DOI article:
Brumfield, William Craft: Sixteenth- and Seventeenth-century church architecture in Vologda Province
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.48915#0046
SlXTEENTH- AND SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY ChURCH ArCHITECTURE IN YOLOGDA PROYINCE
41
13. Cathedral of the Presentation of the Yirgin, Presentation Monastery. Solvychegod.sk.
Interior, ceiling vaults
13. Solwyczegodsk, sobór monasteru Wwiedeńskiego, 1688- ok.1693.
Wnętrze z widokiem sklepienia
on the exterior walls of large structures such as the Trinity Cathedral, permits a significantly
greater illumination of the interior. The pierś are relatively compact, as are the spring
arches of the vaulting. In addition, all of the five drums are situated over the main interior
space. In the typical design of earlier medieval churches, the east drums were placed over
bays located behind the iconostasis, thus diminishing the amount of light cast on the main
interior space. By the 17th century, iconostases were morę freąuently attached to the upper
part of the east wali (above the opening for the eastward projection of the apse) in a design
that allowed morę light in the main space.
Taken together, these factors permit a greater natural illumination of the interior of the
Trinity Cathedral and its iconostasis, which is one of the most elaborate in the Russian
north (ill. 11). Although the emphasis of this article is on architecture, it should be noted
that the interior walls of the cathedral were not painted with frescoes and the main icon
screen, consisting of five rows of intricately carved, gilded wood, was erected only
in 1776-84. In a departure from typical practice, the iconostasis contains extensive statuary
that amplifies the central iconic motif of the ministry and Passion of Christ.17
Fortunately, the Trinity Monastery contract with the master craftsmen informs that they
were from the town of Totma, on the Sukhona River some 200 kilometers to the Southwest
17 Remarks on the iconography of the Trinity Cathedral iconostasis and its relation to Western religious art are contained in
K. ONASH, “Ikonostasy Yelikogo Ustiuga,” in V. A. SAB LIN, ed., Yeliki Ustug: kraevedcheskii almanakh, 1 (1995), pp. 180-94.
41
13. Cathedral of the Presentation of the Yirgin, Presentation Monastery. Solvychegod.sk.
Interior, ceiling vaults
13. Solwyczegodsk, sobór monasteru Wwiedeńskiego, 1688- ok.1693.
Wnętrze z widokiem sklepienia
on the exterior walls of large structures such as the Trinity Cathedral, permits a significantly
greater illumination of the interior. The pierś are relatively compact, as are the spring
arches of the vaulting. In addition, all of the five drums are situated over the main interior
space. In the typical design of earlier medieval churches, the east drums were placed over
bays located behind the iconostasis, thus diminishing the amount of light cast on the main
interior space. By the 17th century, iconostases were morę freąuently attached to the upper
part of the east wali (above the opening for the eastward projection of the apse) in a design
that allowed morę light in the main space.
Taken together, these factors permit a greater natural illumination of the interior of the
Trinity Cathedral and its iconostasis, which is one of the most elaborate in the Russian
north (ill. 11). Although the emphasis of this article is on architecture, it should be noted
that the interior walls of the cathedral were not painted with frescoes and the main icon
screen, consisting of five rows of intricately carved, gilded wood, was erected only
in 1776-84. In a departure from typical practice, the iconostasis contains extensive statuary
that amplifies the central iconic motif of the ministry and Passion of Christ.17
Fortunately, the Trinity Monastery contract with the master craftsmen informs that they
were from the town of Totma, on the Sukhona River some 200 kilometers to the Southwest
17 Remarks on the iconography of the Trinity Cathedral iconostasis and its relation to Western religious art are contained in
K. ONASH, “Ikonostasy Yelikogo Ustiuga,” in V. A. SAB LIN, ed., Yeliki Ustug: kraevedcheskii almanakh, 1 (1995), pp. 180-94.