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Eastern Medieval Architecture. Russia

We publish in this issue the continuation of the translation of the new book of the outstanding historian of the architecture of Byzantium professor of Penn University (USA) and professor honoris causa of the Moscow Institute for Architecture (State academy) “Eastern Medieval Architecture. The Building Traditions of Byzantium and Neibouring Lands (Oxford University Press, 2019). This part of the book of the scholar is devoted to the development of the Byzantine tradition in Russian postrenaissance architecture. The description of Robert Ousterhaut’s scholarly biography and his impact to the study of the history of architecture was published in the previous issue of this magazine in the article of Dmitry Shvidkovsky “Ousterhaut and the Byzantium”. Summary: It is impossible to overestimate the role of professor Robert Ousterhaut in the studies of the history of Byzantine art. At the present day he is the leader in the world studies of the architecture of Byzantium, the real heir of the great Rihard Krauthaimer and Slobodan Curcic, whom he had left behind in his works. His books are known very well in Russia. In his study of Russian architecture of the Middle Ages, the author analyses the artistic image and the design characteristics of church architecture. The author highlights the distinctive features of the largest centres of Moscow, Novgorod, Pskov, Chernigov, and other cities. Much attention is paid to the influence of Italian architecture on the development of Russian church construction, which is associated with the participation of Italian architects in the construction of the main churches in Moscow. The outstanding cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin — the Assumption, the Annunciation, and the Archangel Michael cathedrals, created with the participation of Italian architects, are considered in detail The author considers St. Basil’s Cathedral, built by Ivan IV (the Terrible) in memory of his victory near Kazan in 1552, to be the most impressive building of this period. The church has a unique composition. It consists of nine adjoining chapels. In his research, the author also highlights one of the unresolved issues in the development of Russian architecture — the appearance of a characteristic onion dome. One of the assumptions put forward by the author is that the domes reflect the shape of the canopy over the Tomb of Christ. The influence of Islamic forms introduced into Russian architecture after the triumphant victory of the Russian troops in the Battle of Kazan, which brought significant territories of Mongolia under Russian control, is the author’s another hypothesis. The author cannot single out a priority version but rightly believes that whatever the initial meaning of domed forms in Russian architecture was, they quickly became popular and acquired their symbolism.