Valery Avderin's blog - "Everything that interests me." Museum of Russian Icon Exhibitions in the Museum of Russian Icon
Museum of Russian Icon on Taganka. December 25th, 2013
On Taganka, on Goncharnaya Street (3, building 1), opposite the Athos Compound, the Museum of Russian Icons has been operating for several years. Although it would be more correct to call it a museum of Orthodox icons. During its existence, the collection has outgrown its purely Russian framework and now has a large Greek and a large Ethiopian section. Following the logic of development, as exhibits accumulate, Serbian, Moldavian, Bulgarian will apparently stand out and become isolated...
The museum is private. It was created and exists with the money of one single person - entrepreneur Mikhail Abramov. Who spends his personal money on maintenance and purchases. So the work of the Tretyakov brothers still finds its successors and followers today. The museum is not big by Moscow standards, but not small either. Moreover, this is not a warehouse of works of art hung to satisfy someone’s vanity, but a real museum. With scientific collaborators, visiting exhibitions, publications... Employees of many third-party organizations also participate in his life: museums, institutes, restoration workshops...
Lectures, concerts and theme evenings are held here. Everything is free. That is, Abramov pays for everything. This is his principled position - the reluctance to commercialize a project created for the soul.
The museum has a beautifully designed website http://www.russikona.ru/. And in general, everything in it is done thoroughly and with love. Starting from a well-built exhibition, good lighting and ending with a toilet and a buffet. It is clear that everything is being done for a long time (definitely, more than for one’s own life) and is not being done for show. So, I recommend you go - you won’t regret it.
The Athonite courtyard is across the road from the museum. The best reference point. Don't miss him.
On the Goncharnaya side, the museum is two-story. But, in fact, it is made up of several buildings adjacent to each other. And turned into a vestibule, a closed courtyard between them.
Here's the floor plan. As you can see, it includes four exhibition floors. There's even an elevator.
Lobby. On the wall on the left are the remains of an ancient iconostasis. The piano is not for beauty. They play on it.
The entrance to the exhibition halls imitates a safe door.
Museum halls.
In one of the halls there is an authentic Old Believer chapel from the 19th century.
Old Believer carved and cast crosses.
The next 6 photographs are icons from the exhibition, taken from the museum's website.
Miracle of George about the serpent. 1520-1530s. Novgorod.
Gospel in Amharic. 19th century. Ethiopia.
St Nicholas. Middle - third quarter of the 14th century. Rostov.
Our Lady Hodegetria. Simon Ushakov with a student. 1675-1678.
Our Lady. Mid 15th century. Crete.
Transfiguration. Late 1530s - early 1540s. Pskov.
Greek iconostasis from the 17th century. One of the owners in previous years placed it along the wall in his office and turned it into a huge bookcase.
The museum restored the iconostasis and even recreated the altar painting behind it.
Entrance to the Ethiopian section. The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Christian denominations.
Ethiopian Hall.
In the exhibition hall on the 4th floor there is a photo exhibition dedicated to the Russian North by restoration artist Alexey Nitetsky. This is one of his works. Vologda Spaso-Prilutsky Monastery.
The walls of the buffet are decorated with a collection of antique painted spinning wheels.
Today (that is, yesterday...) I again had the happy opportunity to visit the Museum of the Russian Icon...
We started from the end of the exhibition - going up in a glass elevator - which gave us the feeling of flying over an eclectic architectural ensemble, combining the white-stone Athonite courtyard and the monumental Stalinist high-rise...
And here we are at the end of the exhibition - the hall of icon painting from the era of classicism - 18th century... Icons decorated with baroque landscapes, ancient ruins; Archangel Gabriel, in whose face one can clearly read the engraving portrait of Peter; the icon of the Great Martyr Catherine, reminiscent of an antique statue.... All these incredible and slightly frantic creative searches of newly minted icon painters, deprived of ancient models, are quite harmonious with historical realities - the rise of the Holy Synod over the authority of His Holiness the Patriarch...
And then there were several absolutely unearthly moments in the Old Believer chapel... With a linguistic digression about the expression “to lose face” and a demonstration of that very dirt... An icon of a joyful, prudent thief marching to heaven... Cast iron gratings... Faces on the walls... "And you believe it, and you cry, and so easily, easily..."
An icon of the Saint, praying for the whole world and for the tundra, decorating the icon with a landscape with clearly visible moss and cloudberries... The creativity of the icon painters touches... The image of otters (???) swimming in the waters around the Solovetsky Monastery...
Architectural subtleties and details on the icons, giving a detailed idea of how the monastery buildings changed - all this is such a subtle and deep creative space that, in combination with the law of reverse perspective and the asceticism of faces, touches and returns for a moment to the soul the state of childhood...
The hall of Byzantine icon painting with the royal doors and the “model” of the altar... Byzantine sophistication in the harmonious combination of asceticism of the faces and the Baroque ornateness of frames and landscapes... Eucharistic bowls on the throne, saved from everyday use....
The found icon of the Mother of God by master Simon Ushakov, who managed to try on asceticism and Russian baroque...
The interpretation of the meaning of the icon “The Miracle of George on the Serpent” sounds like a hymn to Russian icon painting, where an episode from the plot of the life takes on a powerful allegorical sound...
But the main thing that allowed all these facts to be remembered and tasted by a consciousness completely far from the art of icon painting, to be imbued with reverent reverence, tenderness, and sometimes even childish delight in front of the prayer-breathing images is the charisma of the guide - a professional with a capital P, a person who enjoys and experiencing the delight of communicating with this magical world - Sergei Brun...
I thought that the Russian icon in the traditional philistine consciousness is usually inextricably associated with the image of an angry, sputtering granny, aggressively pushing you out of the temple, whether by your trousers with a scarf tied incorrectly... or - at best, with the meditative-soporific tone of a lady guide without age in the unchanged Old Believer costume - colorless and certainly floor-length, with an eternally mournful expression of an absent face... But here it’s different... Here you hear about the icon vividly and with love, here it is a source of continuous discoveries and a child’s incomprehensible sincere love... Here the icon is a miracle...
You go out and you want to hug the world and quietly pray...
Low bow to our guide for this feeling and, of course, to the person who created this museum...
Many years!
The history of Russian icon painting goes back seven centuries. The names of the masters, whose creations have survived to this day, constitute the glory of Russian painting, as well as the images of Orthodox saints they created. Few museums can be proud of the fact that their exhibitions display original icons of the 12th-19th centuries, when most of the masterpieces of Russian icon painting were created. The private Museum of Russian Icons on Taganka, founded by entrepreneur and philanthropist Mikhail Abramov, today has a fairly extensive exhibition - over four thousand copies are presented to the public in its exhibition halls, including 600 icons, the rest are pectoral crosses and antiques related to icon painting and Orthodoxy.
Russian icon painting as a reflection of culture
In which city of the Russian state the first private museum of Russian icons appeared, no one dares to say for certain - it could exist, but remain unknown to outsiders. Historians write about many private museums, highlighting the most significant of them, but whose statements are the most accurate is a controversial issue.
We can speak more reliably about the icon painters themselves; the years of their creations have been established with amazing accuracy - from until Fyodor Zubov. They painted the most famous Russian churches, their works are the most priceless Orthodox icons. A Russian museum - any one that could boast of having among its exhibits a piece of the work of great icon painters - could be considered incredibly rich. The masterpieces that have survived to this day are a true achievement of both national and world culture.
The Museum of Russian Icons, founded by Mikhail Abramov, opened in Moscow on Goncharnaya Street, behind the Kotelnicheskaya skyscraper in the Taganka district, not so long ago - in 2006, but today it is the largest private collection of icons in Russia. Initially To the collection was located in the Vereyskaya Plaza business center on Slavyansky Boulevard, and occupied only a small area. It was possible to get a sightseeing tour only by prior arrangement. Only after the opening of the new building on Taganka did everyone gain access to the private collection of icons.
The first private collections of icons in Russia
The most valuable rarities of the Taganka Museum: the icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria by Simon Ushakov - the only signature icon of the master; image of St. Nicholas of Myra; a unique collection of Pskov icon painters of the 16th century.
The first private ancient repositories of icon paintings began to appear in Russia in the first half of the 19th century. The most famous of them were collected by M. Pogodin and P. Korobanov. But the icon began to be considered a genuine art of painting only in the twentieth century. At the same time, collector N. Likhachev, who owned the most extensive collection of works by Russian icon painters in St. Petersburg, opened the first private museum of Russian icons accessible to the public. In Moscow, similar galleries opened their doors in houses owned by the artist I. Ostroukhov and the merchant S. Ryabushinsky. This was shortly before the revolution.
Modern private exhibitions of ancient icon painting
We can safely say that the first founder of the modern private museum of Russian icons was a collector from Yekaterinburg. His collection of late Old Believer icon painting, reflecting the culture of the 18th-19th centuries, became available to the general public in 1999, when the significant opening of the Nevyansk Icon Museum took place.
In Moscow, the doors of two private collections of icons are open for true connoisseurs of Orthodox painting. In addition to the collection of Mikhail Abramov, the House of Icons and Paintings Museum named after S.P. has been successfully operating in Moscow for several years. Ryabushinsky" on Spiridonovka. Among its exhibits there are genuine masterpieces. These include the Georgian icon of the Mother of God Hodegetria of the 15th century, the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, painted in the first half of the 16th century, and a dozen works by Russian icon painters of the late period, which constitute the true glory of Russian painting. Today, the Museum of Russian Icons on Spiridonovka has an exhibition of more than two and a half thousand icons.
Stages of founding the museum on Taganka
Mikhail Abramov purchased ancient icons for his collection from both Russian and foreign private galleries. With his funds, everything that could be found in antique salons was bought. True, the bulk of the exhibits came from several private collections, the largest of which were located in Moscow and St. Petersburg. Thus, the Museum of Russian Icons was replenished with masterpieces stored in the personal collections of three Moscow artists - S. Vorobyov, V. Momot and A. Kokorin.
In 2007, in Bern, Mikhail Abramov officially acquired and legally imported into Russia 10 icons stolen in 1984 from the Veliky Ustyug State Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve (Church of Dmitry of Solunsky in the village of Dymkovo). Of course, the acquirer had no idea about the difficult fate of these icons, painted in the 16th-17th centuries on the Kostroma lands. They were not wanted because there were no photographic images of them. Only after an examination at the State Research Institute for Restoration was it possible to find out the history of these icons. Of course, Mikhail Abramov handed them over to the state repository. In 2008, at the Tretyakov Gallery, these icons were demonstrated to visitors at the “Returned Property” exhibition.
But experts from the Abramov Museum once identified among the acquired exhibits a shrine that had once been stolen in Rostov - a carved cross. He was immediately returned to the state. Mikhail Abramov himself is consciously engaged in purchasing Russian icons abroad, making every effort to return valuable exhibits of its great history to their homeland.
Priceless exhibits of the Taganka Museum
Of course, there are no icons of the level of Rublev or Dionysius here - the bulk are works of the 16th - early 20th centuries. The works of the masters of the Armory Chamber are quite well represented. Some icons with their touching provincialism delight the heart: Rostov, Vologda, Obonezhye, Tver, Kargopolye, Solikamsk, Volga region - these are just some of the places where these exhibits come from. Those who like to decipher iconography will love the boards of the 18th-19th centuries: large museums usually neglect such “late” images, but they are extremely interesting.
Abramov’s acquisition in 2007 of a collection of icons that previously belonged to the famous Leningrad collector V. Samsonov became an important event for the philanthropist. The Museum of Russian Icons on Goncharnaya has been replenished with genuine masterpieces of Russian icon painting - the image of the Mother of God Hodehydria, painted by Simon Ushakov himself, and several icons of a later period by lesser-known masters, but this has not lost their true historical and cultural value. Even the acquisition of the collection itself is intriguing.
During his lifetime, Samsonov dreamed of opening a museum of icon painting in his hometown, the true pearl of which would be his own collection, but these dreams were not destined to come true. After the death of the collector, some of the exhibits were lost by his unworthy heirs, and the remains were taken to one of the temples, where they were stored in complete negligence. Mikhail Abramov bought it, thereby not only adding to the exposition of his own museum, but also dedicating it to the blessed memory of the first owner.
How is the true value of exhibits determined in a museum?
Fascinated by collecting icons, Abramov established close relationships with experts in ancient Russian art, specialists from the Tretyakov Gallery and the Russian Museum. Not a single exhibit passes examination; this helps maintain the high historical and cultural level of the collection. In addition, if it is possible to acquire a very valuable exhibit, it is checked at least twice to confirm a non-criminal background. The database of stolen valuables is kept by the Ministry of Culture, which received it from Rosokhrankultura - all ancient objects are checked against this database.
The director of the Museum of Russian Icons, Nikolai Zadorozhny, strictly ensures that not a single acquisition can cast a shadow on the noble beginning of the mission led by philanthropist Abramov. Under his leadership, a unique 19th-century Old Believer chapel, discovered in the forest of the Tver region, was transported and equipped to the museum. The chapel was carefully dismantled literally log by log, taken to the museum workshop and recreated almost in its original form, where the images of the icons are arranged in the proper order, and the liturgical books are opened, as if for prayer, and only candles illuminate the entire room. Visitors can only enter it by bending over.
A little about the exhibitions
In the summer of 2014, a new exhibition opened at the Abramov Museum, for which the entire fourth floor of the building was dedicated. It is dedicated to icon painting of the 19th-20th centuries. The entire variety of late Russian painting, from rednecks and chromolithographs to monumental temple icons, is presented to the general public. You can also admire the strictly canonical ones written in the so-called “centers of ancient piety”, which were located in Tver, Vetka, Moscow, in the Moscow region and in the Urals. A large part of the exhibition was devoted to introducing the art of book writing of those years.
In total, the museum has four exhibition floors, the entrances to which are imitated as safe doors. Behind one of them there is a recreated Old Believer chapel of the 19th century with cast and carved icons and the Gospel. The vestibule displays the remains of an ancient iconostasis. Even the buffet has antiques - ancient Russian painted spinning wheels are hung on its walls. One of the exhibition halls is equipped for an Ethiopian Orthodox church.
Lectures, demonstrations and author's excursions
Stationary excursions at the museum are held six days a week, with the exception of Wednesdays. The theme of these excursions differs little from ordinary museum excursions. In addition to an overview of the collection of icons, you can visit such as “Russian icon painting of the 14th-16th centuries” and “Russian iconography of the 19th-early 20th centuries. Main styles, leading centers and masters.” But the author’s excursions deserve special attention, one of which is “The World of the Russian Skete: The Culture of the Old Believers,” developed by E.B. Solodovnikova, is in greatest demand among visitors.
Quite often the museum hosts lectures and theme evenings. Concerts are organized - a grand piano is displayed in the lobby for these purposes. In order for everyone to be able not only to see priceless exhibits, but also to listen to a series of lectures on the cultural traditions of ancient Rus', the museum has equipped a conference room, and is collecting a specialized library collection in which one can find everything about the history of the creation of the Orthodox icon. The Abramov Russian Museum is widely known abroad, thanks to its rich exhibition and generosity - museum visitors can admire its exhibits completely free of charge - everything is paid for by its founder Mikhail Abramov. This circumstance fundamentally distinguishes the private Museum of Russian Icons from state galleries.
State museums of both capitals
The main monuments of fine art of the Russian state are kept in the Tretyakov Gallery and the Hermitage. But two more museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg should be remembered, since they are directly related to the great heritage of Russian icon painting, and among their exhibits are the most famous icons of ancient masters. One of them is the State Russian Museum. Icons occupy a prominent place among its exhibits, but not the dominant one. The museum is located in the Northern capital.
The Andrei Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art, located in Moscow, is no less related to Russian icon painting. Founded in 1947, it has a rich exhibition and is the main repository of the great national heritage of fine art. The museum displays one of the most revered icons by Christians, “Our Lady of Vladimir,” painted by Rublev in 1409.
Orthodox churches - living museums of icon painting
There are so many Orthodox churches all over the country - it’s impossible to count them all, and each one has icons. Of course, most of the temples and the shrines located in them are of only relative value, more for study by artists rather than historians. Those churches that possess true masterpieces protect their valuables in every possible way for several dozen regular parishioners, but would never agree to transfer them to museums, where they could be seen by thousands of connoisseurs of ancient art. It is impossible to blame the priests for the lack of patriotism - the churches entrusted to them need these icons. The Russian Museum, even the smallest one, has several priceless exhibits, but not every church can boast of even one icon of great historical and cultural significance. Although, if we think fairly, why were they written, if not to serve as an inspiration for parishioners to pray?
The importance of ancient icons for modern Orthodox believers
Of course, museum exhibitions, even if they represent Orthodox icons, do little to awaken true faith in the hearts. As sad as it may be to admit, they still have more museum value - the very atmosphere of the exhibition builds a wall between admiration for art and the delight of feeling the presence of the Holy Spirit. Abramov, who created the Museum of Russian Icons, can break this trend, but so far his project has not been able to avoid this bleak fate, although the interior of some rooms is as close as possible to the temple ones. Nevertheless, seeing the holy images before which our ancestors knelt is the greatest happiness for every Orthodox Christian. This happiness gives people The Russian Museum has been enriched with another monument of ancient culture.
It is also pleasing that the founder of the museum tried to bring not only the interior decoration of the premises closer to the church, but also carefully worked on the external ensemble of the complex - opposite the Museum of Russian Icons is the Athonite Russian Monastery of St. Panteleimon. The choice of location was perfect.
The role of patrons in preserving the heritage of Orthodoxy
Abramov, who created the Museum of Russian Icons on Taganka, deserves not only the respect of his contemporaries. His selfless love for the culture of his native Fatherland helps piece by piece to recreate the history of Russian Orthodoxy. A lot of effort and money are spent on this.
The work and legacy of the Tretyakov brothers lives on to this day, this is proven by the true philanthropist Mikhail Abramov. The Museum of Russian Icons, created by him, is the best evidence of this. Moreover, the founder of the museum - the man is quite young and can still do a lot for the prosperity of the glory of his native Fatherland. Moreover, he continues to search for exhibits for his brainchild to this day, and who knows what rare icons are still kept in the villages and villages of the vast country behind curtains and curtains, in front of which lit candles burn in the rooms.
The Museum of Russian Icons opened in 2006. The collection collected here is quite large, it contains about 4 thousand monuments of ancient Russian and Christian Orthodox art, among them about 600 ancient Russian icons. Like any other similar institution, this collection of cultural property has a time frame. At the Museum of Russian Icons they are quite wide and include the entire period of Ancient Rus' and Eastern Christianity.
Old Russian period
The most ancient exhibits are of greatest interest. The 14th century is represented by several masterpieces. The main wealth is considered to be the icon of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (of Myra). This is a rather small full-length image of the saint; it used to be in a little-known Russian chapel, in a village on the Onega River. This ancient icon is unique, it’s simply amazing how it has been preserved for so many centuries, and now our contemporaries can see it. Another valuable exhibit is a portrait of the holy princes of Yaroslavl (David, Constantine and Feodor). They date back to the 15th century.
The pride of the collection is a solid collection belonging to the Pskov school of Russian painting. This is one of the most unusual, bright and joyful schools of icon painting. In general, very little of Russian Pskov icon painting has survived in the world. Among the exhibits of the 17th century, the masterpiece of the exhibition stands out - the signature icon of Semyon Ushakov. The author's signature was found quite recently - during the latest restoration. This became a real sensation and an important discovery in the world of Russian icon painting.
Byzantine monuments
No collection in Russia can compete with the Museum of Russian Icons in terms of the vastness of the Byzantine collection. There are about a hundred rare items on display here, dating from the 6th to 12th centuries. For the most part, these are altar crosses with small inclusions of relics, signatures, dating and carved images.
A particularly grandiose and unique exhibit for Moscow and even for all of Russia is the solid iconostasis with icons of Greek origin. It is 8.5m long and about 5m high. For such a large exhibit, an entire hall had to be equipped separately. There is an interesting story that helped the masterpiece survive intact to this day. For many years it was in a German house, but not as a religious shrine, but as a decoration. The carved frame of the iconostasis was the basis for the library of the German professor. When it turned out that it was of historical value, the owner willingly transferred the iconostasis to the Museum. A group of the best restorers from St. Petersburg is still working on its complete restoration. But even in the not entirely finished form in which it is presented now, the iconostasis is a grandiose spectacle.
An important area of the Museum’s work is the return of sold or stolen Russian icons from abroad. For every Russian and just a cultured person it will be very informative to visit the Museum of Russian Icons.
