Królestwo Boże (Józefa Czapskiego podróż do Hiszpanii w roku 1930)

The author of the article describes a trip to Spain made by Józef Czapski in 1930. This outstanding painter and essayist, witness to the Katyń massacre, co-creator of the Parisian magazine "Kultura" [Culture] and Polish intellectual life in exile, at the time of visiting Madrid and its nearby areas for nearly two months was still a young artist, looking for the painting poetics closest to his soul. The visits to the Prado brought him two great discoveries: the works of El Greco and Goya. For Czapski, El Greco is a captivating example of religious painting and simultaneously – fidelity to the vision, the way of seeing the world. Goya fascinated Czapski with the thematic and stylistic range of his art – from “official” court portraits to dramatic records of nearly surreal visions, reflecting the artist’s fundamental belief in human depravity. The trip to Spain also had another meaning for Czapski – it was in a way a journey in the footsteps of St. Teresa of Avila, broadly: a reflection on the role of mystical experience in the spiritual life of man. From these two perspectives: artistic and religious, the encounter with the Spanish culture appears to be one of the more important and fateful episodes in the biography of Józef Czapski.

The peculiarities of modern religious painting in the Crimean temple architecture of (on the example of Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Simferopol and Saint Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos)

The traditions followed by people throughout history underlie the development of the culture of monumental art, forming the continuity of generations, memory and traditions of temple architecture of the Crimea. The topic of religious monumental painting draws interest of the researchers. The object of this article is the Crimean religious monumental and decorative art; while the subject is the peculiarities of modern religious painting in Alexander Nevsky Cathedral in Simferopol and Saint Vladimir Cathedral in Chersonesos. The goal is determine the modern artistic-aesthetic form of temple painting carried out by the experts of monumental and decorative art, as well as the command of the unique languages of creative reinterpretation of wholeness. Temple religious painting is explored on the works of the modern artists of monumental religious painting, using the analysis of the academic style of painting, use of classical canons in images of the figures, artistic-stylistic, thematic, unique systems in the ornamental painting. The author determines the characteristics of the image such as material texture and plastic modeling of artistic form, which allows combining the modern wall paintings of the Crimean Orthodox churches of into a holistic system of material and spiritual values. The crucial theoretical-methodological vector of research is interweavement of the methods of culturology and art history, which reveals the techniques and peculiarities of academic painting in temple architecture.

Materializing the Invisible: Landscape Painting in Viceregal Peru as Visionary Painting

Landscape painting in Peru typically does not receive much attention from critical dis-course, even though the adoption of the Flemish landscape by Andean viceregal painters became a distinctive feature of Peruvian painting of the second half of the 17th century. Considered a consequence of a change in the artistic taste of viceregal society, the landscape was perceived as a secondary element of the composition. In this article, we will analyze the inclusion of the Flemish landscape in Andean religious painting from another critical perspective that takes into account different spiritual processes that colonial religiosity goes through. We analyze how the influence of the Franciscan and Jesuit mysticism created a fertile ground where landscape painting could develop in Peru. The Andean viceregal painters found in the landscape an effective way to visualize suprasensible spiritual experiences and an important device for the development in Peru of a painting with visionary characteristics.

Genetic diseases in religious painting

The attention paid to Trisomy 21, a genetic condition described by Langdon Down in 1866, is due to concerns about establishing the age of this pathology during evolution. Due to the synergy between medicine and art history, it is possible to reconstruct the diseases that have characterized the most a certain historical period as well as the perception of the population towards them. Using iconodiagnosis, namely studying works of art through medical imaging, it was found that in Europe, during the Renaissance, Trisomy 21 was represented by Italian and Flemish painters in religiously inspired paintings.

Artistic peculiarities of Nikolay Koshelev’s church painting

This article is dedicated to the works of the Russian artist Nikolay Koshelev of the turn of the XIX – XX centuries in the genres of religious and church painting. The introduction of the principles of historicism and realism into the Russian culture of the XIX century discovered a new perspective on religion themed easel paintings, church art and iconography, as well as created opportunities for the new content and formal means for depicting the subjects of painting. The article leans on the monumental cycle “The Passion Journey of Christ” by Nikolai Koshelev for the Church of Saint Alexander Nevsky in Jerusalem. The article traces the complex intertwinement with of the features of church painting with the features of academic easel religious painting in the context of artistic culture of the turn of the XIX – XX centuries. The detailed analysis of the monumental cycle of “The Passion Journey of Christ” at the Alexander Metochion in Jerusalem (created between 1890 and 1900)  reveals certain peculiarities of the artistic form of Nikolay Koshelev's works in the context of Russian church and religious painting of the XIX - early XX centuries. This topic should be viewed in relation to the general problems of modernization of public consciousness and cultural life in Russia of that time.

THE ITALIAN-STYLE AL FRESCO PAINTING THE RESURRECTION OF CHRIST IN I. S. TURGENEV’S FATHERS AND CHILDREN

The article focuses on the unsolved mystery of the novel by I. S. Turgenev Fathers and Children — the Italian-style al fresco painting The Resurrection of Christ, located above the entrance to the church at the entrance to the Odintsova estate. None of the researchers and commentators of Turgenev’s novel were puzzled by the question: what does “Italian-style” mean in the Easter image? Meanwhile, Turgenev directly points out that, instead of the gateway Orthodox icon, there is a religious painting The Resurrection of Christ (al fresco painting) in the church, where both the sacrament itself and the outsider witness (“a swarthy warrior in a spiked helmet in the foreground”) are presented. In the Orthodox Easter iconography, however, an outside figure is an unacceptable detail, and the sacrament of the Resurrection as the highest sacred reality in accordance with the spirit and letter of the Gospel was not depicted. The Easter sacrament was replaced by the scene of the Descent into Hell, but such an icon was still called Resurrection. Meanwhile, canonically, the procession of Christ is captured, when the Savior does not descend into hell, but rises from there on the icon of the Resurrection of Christ/Descent into Hell: he leads Adam and other biblical heroes out of the underworld by “grabbing of the wrist.” In this way, the Resurrection of Christ begins with the salvation of man, with co-resurrection. In the value and semantic space of the novel, the Orthodox icon of the Resurrection of Christ/Descent into Hell is concealed behind the “Italian” fresco-veil. If Turgenev knows the “Italian” semantics of the Resurrection, then it is quite natural that the author is more familiar with the semantics of the Orthodox icon from liturgical recollection and makes it covertly actual. The behind-the-scenes presence of the icon of the Resurrection of Christ/Descent into Hell and everything that is liturgically and theologically associated with it and experienced transubs the structure of Fathers and Children. The Easter hierotopy of the novel, outlined by the Orthodox icon and supported by the prayerful hopes of the finale 1) creates a very special, breathtaking and enlightening value space, correlated with eternity, the infinity of the spiritual, which affirms, elevating all present to endless life through participation; 2) sets up the supertext dimension, gives rise to the motive of transcendental hope: “You will not leave my soul in hell”; 3) and also strengthens the Russian word as the Christocentric foundation of Russian culture.

PAINTING BY I.I. MIKHAILOV “ANDREI DIONISIEVICH, PRINCE MYSHETSKY” (1930S). SYMBOLS OF RELIGIOUS PAINTING AND THE IDENTITY OF RUSSIAN OLD BELIEVERS IN POLAND

The article is concerned with a religious painting by Ivan Ipatievich Mikhailov “Andrey Dionisevich, Prince Myshetsky”, created in the 1930s. The main idea of the article is to show the aesthetic and didactic functions of art. The study employs an interdisciplinary approach that contributes to a better comprehension of the picture: the iconographic, iconological and iconic methods are complemented by the analytical history of culture. The analysis allows concluding that 1) the painting reveals a direct connection with the national Russian-Old Believers culture in Poland in the 1930s; 2) the painting depicting the Vygovsky leader and celibacy advocate A. Denisov, in a direct and paradoxical way also served to strengthen the special ideology of married Pomortsy (the most moderate trend among Old Believers – Bespopovtsy) in Poland in the 1930s; 3) Mikhailov’s “Andrey Dionisevich” was an original work, and not just a reproduction (of an earlier engraving), since through the “seeing vision” (an important term in the iconology by M. Imdal) it acquired a new meaning. The hero of the early Old Belief A. Denisov for the first time became a particularly important religious figure and a fellow for the married Pomortsy of Poland in the first half of the 20th century. In other words, the “seeing vision” allowed to cover both the subject of the picture itself, and the artist or viewer who saw it anew (comprehended, understood).

El pintor Bienvenido Brú: contribuciones al estudio de su figura y de su obra en Navarra

RESUMEN El presente artículo acercará el periplo vital y la producción artística del maestro y pintor Bienvenido Brú, natural de Valencia y asentado en Pamplona desde 1870. Este artista trabajó como profesor de dibujo en el Instituto Provincial de Pamplona, en la Escuela de Artes y Oficios de la misma ciudad y en un colegio privado. A la par, participó activamente en el movimiento cultural y artístico de la Navarra del último tercio del siglo XIX, a través de encargos y actuaciones diversas que intentamos reflejar en este trabajo. Su producción artística, dedicada básicamente al retrato y la pintura religiosa, es escasa y se inscribe en una estética decimonónica y academicista. Bienvenido Brú falleció en Valencia en 1897. LABURPENA Artikulu honen bidez, ezagutzera ematen da Bienvenido Brú maisu eta margolariaren bizi-ibilbidea eta ekoizpen artistikoa. Jatorriz Valentziakoa bazen ere, Iruñean kokatu zen 1870etik aurrera. Artista hau marrazketako irakasle aritu zen Iruñeko Institutu Probintzialean, hiri horretako Arte eta Lanbide Eskolan eta ikastetxe pribatu batean. Aldi berean, era aktiboan parte hartu zuen Nafarroako kultur eta arte mugimenduan, xix. mendearen azken herenean, askotariko enkargu eta jarduketak egin baitzituen. Lan honetan, saiatu gara horiek agerian jartzen. Bere ekoizpen artistikoa loturik zegoen, batez ere, erretratuekin eta erlijiozko margolanekin. Artelan gutxi margotu zituen, hemeretzigarren mendeko estetika akademizista erabiliz. Bienvenido Brú 1897. urtean hil zen, Valentzian. ABSTRACT This article takes a closer look at the life journey and artistic work of the schoolmaster and painter, Bienvenido Brú, born in Valencia and who settled in Pamplona from 1870 onwards. This artist worked as an art teacher at the Instituto Provincial (Provincial Secondary School) of Pamplona, at the Escuela de Artes y Oficios (School of Art and Trades) in that same city and at a private school. At the same time, he played an active role in the cultural and artistic movement of Navarre in the latter part of the nineteenth century, through commissions and different activities that we have tried to reflect in this work. He produced few artistic works, basically dedicated to portraits and religious painting, with a style classed as nineteenth-century Academic art. Bienvenido Brú died in Valencia in 1897.

HISTORICAL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ASPECTS IN THE RENEWAL OF THE LANGUAGE OF CHURCH MONUMENTAL PAINTING IN FRANCE AT THE TURN OF THE 20th CENTURY ON THE EXAMPLE OF PAINTINGS BY MAURICE DENIS

The study analyzes the historical and philosophical origins of the renewal in church monumental art in French culture at the turn of the 20th century. The crisis that broke out in the second half of the 19th century within the philosophical knowledge and classical religion and an attempt to rethink the evolution of Christianity entailed significant changes in artistic creativity devoted to the sacred theme. The author explores the topic based on the church mural paintings of the French painter Maurice Denis, who stood at the origins of the transformation of the language of religious painting and whose role is significant for the further history of European art. The relevance of the work lies in the fact that all previous studies on this topic were primarily art criticisms. They paid special attention to the analysis of the artistic language and pictorial and expressive means. At the same time, questions of historical and philosophical nature and their role in the formation of new European religious painting were analyzed to a much lesser extent.