Precious Ornaments on Old Russian Icons: Evidence of Carved and Cast Images from the Thirteenth Century Cover Image

Драгоценные украшения на древнерусских иконах по «свидетельству» резных и литых образков XIII века
Precious Ornaments on Old Russian Icons: Evidence of Carved and Cast Images from the Thirteenth Century

Author(s): Irina A. Sterligova
Subject(s): History, Archaeology, Cultural history, Visual Arts, Middle Ages, 13th to 14th Centuries, History of Art
Published by: Издательский дом Stratum, Университет «Высшая антропологическая школа»
Keywords: Old Russian icons; thirteenth century; precious ornaments; carved and cast images
Summary/Abstract: The iconography of a number of small Old Russian icons from the first third of the thirteenth century, made of stone, clay or copper alloy, confirms the tradition, known from written sources, of votive ornaments in the form of gold and silver collars, both wound and sickle-shaped, on particularly venerated icons. The paper examines the sources of this tradition and the influence upon it of international contacts: similar ornaments on sacred images may be traced in Western Europe and among the Cumans. The miniature icons that have been discovered, which reproduce the form of the most venerated icons, supplement our idea of the religious art of Old Rus’, the canon of which was received from Byzantium, but was realised in an original manner, reflecting local realities and artistic tastes.