vasily Deagenovich Deagenov to the Paphnutiev Monastery.

            However, there are very few of these later works. They are almost absent in the assembly of the CMIA and in the churches of Kaluga. We can assume in this case that this scanty number of late icons, executed with the preservation, albeit in a transformed form, of the principles of local taste, is primarily due to the conditions of development of the market of iconographic products in the second half of the XIX century. Firstly, printed icons could seriously compete with local icon painters ^{[3, p. 394]}. Secondly, visiting icon painters, for example, paleshans, also became competitors. This process of migration of icon painters from old and large icon-painting centers is indicated by single archival evidence (for example, "The statement of a peasant of the Vladimir province of the Vyaznikovsky district of the Palekhov parish of the village of Terekhova, Semyon Vasiliev Glazunov, who petitions for permission to produce icon-painting skills." GAKO. F. 278. Op. 1. d. 4. The book of the Kaluga Craft Council... for 1880. l. 108. No. 124. Dated May 31). Thirdly, local icon painters could fall under the influence of other large centers or workshops, an example of which is the products of Maxim Ivanovich Isakov's workshop in Borovsk already mentioned above. Fourth, by the second half of the XIX century, the main iconostasis complexes and temple interiors were formed in Kaluga, since the time of active temple building had passed, and therefore there was no great need for local craftsmen.

ConclusionLet's summarize the above reasoning.

Kaluga as an iconographic center was formed due to a combination of a number of factors. The artistic language of this direction is based on a system of likeness, which makes the Kaluga icon–painting tradition related to a number of other art centers that were formed in a similar way - combining the legacy of the XVII century with the fashion for European styles. In 1760-1780, the local style was decorated, which was completed in the 1790s: this was the time of active contacts with neighboring centers, also marked by the creation of large iconostasis complexes.

Among the main features of Kaluga icon painting as a specific regional artistic phenomenon that can help in the process of attribution of monuments, the following can be distinguished:

1) traditional technique of multilayer tempera painting;

2) the traditionalism of the style, expressed in the inheritance of the principles of likeness (in contrast to the icons of the academic direction, it was perceived as "Greek", "Byzantine" or just old) and some elements of pre-reform iconography;

3) the use of a decorated ornament in the form of ring-bent shoots;

4) typical color combinations in the cold range: open blue, lilac, gray, light orange, crimson;

5) belonging to one of the three described stylistic trends in Kaluga iconography of the XIX century;

6) a set of the most frequent specific pictorial motifs: cumulus clouds in the contour, a three- or five-lobed arch completing the mullion, a characteristic floral ornament with roses;

7) the presence of images of locally venerated saints, venerated in the region of the origin of the Mother of God icons, the use of local origin of the iconography of the Mother of God "Life-giving Spring" and Christ the Almighty.

8) signatures mentioning toponyms (for example, according to the formula "Written in Kaluga ..." or otherwise);

In the second half of the XIX century Kaluga icon painting is going through a process of extinction. And if in other centers (in the Urals or in Starodubye) icon painting follows the path of standardization of techniques and simplification of the artistic language, then in Kaluga since the 1860s the production of icons in a recognizable local style has been sharply reduced.