“The Inner State of the Human Heart During a Righteous and a Sinful Life”: A Manuscript and a Modern Lubok of the Chasovennye Old Believers on the Yenisei

В статье рассматриваются источники формирования визуального образа в старообрядческой лицевой рукописи матушки Македонии, созданной в 1950-1960-е гг. на Енисее, и современном лубке «Внутреннее состояние сердца человеческого при жизни праведной и греховной», нарисованном в 2011 г. в женских монастырях староверов-часовенных на Дубчесе в Красноярском крае. Сравнение вербального и визуального текстов в книге «Сердце человеческое», изданной большими тиражами в России в XVIII-XX вв., с одноименной лицевой рукописью м. Македонии, найденной в экспедиции в 2019 г., позволило установить прототипы копирования и переработки материалов для создания настенного листа. Впервые в научный оборот вводятся два письменных источника старообрядческой культуры середины ХХ-XXI вв. - лицевая рукопись и настенный лист, свидетельствующие о сохранении книжной и лубочной традиций при кардинальных трансформациях культурного пространства и времени в условиях развития современных технологий. Антропология лубка раскрывается через интерпретацию образа Человека и его «внутреннего состояния сердца», размышления о выборе жизненного пути - праведного и греховного. Компаративный анализ и комментирование картинки позволяют описать мироощущение и восприятие изобразительного источника. В целом традиция переписывания книг и создания народной картинки актуальна в старообрядческих общинах на Енисее, выполняет дидактическую и коммуникативную функции, о чем свидетельствуют рассказы информантов и артефакты, найденные в экспедициях Красноярского края. This article examines the source of the visual imagery in an Old Believer illuminated manuscript of Mother Macedonia, created in the 1950s-1960s on the Yenisei River, and in the modern lubok “The Inner State of the Human Heart During a Righteous and a Sinful Life,” drawn in 2011 in Chasovennye Old Believer female monasteries on the Dubches River in the Krasnoyarsk Territory. Comparison of the illuminated manuscript with the book “The Human Heart,” published in large editions in Russia in the 18th - 20th centuries, reveals the materials used in creating the lubok. These two written sources, the illuminated manuscript and the lubok, that are here introduced to scholarship, testify to the perseverance of the book and lubok traditions despite fundamental changes in culture and technology. The anthropology of the lubok is revealed in the image of the “inner state of the heart,” reflecting a person’s choice of life path, righteous or sinful. Comparative analysis and commentary on the image allow us to better understand the worldview and perception of those who created it. In general, the tradition of copying books and creating popular prints is alive among the Old Believer communities on the Yenisei and performs didactic and communicative functions, as also evidenced by the stories of informants and artifacts found on expeditions in the Krasnoyarsk Territory.

Application of Multispectral Imaging and Portable Spectroscopic Instruments to the Analysis of an Ancient Persian Illuminated Manuscript

Illuminated manuscripts are, in general, the final products of a wise and complex interaction of different competencies. In particular, each manuscript reflects uses and techniques rooted in the historical and geographical traditions of the area of realization. Defining the characteristics and the materials in these valuable artefacts is an essential element to reconstruct their history and allow a more precise collocation and a possible comparison with other works in similar periods and areas. Non-invasive methods, mainly using portable instruments, offer undoubtedly good support in these studies. Recent analyses of an ancient Persian illuminated manuscript, combining multispectral imaging and spectroscopic measurements made with portable instruments (XRF, FORS, micro-Raman, IR-ATR) on selected points, provided new data for an improved understanding of this rare book. This study details the possibilities offered by combining these non-invasive methods for an in-depth understanding of the techniques and practices behind the realization of Middle Eastern illuminated manuscripts and provided new perspectives for multidisciplinary approaches to research in this field.

The Old Testament Prophecy of the Resurrection of the Dry Bones between the West and Byzantium

The imagery of the vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezek 37. 1–14) still fascinates theologians and historians of religion with its exegetical and liturgical significance. Rarely represented in medieval art, the iconography of this singular topic related to the Last Judgment deserves closer attention on the part of art historians. The aim of the present contribution is to remedy this situation by offering an analysis of the main pictorial representations of Ezekiel’s prophecy within the medieval East and West. This paper examines the evolution of the theme from the first pictorial evidence from Mesopotamia through the Roman late antique funerary sculpture into the Catalan and Germanic illuminated manuscript production from 11th and 12th centuries. Then, the field of the investigation broadens by taking into consideration the Byzantine artistic patterns of Ezekiel’s vision of the resurrection of the dead. Finally, this paper accents the multilayered contribution of the mural paintings from the Balkan cultural field. In order to reconsider this subject through the prism of the artistic interactions between East and West, the continuity of an ancient pictorial tradition that seems to have been previously neglected is highlighted.

The Stylistic Peculiarities of the Illuminated Manuscript Sermon of Palladii the Monk in Old Believer Book Culture

Images of the Last Judgement in the eschatological writing Sermon of Palladii the Monk attracted the interest of Old Believer scribes as a visual proof of the truth of their faith. In the epoch when the Last Judgement was intensively anticipated (the second half of the 17th and the 18th centuries), illuminated Old Believer manuscripts were especially popular and significant. In different regional centres of Old Belief, rules for decorating such manuscripts were developed. The means of formulating and spreading visual information were distinct in terms of colour, the way in which narrative details were drawn, and the general composition. Using the illuminated manuscript Sermon of Palladii the Monk as an example, one can trace these stylistic distinctions. As a result of a comparative analysis with fifteen other illuminated manuscripts, it is possible to define four sustained styles used in the creation of this artefact. The “Northern Letters” style (present among the priestless Old Believers of the Russian North, the Urals, Sibe-ria, and Central Russia) is distinguished by the particular combination of colours (the combination of bright red, green and their shades) and the templates used to paint the pictures. The “Volga” style (which united different regions of the Volga, such as Irgiz, Nizhny Novgorod, Gorodets, Kerzhenets, Saratov, and others) stands out due to the richness and variety of the colours, which ranged from light and airy to bright and catchy, like purple and violet. Developing at the beginning of the 19th century in the Urals, the “Shartash” style includes decorative elements from the artistic schools of Pomor’e, Vetka, and Guslitsa. Often, these miniatures resemble lubki in terms of their narratives, fragmentation of the plot, and numerous explanations. Among the priestless Old Believers, the so-called “Baroque Rocaille” style was widespread: this contained elements from the art of the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries (such as Baroque and Rococo). These reflected the desires of scribes and artists to take into account modern developments, thereby keeping up with the times. Examining in paral-lel several different manuscripts and their characteristic features allows us to see the repeatability of individual stable forms of composition, as well as the breadth of the colour choices and the artistic qualities of the manuscripts. As the size of the study base increases, new information on the characteristic iconographic attributes of Sermon of Palladii the Monk will become available.

The 1373 Mas̲navī of Tāj al-Dīn Shaykh Ḥusayn Bey

The fourteenth century saw the production of innumerable Islamic manuscripts, many of which were extensively and expertly illuminated. The period is well-studied, in particular, the products of the ateliers of Baghdad, Tabriz, Shiraz and Cairo. This article concerns a manuscript from a less well-known production centre, namely that of Erzincan. This manuscript is a copy of Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī's Mas̲navī produced in 774/1373. Although discussed briefly in previous scholarship (and attributed to Erzincan), there is much more to say about this skilfully and extensively illuminated manuscript. This article examines the manuscript's text, codicology, illuminations, inscriptions and wider historical context. In doing so, it substantiates the manuscript's connection to Erzincan and adds to the growing body of literature concerning the arts of the book of thirteenth- and fourteenth-century Rūm.