Guslitsky and Zagarsky copper casting. Classification problem. Copper folds and icons of Russia

In a jacket with an open collar,

With my head naked

Slowly passes through the city

Uncle Vlas is a gray-haired old man.

There is a copper icon on the chest:

He asks for God's temple, -

All in chains, poor shoes,

There is a deep scar on the cheek...

ON THE. Nekrasov

Copper-cast plastic - crosses, icons and folding objects - is a major national phenomenon of Russian artistic culture. That very special attitude towards copper casting, which existed in Russia for a millennium, over the past century has turned out to be completely forgotten in people's memory.

Agree, in our modern world super speeds left no room for faith in God. Today, for most people, it has been replaced by expensive cars and money. Money has become a cult. But just a hundred years ago, every Russian Orthodox Christian He began and ended his day with a fairly simple action - prayer, lifting it up to the Lord God, sharing with him all his sorrows and joys, which now seems, to put it mildly, unusual for a modern person.

But not all is lost, spirituality is beginning to revive in modern society, because without it the revival of Russia as a great state is impossible. In other words, our country, more than ever before, needs to revive and strengthen unshakable moral values, to turn to the roots in order to strengthen the spiritual foundation of society and act creatively.

Where does the path of an Orthodox person begin? That's right - from baptism. From holy baptism to the hour of death, every Christian must wear on his chest a sign of his faith - a pectoral cross. It is a symbol of our salvation, a weapon of spiritual struggle, a symbol of confession of faith. This sign is not worn on top of clothing, but on the body, which is why the cross is called a body cross. That is why crosses are the most widespread and at the same time the most ancient type of copper-cast products. In the modern world, gold and silver pectoral crosses are most in demand, but in ancient times they were mostly copper, and they can be made from precious metals was a very expensive pleasure. Copper crosses are still in demand, especially among Old Believers. Which pectoral cross is considered canonical, why is it unacceptable to wear a pectoral cross with the image of the crucified Savior and other images? You can read it here.

Also, icon-case crosses, which were common among our ancestors, are still very popular. They differ from pectoral crosses in being larger in size and do not have an eyelet for a neck cord. The icon case cross is placed on special shelves (cases) among the holy icons in the red corner or attached to the door frame of the home. Thanks to their small size, they can be taken with you on travels, hikes, trips, or to set up temporary altars.

Products made of copper, especially pectoral crosses and icons with relief images had a protective function, and were revered as shrines and amulets from evil spirits, disasters and diseases. Copper, according to popular belief, had “magical” properties. I would also like to dwell on the topic of dual faith, because after the Baptism of Rus' in 988, paganism persisted until the 12th century, and only then it began to gradually fade away. A unique symbol of this time is an icon in the shape of a medallion - a serpentine, on which a Christian saint was depicted on one side, and a pagan snake-like creature on the other (that is why it is called that). Among the people, the meaning of the coil as a talisman remained until the 20th century.

A very interesting modern replica of the serpentine with the image of the Virgin and Child. (Ancient Rus', XIII–XIV centuries), it can be purchased in the online store. The image of the Mother of God on the front side of the coil symbolizes victory over the devil and over all evil; according to popular beliefs, only the devil could not appear in her image, and she was always a reliable protector from the devil’s power. Thus, the protective significance of these items was especially emphasized.

“A pure image, worthy of veneration”... These words can define the copper-cast icons and crosses created by Old Believers in the vast expanses of Russia - in the monasteries of Pomerania and the workshops of Moscow, in the villages of the Moscow region and the Volga region, in hidden forges in the Urals and Siberia - during less than three hundred years from the end of the 17th century. until the beginning of the 20th century.

The new period in the history of copper foundry is inextricably linked with the Old Believer movement in Russia, when in the second half of the 17th century, after a schism in the Russian Orthodox Church, opponents of the reform of Patriarch Nikon were forced to flee from persecution by the authorities, flee from the center to the remote outskirts, and hide in the forests. In such difficult conditions, it was the Old Believers who preserved and continued the ancient Russian traditions of copper casting. It was difficult to constantly transport large temple icons to a new place. Bulky icons fell, cracked, broke, the paint layer crumbled, and it was difficult to hide them during constant searches. Cast icons turned out to be more suitable for the conditions of constant wandering. Therefore, it is in the non-priest concords, mainly among the Pomeranians, that copper casting flourishes. Like priceless relics, ancient copper-cast icons were carefully inserted into frames-cases and placed in wooden painted or carved folds.

But the Old Believers not only preserved the ancient Russian heritage, but also created their own special religious and spiritual culture. Copper-cast images, “as having undergone purification by fire” and not created by the hands of “creators,” received widespread veneration among the people. The variety of form, iconography, composition and decorative decoration, Old Believer copper-cast crosses, icons and folding objects is amazing. And hot multi-colored enamels and fire gilding enhance their decorative effect.

Three-leaf Deesis folding doors were in great demand. They were cast in different sizes - from small, travel size, for wearing on the chest, to a large ceremonial image for prayer.

It was during this period that folds of new iconographic types were born. Among them is the tricuspid fold “Deesis with selected saints”, or, as it is often called, “Nine”. Indeed, there are nine figures on the fold. In the middle is the Savior on the throne with the Mother of God and John the Baptist present; on the left side are depicted the Apostle John the Theologian, Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker and Metropolitan Philip, on the right - the Guardian Angel and the Venerables Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky.

I would also like to separately note the four-leaf fold with the image of the Twelfth Holidays - the so-called “large holiday wings”. This fold, which is an entire traveling iconostasis, was extremely popular and not only among Old Believers. Everything in this copper-cast monument - both the shape, the thoroughness of the miniature stamps, and the ornamentation of the outer side of the second section - testifies to the talent and high skill of the foundry workers of the famous Vygov “copper factory”.

The saints, deeply revered by the people, were and remain the support of the Russian land. This is confirmed by numerous copper-cast icons and foldings, to which Russian people throughout the vast territory of Russia turned with their sorrows and joys, with words of prayer... The veneration of saints is associated with the concept of holiness - central in the history of salvation - and its bearers. The holy martyrs stand at the origins. Jesus Christ is the greatest martyr. Gregory the Theologian said about the feat of martyrdom: “Glorifying the memory of the holy martyrs, we not only participate in this celebration, we participate in the mystery of martyrdom, which these saints revealed...” Self-sacrifice at any time aroused and arouses sympathy in people, and martyrdom raised the individual to the height of holiness .

The most revered and beloved saints, both in Russia and throughout the world, were and remain: St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (to pray to him for intercession, marriage, health and other help); Saint Nikita, beating the demon (helps in teaching, heals, casts out demons, helps to repent of sins and free oneself from the temptations of the devil, including drunkenness); Saint George the Victorious (he is the patron saint of the military, farmers, livestock breeders); Saint Paraskeva Friday (they pray to her for the protection of the family hearth; in marital infertility; for worthy grooms); Hieromartyr Antipas of Pergamon (they pray to him for healing, in particular from dental diseases); Saints Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky (they are the patrons of beekeepers, they also pray to them for help at sea from storms and drowning, for help to those floating on the water); Saint Sergius of Radonezh (they pray to him for the spiritual health of children and for their success in education); Holy Matrona of Moscow (they pray to her for pregnancy, health, marriage, conception, love, recovery, help); Saint Seraphim of Sarov (they pray to him for physical and spiritual healing).

Separately, I would like to highlight the image of the Mother of God - all over Rus', in every home, people turned and turn to Her as “an ambulance and warm intercessor.” The most revered icons of Our Lady of Kazan, Fedorov, Tikhvin and the Burning Bush. “For the enlightenment of the blind,” they pray to Our Lady of Kazan. They turn to Our Lady of Feodorovskaya with a prayer “for liberation from the difficult birth of wives.” “To preserve the health of babies” they ask Our Lady of Tikhvin.

The Russian people consider Our Lady the Burning Bush to be a protector from fire and lightning. In folk life, people sometimes walked around a burning building with this image of the Mother of God to quickly extinguish the fire... There were many copper-cast icons and folding icons with revered images of the Mother of God, but the people especially loved the images and icons of the Mother of All Who Sorrow, the Joy of All Who Sorrow.

Small copper icons and folds, easy to carry, durable and cheap, quite often served as a talisman - they accompanied the owner during long trips and travels. Often similar copper-cast objects were found far beyond the borders of the Russian land.

In the years Soviet power The production of copper-cast plastic ceased; only handicraft and limited-edition products were created. But 70 years later, thanks to the successors of the traditions of Russian copper casting, this art began to be revived. Modern masters have tried to recreate all the diversity and former splendor of copper sculpture, inventing new versions, as well as duplicating old ones that were created earlier and were used by our ancestors. The poetry of art and metal has received a second life!

Online store website offers you a unique opportunity to become familiar with one of the most ancient arts - Russian artistic copper casting. Feel the spirit of history through copper-cast plastic, which was created several hundred years ago by the hands of talented craftsmen, and who knows, maybe in this way you will be able to come to faith in God, as it was before for a Russian Orthodox person. One interesting feature is that everyone who picked up a copper icon or cross experienced some extraordinary inner feeling, perhaps this is due to their enchanting magnificence, severity and simultaneous softness, which attract and fascinate. Or maybe this feeling is the very grace of God?

Unfortunately, in our modern society, there are a lot of people who do not believe in God. But you should not condemn them, for “Judge not, lest ye be judged” (Matt. 7:1-6). Give such a person a small icon or a copper icon, for example, with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker. And advise him to turn to God in prayer when there is a difficult moment in his life, because “there are no atheists in trenches under fire” - every person sooner or later comes to faith, and let this first step be taken with the help of a small copper icon donated You.

Friends and relatives will be very pleased to receive a copper icon as a gift for any significant event. Such original gift will leave a long prayerful memory of you, because every time you turn with prayer to the copper icon you donated, your loved ones will remember you with prayer and heartfelt warmth. Over time, a copper or bronze icon can become a real family heirloom - a piece of the eternal, intangible. It can decorate your home iconostasis, or it will become a wonderful “travel” icon that will accompany you on your travels!

Today our life has become faster and faster. We spend more time driving a car. To prevent trouble or misfortune from happening on the road, people are increasingly resorting to the help of miraculous helpers, that is, icons, amulets, and holy guidebooks. Icons in the car are a kind of our protection and protection on the road while driving, they provide miraculous help, give us the opportunity to turn to God on the road, pray and ask for protection. The copper icon, due to its inexpensive cost, durability and resistance to fading under the influence of sun rays, will be an ideal gift for a motorist.

As an exclusive gift, we are ready to offer you a modern mortise stavrotheque - iconostasis. Modern mortise icons are made to order, from various types of wood - linden, oak, pine, beech, taking into account all your wishes. All carpentry work is done by hand, and we can say with complete confidence that the new modern mortise icon will exist in a single copy! This makes it truly unique, and any believer would be pleased to receive such a gift.

We sincerely believe that thanks to our small contribution, spirituality will begin to revive, because without it the revival of the great Russian state is impossible...

When copying materials from our website in full or in part, an active link to the source is required!

We continue a series of publications devoted to the history and culture of the Old Believers, which constituted a rich and meaningful layer of Russian spiritual life. The Old Believers preserved many artistic values ​​and aesthetic principles, without which the picture of Russian church and everyday culture would be incomplete.

Whatever historians write about the gradual inclusion of Eastern Slavs to the Christian Church, it is obvious that the baptism of Rus' under Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir spread to most of the population Kievan Rus. The new faith required not only an internal reorganization of a person, but also presupposed external expression, which in the era of the initial spread of Christianity became a sign of personal confessional feat.

Rus' adopted Christianity from Byzantium along with developed, fully established church art, in which any decorative detail was subordinated to a strictly meaningful symbolic structure. The first symbol of faith for yesterday’s pagan in Rus' was the pectoral cross. Archaeological excavations show that metal and stone crosses, the so-called “korsunchiki”, were imported to Rus' en masse. However, already a few decades after 988, the domestic production of crosses, and with them body icons, acquired such a scale in Rus' that the import of similar products from Byzantium became pointless. The imagination of Russian foundry masters was limitless; While preserving the traditional Greek shape of an equal-pointed cross, pre-Mongol Russian telniks had dozens of different shapes.

The tradition of making copper-cast jewelry developed in Rus' in the pre-Christian era. It is interesting to see how ancient jewelry with solar symbols timidly and gradually included images of the cross. The notorious Russian dual faith is expressed by round pendants, which were originally symbols of the Slavic Yarila, with cross-shaped slots, and then became simply four-pointed or twelve-pointed crosses enclosed in a circle. The ancient Slavic moonlits underwent the same metamorphosis, in which, between the ends of the pagan month, the Christian cross gradually took hold.

A sign of the pagan past, which migrated to the new post-Mongol era, became serpentines - ancient Slavic amulets cast on back side more foldable until the 16th century.

Casting, established in Russian church art in the pre-Mongol era, experienced a rebirth at the turn of the 17th and 18th centuries. At this time, the production of cast icons, folding icons, and various crosses became the property of almost exclusively Old Believers. The exception was the production of body crosses, which continued to be cast in workshops that offered their products Orthodox Church.

The spread of cast icons in the Old Believers, and to the greatest extent in non-priestly agreements, with the almost complete indifference of the Orthodox Church to it, is explained, first of all, by the historical conditions of the existence of the Old Believers.

For two and a half centuries, the Old Believers were brutally persecuted by the state authorities, not being able to openly build their churches and monasteries. At the same time, the priests and the non-priests were not in the same position. The Old Believers, who accepted the priesthood, dreamed of finding a bishop and restoring the hierarchy, tried at every opportunity to legalize themselves, to regulate their relations with the authorities, since they needed a lenient attitude towards the priests coming to them from the ruling Church.

The priestless Old Believers were confident that the spiritual reign of the Antichrist had already taken place, therefore the true Church could only be persecuted. This belief found its extreme expression in the ideology of the consent of wanderers, or runners. It was difficult to constantly transport large temple icons to a new place. Bulky icons fell, cracked, broke, the paint layer crumbled, and it was difficult to hide them during constant searches. Cast icons turned out to be more suitable for the conditions of constant wandering. Therefore, it is in the non-priest concords, mainly among the Pomeranians, that copper casting flourishes.

The beginning and flourishing of the Old Believer production of copper-cast crosses, icons and folding objects is traditionally associated with the Vygovsky monasteries and monasteries. Already in the 70s of the 17th century, settlements appeared on the Vyg River, founded by the escaped monks of the Solovetsky Monastery, which, not agreeing to serve according to the books sent by Patriarch Nikon, was besieged by tsarist troops for eight years from 1668 to 1676. After the defeat of the Solovetsky rebels, numerous inhabitants of the monastery went to the banks of the Vyg River, where the founders of the monastery, the Monks Savvaty and German, began their feat. In October 1694, two settlements founded by Daniil Vikulin and Andrei Denisov were united into the Vygovskoe hostel - a monastery that was the ideological center of the Old Believers of the non-priestly persuasion for the next century and a half.

The Vygovsky monastery, divided into two halves by a wall, was originally inhabited by men and women. In 1706, 20 versts from the men's Epiphany monastery, the women's Holy Cross monastery was built, standing on the Lexa River. The first abbess was Andrei Denisov’s sister Solomonia. Near these two monasteries, numerous monasteries were organized in which families were allowed to live.

It is in these monasteries that the ancient Russian tradition of making cast icons is being revived. At the same time, Vygoretsk craftsmen achieve unprecedented technical and aesthetic perfection of their products. The Vygov casting icons are distinguished by their extraordinary grace and fineness of casting, conveying the smallest details, right down to the curls of hair and eye pupils. Intricate ornaments were filled with multi-color glassy enamels, and a significant part of the products was subjected to fire gilding. The favorite product of the Vygov coppersmiths were small double-leaf and three-leaf folds, in which not only the front side, but also the intricately ornamented reverse side was covered with multi-colored enamels. On Vyga, the “Crucifixions with the Forthcoming”, which later spread throughout Russia, were invented, resembling the letter F in shape. The first “large doors” were cast here - four-leaf folds depicting the Twelve Feasts.

Later, crosses and icons began to be cast according to Vygov samples in Guslitsy (a village in the Vladimir province) and in Zagarye (several villages in the Bogorodsky district of the Moscow province, engaged in the production of copper-cast crosses and icons).

The cheapest and simplest products were those produced by the Zagar workshops. The castings were almost never covered with enamels, had a sloppy finish, and were distinguished by fuzzy, blurry images.

Guslitsky products were of higher quality. The favorite element of the Guslitsky artists were “six-wings” - small images of cherubs, which were cast on the middles of small tricuspid folds and in abundance on the tops of a wide variety of crosses. The Guslitsky craftsmen expanded the Vygov form of the “Crucifixion with Those Coming” with numerous stamps depicting holidays and “six-winged people”, the number of which on the tops of large crosses reached nineteen.

At the end of the 18th century, Moscow workshops for the production of cast icons appeared. They are grouped around the Preobrazhenskoye cemetery, which since 1771 has become the center of the Fedoseyev agreement. Their heyday occurred in the second half of the 19th century. Moscow products go back to the Vygov samples, differing from them in their heaviness and excessive decorativeness. Monograms of foundry masters appear on Moscow crosses, icons and folds: MAP, SIB, MRSH, RKH, RS. The last three, which are found more often than others, belong to the master Rodion Semenovich Khrustalev, who had every reason to be proud of the quality of his products.

In the second half of the 19th century, the number of Old Believer medical centers increased significantly. They appear in the village of Krasnoye, Kostroma province, in the village of Staraya Tushka, Vyatka province, in the Urals and in other regions of Russia.

The set of subjects of Old Believer copper casting differs significantly from the corresponding range of Old Russian cast products. In the Old Believer copper monasteries, the moonlits with crosses attached to them, characteristic of the era of transition from paganism to Christianity, were not cast. Round cross-shaped pendants were not produced, in which the sign of the cross was inscribed in the ancient solar symbol. The coils common in the pre-Mongol and early post-Mongol eras were not made.

At the same time, the subject matter is enriched with many adaptations known from conventional icon painting. Most iconographic subjects are reproduced in copper casting in one way or another. At the same time, the most common in Old Believer copper casting are the image of the Mother of God and images of saints. The Lord Jesus Christ, although he is the Head of the Church, is represented in iconography by a significantly smaller number of iconographic types (with many versions of each type) than the Mother of God and the saints. This is probably due to the fact that it is much easier for a sinful person to turn with a prayer request to a person - the Mother of God or a saint - than to God, even if this is the Incarnate God Jesus Christ.

The most common iconographic type in casting is Deesis. Russian word"Deesis" is a corruption of the Greek word "Deisis", which means "supplication". Deesis is an image of Jesus Christ seated on a throne, to the right of which is the Mother of God, to the left is John the Baptist. In Old Believer copper casting, the Deesis is most often the center of three-leaf folds, called “nines”. Each side door of such a fold bears an image of selected saints. Most often this is Metropolitan Philip, Apostle John the Theologian, St. Nicholas - on the left wing; Guardian Angel, Saints Zosima and Savvaty - on the right. This selection of saints is not accidental. Zosima, Savvaty and Philip are saints whose exploits were accomplished in the Solovetsky Monastery, very revered by the Old Believers, where the first such folds were cast. The presence of the Guardian Angel and Nicholas the Wonderworker - the patron saint of travelers - shows that the “nines” were “travel” icons. They were taken on the road and worn as body icons. The Golgotha ​​cross on the reverse side of one of the doors made it possible to do without a separately worn pectoral cross.

Foldings have been preserved, the middle of which represented an ark divided into four parts, of sufficient depth, tightly covered with a plate with the image of the Deesis. Such a fold could be used for storing holy relics or for transferring the Holy Gifts, precious for the Old Believers-bespopovtsy, consecrated by the pre-Nikon priests.

The second, less common version of the “nine” has doors with a different set of saints: on the left are the Great Martyr George the Victorious, the Hieromartyrs Antipas and Blasius; on the right are St. John the Ancient Cave and the martyrs Cosmas and Damian.

The Deesis also exists in the form of tricuspid folds of another type, the middles of which are a half-length image of the Lord Jesus Christ, the doors are half-length images of the Mother of God (an edition similar to Bogolyubskaya with a scroll in her hands) and John the Baptist. The image of John the Baptist is variable. Most often he is depicted as a winged angel of the desert with a cup in his hands, in which there is an image of the infant Christ; this is a symbolic image of the Baptism of the Lord. The location of the Divine Infant can be different, both from left to right and vice versa. In some folds, the right wing represented John without wings with his arms raised upward in an elegant gesture.

Sometimes the center of such a Deesis was cast separately. In this case, he turned into an image Lord Almighty. Special images of the Lord Pantocrator are also known, both half-length and in the form of the Savior on the throne. As a rule, they are older.

Very common in the Old Believers are foldings with a Deesis centerpiece, below which are placed half-length images of four saints: St. Zosimas, St. Nicholas, St. Leontius, St. Savvatius. Sometimes other saints were depicted. The top of such a fold could be the Image of Christ Miraculous or decorated with a simple geometric ornament .

One of the oldest images of Christ the Savior, which also existed in copper casting, is the so-called Spas Smolensky. This iconographic type is a full-length image of Christ, decorated with a massive tsata, at whose feet the monks Sergius of Radonezh and Varlaam of Khutyn fall. On the sides of the Savior in the upper part of the icon there are images of angels holding instruments of passion in their hands. The Savior of Smolensk is found in the form of individual icons, often decorated with multi-colored enamels, and as a centerpiece of various folding icons.

Another iconographic type of Christ the Savior, depicted surrounded by saints, presented in copper casting is the Deesis, in which the figures of the archangels Michael and Gabriel, the apostles Peter and Paul are added to the images of the Mother of God and John the Baptist, as well as the falling Zosima and Savvatius. IN "Weeks" figures of the Apostle John the Theologian and St. John Chrysostom, as well as kneeling Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. Sergius Radonezh.

Miraculous Image The Savior is most often found in castings in the form of finials of individual icons and folding icons. This tradition originates in the most ancient examples of casting, and the iconography of the image changes very noticeably from the exquisite 17th-century illustrations, which depicted the board with its fancy folds, to simple, almost schematic images of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Image Not Made by Hands can also be found on the tops of cast crosses of various sizes. It is this type of cross, which, in addition to the Image Not Made by Hands in the pommel, is distinguished by the absence of the image of the Holy Spirit “in the form of a dove” and “Pilate’s title” - the letters INCI - was considered by the Old Believers of the Pomeranian consent to be the only correct cross.

The Miraculous Image is also found in the form of separate small-sized images. It is known mainly in two editions; Moreover, the one in which the Miraculous Image is surrounded by an inscription is more ancient and rare.

Rare ancient cast icons are images of the Descent from the Cross, which depict the naked torso of the dead Christ with his arms folded crosswise on his chest, resting on the edge of the coffin. On the sides of the cross one can see the figures of the approaching Mother of God and John the Theologian, made almost to full height; in the upper part of the icon there are shoulder-length images of Angels in round medallions. It is possible that small icons of the Descent from the Cross were cast before the schism. However, knowing the penchant of the zealots of the old faith for rare subjects, it is more likely to assume that they were still cast in Old Believer coppersmiths. This iconographic type by the 19th century would turn into an image "Don't cry for me Mati", which is appropriate to attribute to the icons of the Mother of God.

Russian icon painters, starting from the 16th century, dared to depict the Second Hypostasis of the Trinity even before its Incarnation. Although the validity of such allegorical images as Sophia the Wisdom of God in its Novgorod version was disputed by several church councils of the 16th and 17th centuries, they continued to be reproduced until the end of the 19th century. They are also reflected in copper casting.

The classical iconography of Sophia the Wisdom of God, like the symbolism of this image, is extremely complex. However, the central part of the image, which represents a kind of “Deesis”, in which instead of Christ a winged effeminate figure with angelic wings and a star-shaped halo sits on the throne, is represented in ancient casting by rare castings made long before the schism.

The Old Believer copper casting reproduces an abbreviated version of Sophia, known in iconography since the 17th century under the name "Savior of the Good Silence". Silence is a symbol of unspokenness, non-appearance, non-embodiment. The silence of Sophia is a symbol of the non-incarnation of the Eternal Logos, and Sophia Herself is the Logos before the Incarnation. Thus, the icon “Savior the Good Silence” is the image of Jesus Christ before His Incarnation.

The image “Good Silence” is a half-length image of Sophia in its Novgorod version. This is a winged Angel with the face of a young maiden with a star-shaped halo inscribed in a circle, dressed in a royal dalmatic, with his arms crossed on his chest. This image appears in casting only towards the end of the 18th century. It exists either as a small casting, where only the Angel is depicted, or as a larger icon, where the Angel turns into a centerpiece, inscribed in a frame with 18 round medallions, which contain half-length figures of various saints. These icons, as a rule, were painted with enamels of various shades.

The theological content of this very elegant icon is inferior to the more modest, but no less mysterious image of the Angel of the Great Council. This is exactly what the famous collectors of the 19th century, the Khanenko brothers, call this image of an Angel on the cross. Another famous researcher of ancient Russian art, Peretz, calls this casting “The Only Begotten Son,” directly linking it with the “renounced” icons of the 16th century. The Angel himself with a mirror and measuring rod in his hands resembles the well-known image of the Archangel Michael. However, the presence of the cross behind the Angel’s back helps us see deeper theological content in this image.

The Apostle Peter in the First Catholic Epistle, which is part of the New Testament, calls Jesus Christ the Lamb, destined even before the foundation of the world for the slaughter (1 Pet. 1, 19-20). The same symbolic image is found in the Apocalypse (Rev. 13:8). At the same time, the prophet Isaiah calls the not yet incarnate Christ the Angel of the Great Council (Is. 9: 6). Thus, this small archaic image of an Angel expresses the deepest theological idea of ​​the absolute value of human personal freedom, the infinite love of God, ready to sacrifice Himself for the salvation of the only being who is the bearer of His Image.

On turn of the 19th century and the 20th century, interest in the Old Believers in theologically ambiguous subjects is clearly increasing. Evidence of this is the “Only Begotten Son” icon cast at this time, which appears to be a fairly accurate, albeit “abbreviated” copy of the 16th century icon. Castings of “The Only Begotten Son” are known in single copies; They are very rare in copper casting collections. Most likely, this was a one-time order from one of the Old Believer collectors of the 19th century, or the icon was cast specifically for a few experts and lovers of ancient casting. (Figure 12. The Only Begotten Son. XIX century).

The Lord Jesus Christ is also depicted on numerous copper-cast crucifixes, which were loved not only by zealots of the old faith, but also by all pious Orthodox people in Russia. With all the diversity of these Old Believer crosses, the image of the crucified Savior on them remains unchanged. As for holiday themes, the variations in the very image of Christ are quite interesting. This topic requires special discussion and will be presented in one of the following articles devoted to Old Believer art.

On this moment There is no special study devoted to Old Believer copper casting in the Komi region. In 1996, an article by N.N. Chesnokova (1996) was published, which proposed using casting as one of the sources on the history of the formation of ethno-confessional groups in the Pechoria region. On the territory of the Komi region copper casting became widespread among both Russian and Komi Old Believers living in the lower reaches of Vashka, the upper reaches of Vychegda, and the middle and upper Pechora. There is currently no information about the existence of a local production center. The only mention of the casting of icons on the upper Pechora, found in the report of Yu.V. Gagarin (Scientific Report 1967), does not have any confirmation.

Now the majority of residents of Old Believer villages do not consider themselves Old Believers: “We are not Old Believers, we are worldly, Old Believers are those who eat from separate dishes.” It is currently difficult to establish what ideological principles the Upper Vychegda Old Believers adhered to; they have no idea about the views and agreements; a similar situation can be observed in other areas. Komi Old Believers of Vashka and Upper Vychegda believe that casting (kört öbraz, yrgon öbraz) has greater grace than painted images; at the everyday level they explain it more by practicality. They say out loud that the metal images are real, they were brought (vaema tor), they were made knowledgeable people, and the written ones are of local production (as karöm) (author’s field materials 1999).

Cast objects are used in rituals that accompany the birth and first years of a child’s life: during baptism, the water in the font is blessed with an icon, a crucifix is ​​placed in the baby’s cradle, which is associated with traditional ideas about the cross as a talisman. In wedding rituals, images are usually given as a dowry; Despite the existing ban, in a number of cases the folds are dismantled so that the daughter can take her husband with her to her house. The presence of casting in funeral rituals is obligatory: at the moment of placing the body in the coffin, when commemorating the dead, cast icons and crosses are cut into gravestones (nowadays they are not cut into them, but are brought with them to the cemetery). Cast icons, folding icons, and crosses are used to bless water during church holidays.

In the folk environment, there is a certain classification of castings: division into female and male (according to subjects, place of storage - in shevnos ud., yin pov vvch.), personal and exhibited in the shrine, worldly and “Old Believer” (did not differ in images) (field materials of the author 1999).
Copper casting, different in iconography and subjects, is used for similar purposes by the Russian Old Believers of Nizhny Pechora; among Komi non-Old Believers it is less common, which allows us to talk about casting as a specific feature of the Old Believers’ culture. Considering the role of casting in rituals, the specifics of which determine religious affiliation, the range of objects cannot be random.
Based on iconographic and technological differences, it is possible to determine which agreement the owner belonged to, to trace the contacts of the Komi Old Believers with Old Believer communities in other regions, as well as connections between communities within the republic, and to more accurately determine the areas of distribution of the Old Believers.

Udora (villages Koptyuga, Muftyuga, Vilgort, Ostrovo, villages Chuprovo, Puchkoma, Vazhgort). Pomeranian casting of the 19th century predominates; there are products made in Moscow (Preobrazhenka). It should be noted the presence of castings belonging to the Central Russian tradition (Guslitsy), presumably dating back to the 18th century, these are not only icons and foldings, but also crosses with the title “I.H.Ts.H.”, such objects are less common and are few in number (p. Chuprovo, Koptyuga, Ostrovo).
It is believed that the Udora Old Believers were Filippovites; from the 60s of the 19th century, skrykniki appeared; the presence of Guslitsky casting, and, as a rule, an earlier one, suggests that supporters of other beliefs lived here. About the residence of two priests in the village of Kirik, Yu.V. Gagarin reports. (1980). It is known that Guslitsky casting was in use among the Old Believers - the priests, and also that the crosses with the title were accepted by the Fedoseevites (after 1751, the “Titlovites” who separated from them).
The Old Believers of Udora maintained contacts with Pomerania, Moscow, and Ust-Tsilma (Gagarin Yu.V. 1973).
The predominance of Pomeranian casting suggests a relatively homogeneous religious affiliation of the population of these villages.

Ust-Kulomsky district. In the Old Believer villages of Voch and Kerchomya there is Guslitsky, Central Russian casting, mostly from the 19th century; Pomeranian, Moscow (Preobrazhenka-?) casting of the 19th century; There are specimens that are difficult to date and attribute. It was not possible to identify the predominance of one tradition. However, the most popular subjects can be named: The Crucifixion and images of the Virgin Mary (ss. Kerchomya, Voch). During the funeral, it is obligatory to have a cast image on the chest of the deceased; if a man, then it should be a Crucifix, if a woman, it should be the Virgin Mary (author’s field diaries, 1999). Which confirms the information about the residence in these villages of supporters of Spasov’s (so-called deaf netovshchina) agreement. It is believed that Spasov’s copper casting can be distinguished by the fact that the Image Not Made by Hands was certainly placed on the table of contents, and only 2 types of icons were common: images of the Savior and the Mother of God (Old Believers, 1996).
Copper casting was recorded in the village. Derevyansk - 7 items, Kanava village, Vapolka village - one each. 6 (images, folding, cross) are identified as Guslitsky casting (most of them have a rectangular top “Spas on Ubrus”), 2 folding - Pomeranian (Moscow-?). In Derevyansk, the casting was confiscated from the church in the 1920s; in the village of Vapolka, the folding was found in an abandoned house.
Taking into account trade relations with Cherdyn, contacts with the population of the upper Pechora, it can be assumed that representatives of other consents, possibly Pomeranian, lived on the upper Vychegda, as evidenced by the spread of Pomeranian castings (crosses, folds). The existence of Guslitsky crosses and folding stones from the 19th century suggests that Old Believers-priests lived in this area.

Povychegodye. Of the 35 items, 15 were purchased in Syktyvkar; 6 - in the Sysolsky district (Pyeldino village); 3 - in Syktyvdinsky (Palevitsy village, Zelenets village); 2 each - in Koygorodsky, Ust-Vymsky, where others came from is unknown. Castings from different centers are presented: Pomeranian, Moscow, Guslitsky. These are folding icons, icons, crosses dating back to the 19th century.

Scientific archive of the Komi Scientific Center of the Ural Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Fund 1, op. 13, case 159. Scientific report of the 1967 ethnographic expedition to the Troitsko-Pechora region of the Komi ASSR

c. 5¦ Copper-cast plastic - crosses, icons and folds - is a major national phenomenon of Russian artistic culture. IN Ancient Rus' A cross was an obligatory accessory of every Christian; it accompanied him from birth until death, therefore crosses are the most widespread and at the same time the most ancient type of copper-cast products. In the first centuries of Russia’s adoption of Christianity, crosses were worn not on the body, but on top of clothing “as clear indicators of Christian baptism.” They baptized with the cross, blessed, gave instructions, healed with its help, and buried with the cross and body icons. The most revered crosses and icons, often with relics and shrines embedded in them, were passed down through the family and became family heirlooms.

They swore allegiance on crosses. “The cross is small, but its power is great,” recorded in a 12th-century chronicle. Copper crosses are known that, according to legend, belonged to the Russian saints Abraham of Rostov, Euthymius of Suzdal, Sergius of Radonezh and others historical figures. These crosses were reproduced many times at a later time, and they were given the significance of a national shrine.

Indeed, the pillars of the Russian land were the saints, deeply revered by the people. This is confirmed by numerous copper-cast icons and foldings, to which Russian people turned with their sorrows and joys, with words of prayer in the vast expanses from the White Sea to the outskirts of Siberia...

However, over the past century, the very special attitude towards copper casting that existed in Russia for a millennium has been forgotten in people's memory. Only oral and written sources have preserved and brought to our time some features of the existence of copper-cast crosses, icons and folding objects.

In the 19th century, one of the first to point out the significance of copper icons and crosses was the famous philologist and art critic F. I. Buslaev. He noted that the originals from which ancient Russian icon painters made copies were small in size and this made it possible to transport them across the vast expanses of Russia and bring them from distant countries. Metal folding panels were especially valued, replacing entire iconostases and calendars. “These were shrines,” wrote F.I. Buslaev, “the most convenient for moving, durable and cheap; That’s why they are still in great use among the common people, especially among schismatics.”

It is no coincidence that reports to the government in the first half of the 19th century stated: “The use of these icons and crosses, as is known, is widespread throughout Russia; c. 5
c. 6¦ it has taken root for a long time among the common people, not excluding people of the Orthodox confession, so that these icons are found in almost all huts and other dwellings and are hung in villages, over the gates of houses, on ships, etc. Moreover, peasants bless with these icons their children, going away on long journeys or joining recruits, and these images then remain with them for their whole lives.”

According to contemporaries, in the Arkhangelsk province, “in addition to the construction of churches and chapels, it is a very common custom to consecrate wooden crosses and pillars... along the edges of streets, at the entrances to villages, at intersections, at places revered for some reason... The image of the crucifixion is simply carved into the crosses, and cast copper erection crosses, simple icons or with frames in vestments are placed in the pillars...”

This tradition existed not only in the Russian North, Siberia and the Volga region, but also in Moscow. Back in the 19th century, eyewitnesses noted that “... on one of the spacious streets of Zamoskvoretsk, not disturbed by the passing of carriages or the hustle and bustle of people, you will first see a long piece fence and gates of cunning work, painted with variegated oil paints, but with great taste. There is a copper frame embedded above the gate." Nowadays, it is rare and only in remote northern villages to find a cross with a copper-cast object attached to it in a cemetery...

The veneration of the copper cross was also reflected in folk conspiracies that existed in the Russian North until the end of the 19th century. Thus, in the Olonets province, according to popular belief, in order to heal a sick person, one had to boil the “spoken” water and put three copper crosses in it. Based on the cross vest baked into the bread, the mother tried to predict the fate of her son during recruitment, breaking the bread into two halves.

The Russian double-leaf encolpion cross with the image of the Mother of God of Kupyatitskaya is known as miraculous. Tradition connects the copper cross with the town of Kupyatichi (later a village in the Pinsk district of the Minsk province). At the site of the appearance of this cross in 1182, a wooden temple was erected, which was burned during the Mongol-Tatar invasion. But the copper image survived, became famous for many miracles and in 1656 was transferred to Saint Sophia Cathedral Kyiv.

Among the people, the meaning of the coil as a talisman remained until the 20th century. In Ukraine, young women wore similar items as protective amulets to help with illnesses and childbirth. In the northern provinces of Russia, peasants wore coils along with a cross on their chests, attributing to them “wonderful power to relieve suffering” when applied to sore spots.

The Old Believers had a very special attitude towards copper-cast icons and foldings, who revered them as having undergone “purification” by fire, that is, “not made by hands.”

Expert in Russian folk life S. V. Maksimov in late XIX century, he wrote about his meetings with Old Believers who wore copper icons in their bosoms and did not pray to other people’s icons. They “take out their copper icon from their bosom. Having placed it somewhere on a shelf, they begin to pray hastily, quickly... When they sit down at the table to have dinner, they place the same icons across the table opposite them, so as to differ from the Orthodox in this too.” c. 6
c. 7¦

The amulets - small icons and folds - accompanied the owner during long trips and travels. Often similar copper-cast objects were found far beyond the borders of the Russian land. Thus, in 1780, the Russian ship “Glory to Russia” sank off the coast of France during a storm. Only 200 years later, 80 copper-cast icons and small folding boxes that belonged to Russian sailors were raised from the bottom. Similar objects were found in North Holland. Here, at the site of the 1799 battles between Anglo-Russian and Franco-Dutch troops, Russian folding images depicting Saints Nicholas the Wonderworker and Paraskeva Pyatnitsa were discovered among military relics. These small and modest objects brought to us the memory of unknown Russian soldiers who died on foreign soil...

Often the choice of copper-cast icons was determined by popular sheets (“healing books”) entitled “Telling to which saints what graces of healing are given by God,” which began to appear in the second half of the 18th century. Almost all the saints listed in these sheets were most often depicted on copper icons. In the middle of the 19th century, Archpriest Mikhail Diev wrote to the famous lubok researcher I.M. Snegirev that in the Kostroma province “copper-edged images of St. George the Victorious, Florus and Laurus and Blasius in our area... are worn on the chest by farriers on trading days, and kept in houses... along with the images."

In copper casting, a mass-produced art form, it is easy to identify the most revered saints. Among the people, the most immediate helpers were considered to be the holy “demon fighters”, who protected a person from the influence of evil forces. The holy martyrs Nikita, George, Theodore Stratelates, Theodore Tiron, Demetrius of Thessaloniki, the archangels Michael and Sikhail were the conquerors of demons, usually depicted in the form of snakes and dragons.

The popularity of Saint Nikita, popularly called “besogon”, is evidenced by the huge number of his images on vest crosses, encolpion crosses, serpentines and on individual icons. Only one story from the apocrypha was reflected in the copper casting: “...the blessed one extended his hand, he [took] the devil and brought him down under him and stepped on his neck and crushed him. ...And we will remove the shackles that [were] on his foot and beat the devil with the shackles...” The presence in the house or on the body of a small cast image of Nikita the Besogon, reading the text of the apocrypha about Nikita’s torment and repeating the words of the prayer: “…depart, Satan, from this house and from this creation and from all these four walls and from the four corners” - gave a person confidence in the protection of the holy martyr Nikita, in protection from all sorts of demonic intrigues and from everyday troubles.

The Holy Great Martyr George the Serpent Fighter enjoyed the same veneration in Rus'. The copper-cast icons and folds most often depicted the popularly beloved episode from the legend “George’s Miracle of the Dragon.” Among the large number of copper-cast objects with St. George, openwork icons made using the perforated casting technique stand out. In their composition, the foundry masters included not only the figure of George sitting on a horse - in armor and a flowing cloak, with a spear in his hand - but also the maiden Elisava leading a snake. How not to remember the lines of a spiritual verse sung by the Russian people:

And she leads the snake to eat,
Like a milking cow...

And according to folk tales, George was considered the patron of fields, the protector of domestic animals from death and various diseases, and from being eaten by animals. In every Orthodox Russian home one could find the image of another saint - St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, to whom more often than other saints they turned with prayer “for intercession from all sorts of troubles and misfortunes.” Considering the strength and durability of copper icons, Russian sailors and travelers always had with them an icon with St. Nicholas the Wonderworker to pray for salvation on the waters. In copper casting, the most widely used iconographic versions of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker and St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk. Despite the traditional nature of the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker on copper-cast objects, one is struck by the variety of decorative motifs, giving each one an amazing elegance. The center of the icon is surrounded either by a modest smooth profiled frame, sometimes with an ornament in the form of rhombuses filled with multi-colored enamel, or in the form of a grapevine, or with a completely outlandish ornament in the form of curls... The masters added to the icon a pommel consisting of stamps depicting archangels, the Savior Miraculous and cherubim - this is how a new image arose! The decorative quality of copper-cast icons is also enhanced by bright glassy enamels, from blue, white and light blue to rare shades of pink and lilac. On small icons with St. Nicholas of Mozhaisky, made using the perforated casting technique, the figure of the saint with a sword and a temple, despite the miniature nature of the image, resembles monumental sculptural images.

Next to the icons of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, small copper-cast icons with the Great Martyr Paraskeva Friday look very modest. Among the people, Saint Paraskeva was revered as the patroness of fields and livestock; they prayed to her for all prosperity and domestic happiness, for deliverance from various ailments. Images and texts of prayers dedicated to “Saint Paraskeviya, named Friday” were worn around the neck and were considered a means of protection against all kinds of diseases.

The Hieromartyr Antipas was known among the people as a healer. And on the copper-cast icons with his image two letters are clearly visible: “Z” and “C”, that is, “dental healer”. They turned to this saint with a prayer for deliverance from toothache: “... I bring you a prayer, let us pray for me, a sinner, to the Lord God for the remission of my sins, and deliver me from incessant dental disease with your prayers, holy one...”. In “Telling Which Saints What Graces of Healing have been Given by God,” saints are mentioned who helped a person in everyday troubles. In copper casting these saints are often represented in specific groups. For example, a small icon depicts the holy martyr Charalampius together with the martyrs John the Warrior and Bonifatius. The unification of the three saints was caused by their extraordinary popularity among the people. They turned to John the Warrior, or, as he was also called, “the Warrior,” in order to rediscover stolen things and even escaped servants. The prayer to him contains the following lines: “...save from all evil, intercede from an offending person...”. They also asked Boniface “to get rid of his wine binge.” They prayed to Saint Charalampios to protect him from sudden death without repentance, which could overtake a person.

Women especially revered the holy martyrs Gury, Samon and Aviv - guardians and protectors from family troubles. That is why these holy saints were so often depicted on copper-cast icons, to whom they addressed “if a husband hates his wife innocently.” The holy martyrs Kirik and Iulita were supposed to help protect children from illness. Small icons, very modest and cheap, the surface of which was decorated only with an ornament reminiscent of wooden carvings, accompanied the Russian woman throughout her life. c. 8
c. 9¦

Finally, the Russian people could not do without the patronage of Saints Blasius, Modest, Florus and Laurus... “For deliverance from the bestial case” they asked Saint Modest and the Hieromartyr Blasius, and the martyrs Florus and Laurus - “from the equine case.” Caring for the “favorite peasant belly” - as livestock was often called - did not leave the owner either at home or on the road. Therefore, they took with them on the road a small copper-cast folding box or an icon with images of such revered saints.

Saints Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky were considered patrons of bees. The people even composed special prayers for the abundance and preservation of bees in the hives: “...Izosima and Savvatey, have mercy with your prayers on my servant of God in the yard or in the forest, in the bee yard, young and old bees...”. On the copper-cast icons you can see the Russian saints Zosima and Savvaty against the background of the walls and towers of the Solovetsky Monastery, and at their feet - “the White Sea and endless forests...”. On very small images and icons it was possible to depict the silhouettes of temples, rivers, grass, flowers of the Russian land, glorified by numerous saints... Isn’t that why the background on small icons with Saint Sergius of Radonezh is “woven” with flowers? Herbs and flowers spread under the feet of the horsemen of the holy princes Boris and Gleb. Images of these first Russian saints appeared on ancient encolpion crosses. When looking at the copper-cast icons, often decorated with enamels or made using the technique of perforated casting, one is reminded of the lines from the Legend of the Holy Princes: “...You are our weapon, the Russian land is our defense and support, double-edged swords, with them we overthrow the insolence of the filthy and trample the devil’s machinations on earth... ".

And all over Rus', in every house, people turned to the Mother of God as “an ambulance and warm intercessor.” In the already mentioned “Telling to Which Saints What Graces of Healing have been Given by God,” the icons of the Mother of God of Kazan, Feodorovsk, Tikhvin and the Burning Bush are named. “For the enlightenment of the blind,” they prayed to Our Lady of Kazan. They turned to Our Lady of Feodorovskaya with a prayer “for liberation from the difficult birth of wives.” “To preserve the health of babies” they asked Our Lady of Tikhvin. The Russian people considered the Mother of God the Burning Bush as a protector from fire and lightning. In folk life, people sometimes walked around a burning building with this image of the Mother of God to quickly extinguish the fire... There were many copper-cast icons and folding icons with revered images of the Mother of God, but the people especially loved the images and icons of the Mother of All Who Sorrow, the Joy of All Who Sorrow. Apparently, they very often turned to the Mother of God with their sorrows, and in gratitude they rubbed the copper icon with chalk or brick until it shined... And so they came to us, completely erased, retaining traces of their past life.

It is impossible to cover all the diversity of copper artistic casting, with its iconographic types, forms, richness of ornamentation and color range enamels! Basically, these works came from various foundries of the 18th–19th centuries. But especially revered was the casting created in the “mednitsa” of the famous Vygov Old Believer hostel, which became a model for numerous imitations until the beginning of the 20th century...

Here, at the end of the 17th century, on distant Karelian land, on the Vyga River, forty kilometers from the city of Povenets, an Old Believer monastery began its life. In her workshops they painted icons, decorated books with exquisite Pomeranian ornaments, c. 9
c. 10¦ and with the opening of the “copper room”, no one left the monastery without a copper-cast folding or icon... One of the eyewitnesses describes the monastery at the end of the 18th century: “Near the (tannery) copper smelter there is a factory where copper images and folds are cast in two furnaces, which in another building are polished, enameled and sold to visiting pilgrims...”

Most often among the castings of the Vygov workshop there are crosses and crosses. Among the latter, three-leaf Deesis folding doors were in great demand. They were cast in different sizes - from small, travel size, for wearing on the chest, to a large ceremonial image for prayer. It was here that folds of new iconographic types were born. Among them is the tricuspid fold “Deesis with selected saints”, or, as it is often called, “Nine”. Indeed, there are nine figures on the fold. In the middle there is the Savior on the throne with the Mother of God and John the Baptist present; on the left side are depicted the Apostle John the Theologian, Saint Nicholas the Wonderworker and Metropolitan Philip, on the right side are the Guardian Angel and the Venerables Zosima and Savvaty of Solovetsky. How thoughtful is the selection of selected saints on the collapsible table! Saints Zosima, Savvaty and Metropolitan Philip were associated with the Solovetsky Monastery, the successor of whose traditions the Old Believer monastery on Vyga considered itself to be. The Guardian Angel and St. Nicholas the Wonderworker were perceived as the patrons of both the entire monastery and everyone who became the owner of this fold. St. Nicholas the Wonderworker was also depicted on the folding wall, on the doors of which you can see the Mother of God of All Who Sorrow, the Joy of All Who Sorrow, the chosen saints with the martyrs Kirik and Iulita. These doors were often cast as separate images, so popular among the people.

To this day, Vygov’s very small double-leaf folds with the Mother of God of the Sign and the Old Testament Trinity evoke admiration. The craftsmen did not forget to decorate the back with a large flower and cover both sides with shiny enamels. But the glory of the Vygov “mednitsa” was brought by the four-leaf fold with the image of the Twelfth Holidays - the so-called “large holiday doors”. This fold, which is an entire traveling iconostasis, was extremely popular and not only among Old Believers. Everything in this copper-cast monument - both the shape, the thoroughness of the miniature stamps, and the ornamentation of the outer side of the second section - testifies to the talent and high skill of the foundry workers of the famous “copper plant”. And the Vygov copper-cast foldings, crosses, icons spread throughout Russia, right up to the taiga monasteries of Siberia... After the closure of the monastery in the middle of the 19th century, the traditions of foundry were continued by masters of Pomerania, Moscow, the Volga region, the Urals, Siberia - there are too many foundries to list, yes and we know too little about them... I would like to believe that someday the names of talented Russian foundry masters will become known. And then, in a new light, these modest icons and folds will appear before us, preserving the warmth of the fire of the distant “copper”...

Monuments of artistic copper casting constitute the largest group of church objects that have appeared in Rus' since the adoption of Christianity. Initially, works of Christian art of this kind were imported from Byzantium, as evidenced by numerous archaeological finds in Chersonesus, Kyiv and other cities of southern Rus'. c. 10
c. eleven¦ Greek samples were copied and later processed depending on the tastes and needs of the local population. However, imported products could not satisfy the demand for items of personal piety, intended primarily for home use. Therefore, in Kievan Rus, by the beginning of the 12th century, their mass production was being established.

The material from which these products were made not only left an imprint on the artistic features of the objects and the nature of the images, but also in itself had a deep symbolic meaning. The widespread use of copper for casting encolpion crosses, vests, icons, coils and folding frames was not accidental. Copper as a metal was attributed magical properties. The cross-vests had to be copper, since, according to biblical tradition, the prophet Moses made “a copper serpent and put it on a banner, and when the serpent bit a man, he, looking at the copper serpent, remained alive.”

Items of copper artistic casting are divided into several types: body crosses (from three to twelve points); pendant icons various forms; pectoral crosses-encolpions (double-winged for enclosing relics and other shrines) with a movable table of contents, double-sided and single-sided, as a rule, with a fixed table of contents; serpentines with an image on the front side of a Christian image, on the back - heads (masks) surrounded by snakes or a snake-legged figure; double-leaf encolpia icons with a movable table of contents; double-sided and single-sided icons with an eyelet for hanging; panagia, as a rule, are double-leafed, traveling (travel) with a movable or fixed top; folding doors (from two to four doors); squares and centers of the Gospels or matrices for them; liturgical objects (censer, cations, etc.); choirs, consisting of individual cast copper openwork plates and relief figures, which are subsequently mounted on the base.

All these types of products, coexisting and complementing each other, had different purposes: most of them were designed for individual use, some served to decorate church utensils, liturgical books, and lamps. In Rus', mainly three methods of casting were used: in hard stone molds; in plastic forms (clay, sand, molding soil); according to a wax model with preservation or loss of shape.

The main center for the production of copper casting at the end of the 11th - beginning of the 13th century was Kyiv, in the 14th-15th centuries its place was occupied by Novgorod the Great.

Unlike the cities of South-Eastern Rus', Novgorod, which did not experience the severity of the Mongol devastation, retained the continuity of its technology. Pre-Mongol encolpion crosses, vest crosses, pendant icons and other items found on the territory of Novgorod indicate that the majority of monuments of this period exactly reproduce the Kyiv samples or rework them in a more simplified form.

TO XIV century In Novgorod, the formation of a local school of copper casting is taking place. At the early stage of the development of copper foundry, craftsmen were guided by ancient monuments of the Byzantine circle, mainly miniatures, stamps of chased silver frames and stone reliefs, as well as samples of Novgorod small sculptures. This led primarily to the development of plasticity in casting, enlargement of parts and images in small samples. c. eleven
c. 12¦

In Novgorod art of the 14th century, qualitatively new models of small copper-cast plastics appeared, which reflected the local democratic tastes of artisans.

In the 15th century, the Novgorod school of copper casting finally took shape. At the same time, a stylistic and iconographic evolution was taking place, as a result of which icon samples took the place of the main prototypes of copper casting.

The composition of saints on copper-cast products of this time is determined by the demand for saints who were especially revered in the Novgorod environment. The 15th century castings are dominated by images of Saints Nicholas and George, Blaise and John the Merciful, Cosmas and Damian, Boris and Gleb, Stephen and others.

Under the influence of popular taste, compositions are simplified, iconographic details are reduced, in which only the main characters remain. The forms acquire a meager expressiveness. Simplicity, conciseness and imagery become the main features of the Novgorod art of copper casting during this period. The “handwriting” of the Novgorodians can be discerned in any form of art of this time, since it is distinguished by deep conservatism.

Novgorod copper-cast products of the 15th - early 16th centuries have characteristic technical, technological and stylistic features. For example, the main material for their castings is red copper or a reddish-brown copper composition with a high content of pure copper. In addition, the product format most often resembles a square or rectangle with a width exceeding the height. There are also objects with a semicircular arched finish.

Casting techniques are simplified - mainly one-sided quadrangular icons with a fixed table of contents are made, the casting plates become thinner (1.5–2.0 mm). In addition, the products use the technique of openwork casting with a through background, characteristic of Novgorod metal sculpture of the 14th century.

The icons are decorated with an ornament in the form of a stylized rope or cord. This technique came into artistic casting from Novgorod woodcarvers of the 11th–12th centuries. For a lace or chain, a fixed narrow eye with a through hole was made. On the front side of the ear, a four-pointed cross in a recessed rhombus was usually depicted (an artistic device typical of small stone sculpture of Novgorod the Great of the 12th–13th centuries).

Images of figures also have their own characteristics. They are shortened, stocky, their heads are enlarged, and presented in a strictly frontal position. Multi-figure compositions are presented with expressive turns, in sharp angles, the architectural background is in perspective. Another characteristic feature are two-sided images. The reverse side of the icons was not processed; its surface remained uneven, sometimes concave with depressions. The inscriptions were carried out uniformly, in an abbreviated form. In the 16th–17th centuries, primacy in the casting of copper images passed to Moscow and Central Rus'. However, the level of casting drops sharply, things become “very unskillful”, castings become handicrafts.

Old Russian foundry traditions were on the verge of extinction, and in 1722 Peter I issued a decree “On the prohibition of using carved and cast icons in churches and private houses.” c. 12
c. 13¦

A decree of 1723 prescribed “...copper and tin cast icons, where they are found, in addition to the crosses worn on the forehead, should be taken to the sacristies for this purpose: they are poured out in a very unskillful and unimaginative manner, and thus are greatly deprived of a worthy honor, for which purpose are they collected , to use for church needs, and that from now on these icons should not be poured and that merchants who find themselves in the ranks should not be allowed to sell them...” However, despite the ban, copper crosses, folds and icons, so revered among the people, continued to be cast.

IN early XVI In the 2nd century, copper foundry flourished again, associated with Old Believer workshops in Pomorie. Thus, in the foundry of the Vygov Old Believer hostel, completely new types of products were developed, widespread until the beginning of the 20th century. First of all, these are the “large festive doors” - a four-leaf fold with images of the Twelve Feasts and scenes of glorification of the icons of the Mother of God. In addition, on Vyga, double-leaf folds “small wings” - “twos”, three-leaf folds - “triads”, some types of large and small crosses and a huge number of icons with saints especially revered among the Old Believers were cast.

The products of the Vygov workshop were distinguished by their lightness and subtlety, the purity of casting, conveying the smallest details right down to the curls of the hair. But the main difference between the castings was fire gilding and bright glassy enamels decorating numerous crosses, folds and icons.

New iconographic compositions and forms of folds, icons and crosses, the quality of casting and the color palette of enamels - the distinctive features of Vygov casting - were developed in the products of Moscow workshops of the 18th–19th centuries.

“Only later at the end of the 18th century. according to them (Vygovsky - Note auto) Moscow foundry workers began to work on samples, but their products are much rougher than those of the Pomors,” this is the conclusion made by V. G. Druzhinin, a famous researcher of the Old Believer Pomeranian culture.

The history of the Moscow foundry business is traditionally associated with the Preobrazhenskaya community, which since 1771 has become the center of the Old Believers of the bespopovsky persuasion of the Fedoseyev consent. It was established that the foundries were located nearby, in the Lefortovo part.

Due to the increasing demand for copper-cast icons, folds and crosses, already in the first half of the 19th century there were several foundries of the Fedoseyev consent, supplying not only the Moscow province, but also other regions of Russia. This fact is confirmed by the “Sentinel Records of Moscow schismatics,” which are reports of police agents from November 1844 to July 1848. Thus, in the entry dated March 8, 1846, the following information about the masters is given: “Last year it was reported that Ivan Trofimov, a tradesman living in the Lefortovo part, 2 quarters, in the house of the bourgeois Praskovya Artemyeva, of the Fedoseev sect, was engaged in casting copper crosses and icons for schismatic sects. Now observations have discovered that in the same Lefortovo part lives the peasant Ignat Timofeev, who casts copper crosses and icons in large quantities for the non-popovshchina schism (except for the Filipov sect), and since he has been engaged in this craft for a long time, he has already established a permanent trade in cast crosses and icons, even outside Moscow through the persons mentioned below.” The following is a list of persons through whom Ignat Timofeev sent crosses and icons to St. Petersburg, Saratov, Kazan, Tyumen. The crosses and icons he casts c. 13
c. 14¦ were sent in poods at 75 and 80 rubles per pood, in addition, he sold them in Moscow and its districts. These Moscow workshops not only repeated Pomor samples of icons, folding frames and crosses, but also significantly expanded the range of products.

The largest Moscow foundries of the Preobrazhenskaya community of the second became the successors of the traditions of Pomeranian casting. half of the 19th century- the beginning of the 20th century, also located in the Lefortovo part, in the village of Cherkizovo and on Ninth Company Street. Based on archival materials, the names of the owners of the workshops were established - M. I. Prokofieva, M. I. Sokolova, E. P. Petrova and P. N. Pankratova - and the history of the existence of these “copper establishments”.

Copper-cast works from Moscow workshops, despite the similarity with Pomeranian samples, have significant differences: a significant increase in weight, sophisticated decorativeness and a multi-color range of glassy enamels. Monograms of foundry masters (MAP, SIB, LE ω) and other letters appear on individual copper-cast icons, folds and crosses.

The largest group of icons, folds and crosses has the monogram of the Moscow master Rodion Semenovich Khrustalev (M.R.S.Kh., R.Kh., R.S.). Currently, more than 30 iconographic subjects belonging to this master have been identified in museum and private collections.

The works of Moscow foundry workers of the second half of the 19th century, which became widespread, like earlier Pomeranian icons, folding objects and crosses, became models for provincial workshops. Thus, at the beginning of the 20th century, close ties with the Preobrazhensk community were maintained by the Krasnoselsk workshop of P. Ya. Serov, which carried out orders from Moscow foundries and worked according to Moscow models. Moscow master Vikul Isaevich Odintsov taught the workers of this workshop the secrets of molding and embossing products for about a year and a half.

Thus, throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, Moscow foundry workers continued the traditions of the famous Pomeranian “copper factory,” passing on their experience to Old Believer workshops in the villages of Krasnoye, Kostroma province, and Staraya Tushka in the Vyatka region.

The popularity of copper casting in Russia is evidenced by the massive sale of this type of product at Nizhny Novgorod and other fairs. Demand gave rise to the emergence of a special industry - counterfeiting copper images “in the old form.” Such workshops also existed in the village of Nikologorsky Pogost, which is 25 versts from Mstera (Vladimir province): “In Nikologorsky Pogost they forge copper images and crosses in the following way: they are cast into a form, or a cross, taken from an ancient image, from green copper, then put for two hours in water in which simple salt has been dissolved, then taken out and held over ammonia vapor, causing the green copper to turn into the color of red copper and the image also takes on a smoky old look.”

It is no coincidence that the largest collectors of copper casting B.I. and V.N. Khanenko in the preface to the catalog of their collection indicated: “The question of the location of the find of the object, in addition to historical interest, is acquiring even more special interest in our time due to the huge number of fakes of ancient crosses and icons , often beautifully executed, circulating in significant quantities in our markets and mainly in Moscow.”

Currently, there are still many monuments of copper artistic casting, stored in the storerooms of museums, waiting for their researchers. c. 14
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The Andrei Rublev Central Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art, founded in 1947 and housed within the walls of the Spaso-Andronikov Monastery, has a rare collection of works of decorative and applied art from the 11th to early 20th centuries. A significant part of this collection consists of copper art castings, including various types. The museum also houses works of tempera painting with copper cast objects embedded in them. The fund of metal products includes molds for casting pectoral crosses, inkwells, buttons, bells and bells, icon frames and their fragments, various liturgical objects (monstrances, tabernacles, lamps, etc.). The collection was formed gradually over 50 years based on various sources of income.

A special part of the fund are exhibits received by the museum as a gift. This group consists of one hundred monuments and includes ancient encolpion crosses, serpentines, icons of Novgorod casting from the 14th–16th centuries, icons, crosses and folds from the 18th–19th centuries.

An indisputable rarity can be considered the figured squares from the Gospel setting with the image of the four Evangelists, made by Novgorod craftsmen at the beginning of the 16th century using the technique of casting with fire gilding (Fig. 75). These items were donated to the museum in 1966 by the famous Moscow jeweler and restoration artist F. Ya. Mishukov.

Two 13th-century serpentines with the image of St. Theodore Stratilates were donated by private individuals (Fig. 53). One of them was discovered by V.N. Sergeev in Tver, the other was found by E. Mezhov during the Great Patriotic War near Koenigsberg.

The door of the 13th century encolpion cross “Crucifixion” (Fig. 12), the two-row icon of the 16th century “Archangels and selected saints” (Fig. 70), the encolpion crosses of the 14th–16th centuries (Fig. 15,).

The collection of the Moscow artist V. Ya. Sitnikov (1916–1987), which he left as a gift to the A. Rublev Museum before leaving abroad in 1975, replenished the copper casting fund with exhibits of the 18th–19th centuries (27 items; Fig. 131, 162) . An exception is the centerpiece of a 16th-century Novgorod folding serpentine with the image of the Mother of God Hodegetria on the front side (Fig. 55).

In the 1990s, more than two hundred works of copper casting of the 17th–19th centuries from his collection were purchased from the relatives of V. Ya. Sitnikov, including rare iconography (Fig. 121), with the initials of Moscow foundry masters (Fig. 179

Similar cross-vests of the 14th–15th centuries with images of Nikita beating the demon and the Savior Not Made by Hands entered the museum fund in 1964 from the collection of D. A. Shalobanov. This collection (21 items) includes the cross “Crucifixion with Those Awaiting” from the Moscow work of the 17th century (Fig. 29), the cross “Angel of the Great Council” according to the iconography of the 16th century (Fig. 32) and other items.

The most significant acquisition of the Museum, both in terms of quantity (579 storage units), and in composition and typology of copper artistic castings of the 11th–20th centuries, is the collection of the Moscow artist V.P. Penzin, purchased in the late 1980s. This largest private collection was formed in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of V.P. Penzin’s numerous trips around the Russian North, as well as his close connections with collectors and artists. The collection contains rare works of Russian foundry workers from Kyiv, Novgorod, Moscow and other centers. Among them, a group of Novgorod casting monuments stands out (Fig. 56

After an expedition to the Vladimir region, one of the first icons with an embedded copper-cast eight-pointed cross of the 19th century came into the museum.

A small part of the copper castings of the 18th–19th centuries (35 items) came to the museum in the 1960s from churches in the Moscow, Tver and Nizhny Novgorod regions. In this group of crosses, icons and folds, one can highlight the three-leaf fold “Deesis”, made according to an ancient model from bone (Fig. 205), as well as the fold “Our Lady Hodegetria” with images of Russian saints - Guria and Barsanuphius of Kazan, rare for copper-cast plastic (Fig. 208).

One of the sources of replenishment of the museum collection are items (about 200 items) received from the investigative authorities of Moscow, as well as from regional customs: the carved icon “Prophet Daniel * * *

This publication is the first attempt to generalize and describe the museum collection. The album includes 249 works of copper art casting from the 11th to early 20th centuries. The presented monuments show a variety of types, shapes and decorations of copper castings.

All items are grouped into three sections with a single numbering: section one - “Crosses”, section two - “Icons”, section three - “Foldings”.

The following information about the objects is given in the captions: type, name, center of manufacture, dating, material, technique and dimensions in centimeters (the parameters of objects with ears and pommels are indicated, for folding ones - in an open form), short description, link to the publication in which the image of this item was first published. At the end are given brief information about the iconographic features of copper castings, in some cases with reference to a literary source. c. 17
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Copper-cast plastic is a remarkable and not fully explored phenomenon of Russian artistic culture, which has a thousand-year history. Determining the significance of copper crosses, icons and folding objects in the life of the Russian people, F.I. Buslaev, a famous philologist and art critic of the 19th century, wrote: “These were the most convenient shrines for moving, durable and cheap; That’s why they are still in great use among the common people...” These words can rightfully be applied to any region of Russia, including the Moscow province, where during the 18th - 20th centuries. they not only revered copper-cast images, but also engaged in their production.

A defining milestone in the history of copper casting was the decree of Peter I of January 31, 1723 “On the prohibition of having private icons in parish churches; also pour out and sell sacred images made of copper and tin in the rows.” This decree brought under control the production, sale and existence of copper-cast objects, which were to be “used for church needs.” Thus, already at the beginning of the 18th century. the policy of government authorities in relation to copper plastic was determined. It was under these conditions, which put the foundry business in an illegal position, that Old Believers of different directions (Bespopovtsy and Popovtsy) managed not only to preserve ancient Russian traditions, but also to create new examples of crosses, icons and folding objects.

Thanks to the talent of Pomeranian, Moscow, Guslitsky, Zagarsky and Vladimir masters, copper drinking became an accessible art form that became widespread in cities and villages throughout Russia. This material, heterogeneous in material and technological characteristics, amazes with its diversity, ranging from form, iconography, composition and ending with decorative decoration. All of the above characteristics are the basis for the classification of a significant layer of preserved copper cast fine plastic.

In the first half of the 19th century. The problem of classifying copper casting was of interest not only to historians and archaeologists, but also to officials of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. So, in one of the documents of the 1840s. reads: “... cast copper crosses and icons, known under the names: Zagorsk, Pomeranian, Pogost and others, of which the first two varieties are cast in the Moscow, and the last in the Vladimir province. The use of these icons and crosses, as is known, is ubiquitous throughout Russia; it has been rooted for a long time among the common people, not excluding people of the Orthodox confession, so that these icons are found in almost all huts and other dwellings and are hung in villages above the gates of houses , on ships, etc. Moreover, peasants bless their children with these icons when they go on long journeys or become recruits, and these images then remain with them for their whole lives...” This official document is the first attempt, known to us, to understand copper casting, to determine its varieties and, most importantly, the distinctive features of each of the given groups. When characterizing items, it is noted “ best finish“The so-called Pomeranian crosses and folding crosses and the low quality of casting of Zagar and Pogost products, on which “it is difficult to distinguish the images.”

In the above classification, only 3 categories or varieties of copper casting are named - Pomeranian, Zagarskoe, Pogostskoe. The first mention of Guslitsky casting is found in the materials of Vladimir local historian I.A. Golysheva: “Copper icons are divided into 4 categories: Zagar (Guslitsky), Nikologorsk (Nikologorsk Pogost), ancient or Pomeranian (for schismatics of the Pomorian sect) and new. The new ones are intended for Orthodox Christians, and the old ones are for schismatics, which come with designs special to them.”

In general, it becomes clear that Old Believer copper-cast plastics differed according to categories that included in their definition the place of origin and production. Each of the named varieties had significant differences concerning not only the quality of casting, but, above all, iconography and, consequently, existence among different groups of the population. Thus, Pomeranian casting became widespread among the Old Believers-bespopovtsy (Pomeranians, Fedoseevtsy, Filippovtsy), who did not recognize the priesthood, and Guslitsky was revered by the Old Believers-priests. Subsequently, according to accepted samples (Pomeranian, Guslitsky, etc.), icons, crosses and folds were made in numerous foundries throughout Russia.

When classifying Guslitsky and Zagorsk castings, it is necessary to recall and provide all the information known to us related to the production and characteristics of these categories. Only in this case can it be determined what was meant by “Guslitsky and/or Zagarsky casting.”

The qualitative difference between these casting groups is evidenced by the data given in the catalog of the Old Believer icon, icon case and book trade of the heirs of M.P. Vostryakov. It is known that at the beginning of the 20th century N.M. Vostryakov had trading places in Moscow in Ilyinsky Row and at the Nizhny Novgorod Fair. Among the wide range of Old Believer products are not only books and church utensils, but also copper-cast products. For example, icons and crosses of the “best Pomeranian work” are given with an indication of the iconography and price per piece. Other categories of copper-cast products were sold by weight at a price per pound: “Zagar casting from 18 to 22 rubles.” and “Antsifor casting from 30 to 38 rubles.” We believe that the significant difference in price also indicated a difference in the quality of copper icons, crosses and folding objects, which obviously came from different workshops. Information about Zagarsky foundries is contained in published materials devoted to the history of handicrafts in the Moscow province. Among the villages of the Novinskaya volost of the Bogorodsky district, which “fed” the copper industry, the following are mentioned: the village of Averkievo - 7 workshops, the village of Alferovo - 17 workshops, the village of Danilovo - 22 workshops, the village of Dergaevo - 15 workshops, the village of Krupino - 12 workshops, the village of Novaya - 8 workshops, the village of Perkhurovo - 14 workshops, the village of Pestovo - 13 workshops, the village of Shibanovo - 9 workshops, etc. (a total of 139 copper establishments are indicated)."

Let us note that among these workshops only a few were engaged in casting images and folding objects. Thus, in the village of Novoe (which another author refers to Guslitsy) only 3 owners are indicated - A.D. Afanasyev, I.M. Mikhailov, I.T. Tarasov, who had from 6 to 11 workers, including adult family members. The cost of annually produced products was 5-10 thousand rubles.

The data provided may have changed due to demand for products. For example, in the village of Kostino (Zaponorskaya volost), isolated cases of icon painters transitioning “to casting copper images and folding objects” were noted.

When analyzing the activities of these institutions with traditionally established production, which included a forge and a “printing house”, such a feature of the Zagarsky variety is noted as the rare use of enamels to decorate the surface of cast copper objects.

The low quality of tan products is evidenced by information provided by Krasnoselsky foundry master A.P. Serov (1899-1974): “Pectoral crosses and icons were cast in Zagarye. The production of these products there was not famous - there was no cleanliness in the casting and they said that they were as bad as tanned ones. (The front side of these products was not processed with a file. Icons and crucifixes were so often counterfeited to resemble old castings).”

But obviously this characteristic cannot be attributed to the work of all tanning masters. Thus, at the famous All-Russian Art and Industrial Exhibition of 1882, held in Moscow, among 12 exhibitors on copper products, presenting bells, candlesticks, ashtrays and other items, the peasant of the village of Novoye, Bogorodsky district, Moscow province, Ivan Ivanovich Tarasov, was awarded an award “for copper image of very clean work and fairly cheap prices.” Later, in 1902, master Fyodor Frolov from the same village exhibited his copper crosses at the All-Russian Handicraft and Industrial Exhibition in St. Petersburg. The following brief information allows us to talk about the small capabilities of this artisanal establishment: “Production worth up to 400 rubles / year. There are 3 men working, 1 of them is hired. Material from Moscow worth up to 220 rubles/year. Sales to different places. Production is manual. Operating since 1890.”

So, what kind of casting was called tan? This category of copper-cast plastic can tentatively include crosses, icons and folding icons, which are distinguished primarily by the absence of filing on the front and back sides, significant weight and the rare use of enamels.

As a sample of tanning products from the second half of the 19th century. a small four-part icon “Martyrs Kirik and Ulita” can be shown. Savior Not Made by Hands. Our Lady of Vladimir. Our Lady of the Sign”, crowned with the ogpavia “Savior Not Made by Hands” (Ill. 1). Similar icons depicting the martyrs Kirik and Ulita were widespread among the people.

The closeness of the repertoire of Zagarskaya and Guslitskaya copper-cast plastics and its ubiquity created difficulty in clearly identifying each group. So, at the beginning of the 20th century. the famous researcher of Pomeranian literature and plastic arts V.G. Druzhinin classified all drinks produced in the Moscow province as “Guslitsky or Zagarsky”. He wrote: “In Moscow, casting by priest masters apparently prevailed; in the eastern part of the Moscow province and the border part of the adjacent Vladimir province there is an area called Guslitsy. Cast icons are still being made there using handicraft methods; the images on them are of very poor design; roughly made, mostly without enamel and sharply different from the Pomeranian ones, although they are lightweight.”

From this generalized characteristic, attention should be paid to such an important feature as “lightness”. We believe that in this case we are talking about Guslitsky-made castings. It is to this category that one can include the so-called “Antsiforov casting,” which was sold in Moscow at a higher price than the Zagar casting. In addition, it is known that already in the 18th century. Master icon painters worked in the village of Antsiforovo.

An analysis of all the information provided about the Old Believer copper sculpture of the 18th - 20th centuries, which existed in the Moscow province, allows us to determine the repertoire of Guslitsky casting. The main place in its composition was occupied by crosses, which were distinguished not only by a certain iconographic program, but also by compositional diversity. Guslitsky craftsmen cast male and female body crosses, eight-pointed altar crosses with a relief image of the Crucifixion of Christ and the title “I NCI” (Ill. 2) and icon crosses of various sizes, complemented by plates with groups of upcoming people, as well as icon-stamps with the twelve feasts and crowned , images of cherubs.

Icons and folds with images of the Savior and the Mother of God, Saints Nicholas the Wonderworker, Blaise, Athanasius, George, Flora and Laurus, Paraskeva Friday - this is not a complete series of compositions created by Moscow region masters. Following ancient Russian traditions, the three-leaf folds of the Guslitsky casting have a special shape, repeating in miniature the Royal Doors of the temple iconostasis. The folding with the image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker (Mozhaisky) is a striking example of the work of the Guslitsky master (Ill. 3). In the centerpiece, which has a keel-shaped end in the form of a kokoshnik, the saint is represented with a sword and a temple (hail) in his hands. In the upper part of the doors there is a divided composition “The Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary”, in the stamps - “The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem”, “The Presentation of the Lord”; “The Resurrection of Christ” (“The Descent into Hell”) and “The Ascension of the Lord.” Such Guslitsky “creators”, decorated not only with a climbing plant shoot and a frame with a geometric pattern, but also decorated with white and blue enamel, are the most common type of copper-cast products. Light, with “extra”, i.e. processed surface of the reverse, relatively inexpensive Guslitsky icons and folds enjoyed special veneration throughout the 18th - 20th centuries.

These simple copper-cast images, distinguished by their original form and decorative decoration, suggest the existence of an independent artistic movement - Guslitsky casting.

V.Ya. Zotova
Candidate of Historical Sciences,
senior researcher at the central museum
ancient Russian culture and art named after. Andrey Rublev,
keeper of the copper casting fund (Moscow)