KIRA KORNILOVICH

"ARTS OF RUSSIA"

FROM THE ORIGINS TO THE END OF 16th CENTURY

Wydawnictwo - NAGEL PUBLISHERS

Liczba stron - 186

Stan - dobry+

OPIS:

Through the ages Russia has been a meeting-place of many cultures and many races. In ancient times the Scythians, Sarmatians and Avars were masters of a highly developed ornamental art, exemplified by a wealth of jewelry, wood-carvings and figured embroideries. The racy style of these works, imbued with a love of the fantastic and the marvellous, testifies to the artistic genius of these nomadic peoples.

After the dark centuries of the early Christian era, Russian art was reborn with the founding of the principality of Kiev. Churches were built in Kiev, Novgorod and Yaroslavl, with characteristically onion-shaped domes, and their walls were decorated with mosaics and frescoes by Theophanes the Greek.

Clearly inspired by Byzantium, this medieval art gradually assumed in the course of centuries a specifically Russian character. Then came the great age of icon-painting, seen at its best in the work of Andrey Rublev. In architecture, the domed church of Byzantine origin gave place to a new form: the pyramid-shaped church inspired by the wooden churches of Northern Russia. The finest example of this style is the Cathedral of the Ascension at Kolomenskoye.

From the end of the 15th century and the beginning of the 16th, the influence of Western Europe began to make itself felt. This influence is particularly evident in the architectural style of the Kremlin in Moscow.

A leading authority on the subject, well known in the USSR, Mrs Kira Kornilovich traces the evolution of Russian art with skill and discernment. An nabundance of illustrations accompanies the text, enabling the reader to familiarize himself with the finest works of art that have come down to us from old Russia.