Iconostasis sculpture of the XVIII century churches of the Slobodsky district of the Vyatka province from the collection of the Slobodsky Museum and Exhibition Center

Bykova Ekaterina Vasilevna ORCID: 0000-0002-6024-5398 PhD in Art History Associate Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, Sociology and Philosophy, Vyatka State University 610045, Russia, Vorovsky region, Kirov, Vorovsky str., 120, sq. 56 ev2_74@mail.ru

 Introduction.  The history of Russian wooden sculpture is controversial, as the Orthodox Church negatively treated round sculptures, comparing them to pagan idols.  One of the forms of the appearance of sculpture in the church decoration is the carved decoration of the iconostasis. In 1666-1667, the introduction of sculptural images of saints into the iconostasis was approved as mandatory rules. Later, it was clarified that "such statues were not prayer images, like traditional "icons on the resi", but only performed decorative and aesthetic functions ^[1]. Thus, the altar barrier appears as an expanded theatrical performance with many "participants", which corresponded to the Baroque style.  By the decree of Peter I of March 15, 1722, wooden sculptures, primarily St. Peter's, had to be removed from churches and chapels.Paraskeva, sv. Demetrius and George, while "not to use carved icons in churches, except for Crucifixes with elaborate carvings established" ^{[2, pp.293-295]}. However, the struggle against the carvings of saints did not meet with support from the parish clergy and parishioners. After the death of Peter I, the attitude of the Holy Synod to this issue changed: now "the honor of icons, both painted and carved, began to be the same" ^[3]. Previously seized wooden plastic was returned to the temples. Carpenters and carpenters resumed their active work in creating high carved iconostases with wooden sculptures. In the XVIII century, iconostases made in the style of Baroque, Rococo and classicism appeared^[4].  In 1835, a decree was issued "On the prohibition of carved images in the decoration of iconostases" ^{[5, pp.860-861]}, sculpture in iconostases was finally banned until the beginning of the XX century.  Due to the late rebuilding of temples, the interiors with iconostases have not been preserved to this day, but details of decorative carvings and plastics can be seen in museum collections of the Volga Region, the Russian North and the Urals^[6].

The purpose of this study is the attribution and introduction into scientific circulation of unique samples of iconostasis wooden sculpture – four figures of angels from the iconostasis of the church of the city of Slobodsky, Kirov region. Today, the collection of the Sloboda Museum and Exhibition Center contains 14 sculptures of angels and saints from the iconostases of the churches of the Sloboda district of the Vyatka province, which were found under the dome of the Annunciation Cathedral in Slobodsky in 1967. Stylistically, the wooden sculpture from the museum collection can be divided into four groups. One of them is four figures of angels, presumably the work of masters of Veliky Ustyug, as well as the work of local carvers, made under the influence of Ustyug residents.

Materials and methods. Wooden plastic, long deprived of its historical context, requires the collection of historical and cultural information about the creation and existence of iconostasis sculpture. The collection of provenance and dating based on technological and stylistic features is one of the methods of attribution of objects from the museum collection with unknown origin^[7].  The lack of photographic fixation makes it difficult to establish a connection between the wooden figures and the now-defunct iconostases to which they originally belonged. As studies of archival sources show, the preserved wooden plastic does not always correspond to the mentions of it in church inventories. A detailed description and comparative analysis of the manufacturing technique, the features of carving and painting allows us to establish the centers of production of such a sculpture and its influence on the artistic life of this region.

Today, stylistic analysis is of paramount importance for determining the chronological stages of the appearance of monuments of wooden sculpture in iconostases. Taking into account the pattern of development, interrelationships and sequences of styles of the XVIII century: conventionally called Old Russian, Baroque, classicism, "spontaneous realism" and primitive, it allows you to narrow the dating of individual sculptures to half a century and even a decade^[8]. It should be noted that the terms of styles in relation to wooden church sculpture are applied quite conditionally. Other historical, topographical and technological data are also involved in the attribution of the wooden sculpture.

The first descriptions of iconostases in the churches of the Vyatka province are found in the News of the archaeological commission ^[9]. In 1967, N.N.Serebrennikov's work "Perm Wooden Sculpture" was published, in which the researcher claims that there was no wooden sculpture in the neighboring Kirov region. He explains this by the history of colonization, the change of religious cult, the imposition of old beliefs on new ones, as well as the stronger influence of the church in the center ^[10]. It was this year that iconostasis wooden sculptures were found in Slobodsky, Kirov region. The refutation of N.N.Serebrennikov's statement was the results of an expedition by a group of researchers from the State Hermitage in 1967, where the churches of the former Sloboda and Vyatka counties were examined, a wooden iconostasis sculpture was recorded, which entered the Hermitage collection – two figures of angels^[11]. A preliminary study of iconostasis sculpture was initiated by the author of this article, described in the article "Iconostasis sculpture of the XVIII century."^[12]. Over time, the data were refined, the proposed attribution was carried out in the context of comparative and stylistic analysis.

 The Slobodskoy district of the Kirov region, where the sculpture was found, belonged to the district of the same name in the Vyatka province, it was bordering the Perm lands. Thus, the study of the collection of Perm sculpture in the Perm State Art Gallery allows us to make a comparative analysis of the technology of making wooden plastics ^[8,10,13]. Since the 17th century, merchants and clergymen have maintained close contact with Ustyuzhans. In the XVII – XVIII centuries, about 20 multi-tiered high iconostases were erected in the cathedral and monastery temples of Ustyug the Great and Solvychegodsk, according to church inventories there were more than three hundred sculptural images ^[14,15]. These cities have become major centers of iconostasis and sculptural woodcarving. From Veliky Ustyug, artels of masons came to the Vyatka land to build churches, icons were ordered, and iconostases were also made^[16].  When identifying artistic connections based on preserved documents and scattered iconostasis sculptures of the XVIII century, researchers face another difficulty in establishing the source of iconography and prototype samples from which the masters worked ^[17].

The famous researcher of folk art N. N. Sobolev wrote about the provincial carving of iconostases, describing the artistic phenomena of the XVIII century: "This is the age of sculpture made of wood…However, in provincial iconostases the composition lacks the grace and lightness that distinguish the works of this style ..."^[18]. This remark of the researcher is also relevant for the sculpture collection in the Slobodsky Museum.

The results of the work. In 1907, Alexander Veshtomov, a historian who studied the Vyatka Region, wrote: "Novgorod traditions of carpentry and carving have been preserved in the counties where the first settlements of Novgorodians were (Slobodskoy and Shestakovo are among the first settlements in Vyatka province). Only Vyatka carpenters and carvers make and cut church iconostases" ^{[19, p. 11]}.  Woodworking of the inhabitants of Vyatka and Slobodsky occupied a special place. Household furniture and utensils were made of wood, residential houses and utility rooms, boats and defensive fortifications, walls of monasteries and churches were cut down. Archaeological excavations have uncovered a variety of carpentry and carpentry tools, axes and saws, chisels, chisels and drills. In Vyatka, they followed the achievements of Ustyug residents, went to Ustyug to study "stone" and icon painting skills.  For example, in 1758, the protopope of the Sloboda Transfiguration Cathedral, Fedor, and the icon painter A.Ryazantsev "asked for their release to the city of Ustyug for further provision and copying... in that city and the holy churches of icon art, against which the city of Slobodsky merchant Ivan Platunov ordered his icon painter... to paint the prescribed cathedral church." (TSGAKO f.237.op.82, 176) Ustyuzhans signed contracts for the construction of churches in the middle of the XVIII century on the territory of the entire Vyatka diocese. Later, under the influence of the Ustyug masters, the Vyatka school of Baroque temple architecture was formed ^[20]. The iconostases were made by local carvers, but craftsmen from Veliky Ustyug were also invited. At the same time, it should be borne in mind that the iconostases deteriorated over time, they were redone or replaced with new ones in accordance with the regulations of the Synod, the style of the era in which the next church interior was created. The old iconostasis was dismantled and sent to other churches, left in a warehouse or closet of the church. Sculptures from various iconostases were discovered and transferred to the funds of the Sloboda Museum of Local Lore.

Angels with scrolls. A pair sculpture. XVIII century .

Slobodskoy Museum and Exhibition Center.

Paired figures of angels with scrolls (SMK OF8562/1; SMK OF8561/8). Sculptures of angels with scrolls in their hands are made of pine, in the shape of an ark. The dimensions of the sculptures: SMK OF8562/1 -136x109x20; SMK OF 8561/8 -132x75x17. The images are paired. The three parts were connected by dowels. The face was cut out separately and attached to the joint. The weight of the tree is lightened, large depressions are made in the block, which exactly correspond to the protrusions on the front side of the sculpture. The plane of the depressions has not been processed. They retain large spoon-shaped recesses with incisor marks, which interrupt the length of the fibers and are an additional means of protecting wood from warping and cracks. As the restorers note, for the Old Russian polychrome wooden sculpture, a characteristic feature of its manufacturing technology is multi–frequency^[21].

There are halos with cut edges above the angels' heads. The sculptures of angels were solved in flat relief, this required additional finishing from the carver in the form of decoration and ornamental composition of plastic forms, especially in robes. Ornamental cuts play the role of inserts, belts, frames that shade the surface of the material. The silhouette of the angels' figures is softly outlined. The lines of the robes echo the slow rhythm of the movements. The head and arms of the angels are modeled voluminously, the faces are especially carefully executed with miniature elaboration of details. The robes are made in low relief, the carver made crescent-shaped cuts on the folds of the robes. The arches of the recesses on the robes and the sharp volume changes gave the static figures the necessary elasticity of movement, enhancing their decorative effect.  This creates the effect that all the robes are made of feathers. The robes are worked out in large round folds – the layering, volume, dynamism correspond to the Baroque style in which the interior decoration of the Vyatka temple was created in the XVIII century. In the presented iconostasis sculpture, we can observe the manifestation of the traditions of ancient Russian plastics in the form of flat relief solutions and Baroque forms through the dynamics of the lines of clothing and hands.   The wings are elaborately carved. Their shape of smooth lines resembles the wingspan of birds. The herringbone cuts on the wings complement and give a plastic softness, emphasizing the originality of the wood texture. The feathers on the wings are given an ornamental order. Before applying the levkas, the wood was waxed. All the sculptures were painted or gilded. Unfortunately, the colorful layer with levkas has been lost. Some details have also been lost, for example, the part of the hand in which the angels held the Crucifixion frame.  A sculpture of this size could be in a five-tiered or six-tiered iconostasis. The figures of Angels with scrolls were obviously part of the same complex with sculptures of angels in prayer, as well as with the composition of the Crucifixion in the top of the iconostasis.

Making a comparative analysis, it can be noted that the figures of angels are similar to the angels from the Church of the Ascension of Veliky Ustyug of the XVII century, the interior of which was restored after a fire in 1745^[22]. In the book "Russian Wooden Sculpture" it is assumed that during the restoration of the iconostasis of the XVII century, new figures of angels were executed to replace the lost ones^[23], perhaps at the same time there were sculptures of angels in Sloboda county. In comparison with the Ustyuzha angels, which are now in the State Museum of Fine Arts and the Vologda Museum of Local Lore, wooden angels from the Sloboda Museum are smaller in size, more static, as can be judged by the position of their legs and wings. The manufacturing technology is identical, as is the composition and decoration of the garments.

Thus, sculptures with scrolls in their hands were made in the XVIII century by craftsmen from Veliky Ustyug, as evidenced by comparative stylistic and technological analysis.

Figures of angels in prayer. XVIII century .

Slobodskoy Museum and Exhibition Center.

Figures of angels in prayer (SMK OF8562/7; SMK OF8561/6)

The figures are made of pine, in the shape of an ark. The size of the sculptures:  SMK OF8561/7 -129x90x15; SMK OF 8561/6 -129x73x15.

The images are paired, they were probably in the same iconostasis. They stood symmetrically from the frame with the Crucifix. The figures of the angels are depicted strictly frontally. They are made less skillfully, but according to the technological methods of manufacture, it can be assumed that the carvers saw the works of Ustyug masters, and perhaps made a sculpture under their guidance.

 The lines of the robes convey the erratic rhythm of the folds falling to the legs.  There is no movement in the figures of angels, they are static. There is no naturalness in the composition of the figure of angels. The faces are made roughly, stereotypically in the Baroque style, elongated, with plump cheeks, reminiscent of features of peasant faces with exaggerated emotionality, doll-like immobility.  O.M.Vlasova called such a sample of sculpture a "Baroque primitive" ^{[17, p.44]}. In this version, the Baroque provincial primitive merges with the lubka culture.

As V.N.Prokofiev noted, a "romantic-idyllic" version of the primitive is being created^[24].  

Thus, the works of Ustyug craftsmen influenced the carvings of local carvers, who for a long time used flat-relief carvings and repeatedly repeated the plastic form of Velikoustyuzhsky angels.

Conclusions. Historically, the established ties of the Vyatka people with the northern Russian cities of Veliky Ustyug, Vologda, Totma, as well as Novgorod left their mark on the development of the artistic culture of the Vyatka region, as evidenced by historical and material sources.

After analyzing the sculptures from the collection of the Sloboda Museum and Exhibition Center, conclusions can be drawn. Two figures of angels were in the iconostasis and held a frame with a Crucifix. According to the manufacturing technology and stylistic features, the sculpture is close to the work of the Ustyug masters of the middle of the XVIII century. Two other figures of angels were made by local carvers in the XVIII century.  

The preserved monuments of iconostasis sculpture testify to the influence of the northern schools on local carvings, in the times of Veliky Ustyug. The analysis of the wooden iconostasis confirms that wooden iconostases were made in the Sloboda district under the influence of Ustyug craftsmen. This is manifested in the technological features of manufacturing and carving techniques. It should be noted that in the second pair of sculptures of angels in prayer, the features of provincial Baroque are clearly expressed in the context of considering the folk primitive in wooden plastic.

Further study of the museum's collection will allow us to restore the peculiarities of the development of the craft of carving iconostases, identify their stylistic features and reconstruct the interiors of temples, as well as reconstruct the iconostasis in the museum's exposition.