DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.47325#0386
The Sanctuary Barriers in the Early Moscow Churches
383
However, until the present, this work has not yet been done and the discussion died
away for more than 15 years.
Investigations of the early Moscow altar screens was continued by
V V Kavel'maher, and now we are waiting eagerly for this pubheation in a forthcom-
ing issue of Drevnerusskoe Iskusstvo. However, since it is not yet published, it would
be very useful to consider some methodological problems. For example, whether it is
possible to get necessary’ information on the transformation of iconostasis out of the
remains found during archaeological excavations.
Such an attempt was made recently by T. A. Chukova. Her work concerns pre-
Mongolian materials, which are studied thoroughly and are more detailed than the ones
of the period from the end of the 13th to 15th c.2 She was able to identify several con-
struction types of the foundations of the altar screens and has interpreted them as dif-
ferent types of altar screens which corresponded to different constructions of the foun-
dations. In the course of this study she has found out several different stages. In gen-
eral, the first churches, from the end of the 10th to the 11th c., followed Byzantine tra-
dition of architectural constructions and built altar screens of stone, marble or ceram-
ic. However, even during that period, some monuments such as St. Sophia in Nov-
gorod. which is quite remote from the central regions of the river Dnieper, had wood-
en altar screens. As we know, a very similar situation, depending on the trade routes,
occurs when we study other types of monuments — for example, sarcophagi of dif-
ferent Byzantine types are unknown in the Northern Russian territories.
In the 12th century instead of the stone altar screens they began constructing
wooden barriers, as well as brick ones (however, the wooden altar screens prevailed).
It is well known that in Russia use of wood as a construction material was an impor-
tant factor, which influenced alterations of a Byzantine ty pe altar screens into the high
Russian iconostasis. Moreover, it might be that the process of “sticking together’ of
the architectural elements of a Byzantine type altar screen to the eastern part of
medieval Russian churches was caused by gradual elimination of their sizes — the
process which could be observed from the 11th to the 15th c.
More diversity could be observed when we study pre-Mongolian altar screens
on the Galitskaia, Volynskaia, Vladimirskaia and SuzdaTskaia territories — they built
foundations for altar screens (as well as, probably, altar screens themselves) of lime-
stone. We can suppose that the foundations of early Moscow churches were built in the
same way, because at the first stage the Muscovites acquired a lot of construction tra-
ditions from the pre-Mongolian North-Eastern Rus’, from the Rostov and Tver’ archi-
tecture.
During my excavations in Bogoiavlenskii monastery (the monastery of
Epiphany) in Moscow 10 years ago, I got a rare opportunity to study thoroughly the
construction of the foundation of the altar screen dating to the second half of the 14th
or early 15th century (Fig. 1), the key-period of transition from an altar screen to a high
iconostasis. General information about this monument is already published. However,
I would like to consider it in more detail3. Let us remind you of a long dispute con-
cerning the dating of the first stone Moscow churches, among which one of the most
important roles belongs to Bogoiavlenskii cathedral (Fig. 2). According to this discus-
383
However, until the present, this work has not yet been done and the discussion died
away for more than 15 years.
Investigations of the early Moscow altar screens was continued by
V V Kavel'maher, and now we are waiting eagerly for this pubheation in a forthcom-
ing issue of Drevnerusskoe Iskusstvo. However, since it is not yet published, it would
be very useful to consider some methodological problems. For example, whether it is
possible to get necessary’ information on the transformation of iconostasis out of the
remains found during archaeological excavations.
Such an attempt was made recently by T. A. Chukova. Her work concerns pre-
Mongolian materials, which are studied thoroughly and are more detailed than the ones
of the period from the end of the 13th to 15th c.2 She was able to identify several con-
struction types of the foundations of the altar screens and has interpreted them as dif-
ferent types of altar screens which corresponded to different constructions of the foun-
dations. In the course of this study she has found out several different stages. In gen-
eral, the first churches, from the end of the 10th to the 11th c., followed Byzantine tra-
dition of architectural constructions and built altar screens of stone, marble or ceram-
ic. However, even during that period, some monuments such as St. Sophia in Nov-
gorod. which is quite remote from the central regions of the river Dnieper, had wood-
en altar screens. As we know, a very similar situation, depending on the trade routes,
occurs when we study other types of monuments — for example, sarcophagi of dif-
ferent Byzantine types are unknown in the Northern Russian territories.
In the 12th century instead of the stone altar screens they began constructing
wooden barriers, as well as brick ones (however, the wooden altar screens prevailed).
It is well known that in Russia use of wood as a construction material was an impor-
tant factor, which influenced alterations of a Byzantine ty pe altar screens into the high
Russian iconostasis. Moreover, it might be that the process of “sticking together’ of
the architectural elements of a Byzantine type altar screen to the eastern part of
medieval Russian churches was caused by gradual elimination of their sizes — the
process which could be observed from the 11th to the 15th c.
More diversity could be observed when we study pre-Mongolian altar screens
on the Galitskaia, Volynskaia, Vladimirskaia and SuzdaTskaia territories — they built
foundations for altar screens (as well as, probably, altar screens themselves) of lime-
stone. We can suppose that the foundations of early Moscow churches were built in the
same way, because at the first stage the Muscovites acquired a lot of construction tra-
ditions from the pre-Mongolian North-Eastern Rus’, from the Rostov and Tver’ archi-
tecture.
During my excavations in Bogoiavlenskii monastery (the monastery of
Epiphany) in Moscow 10 years ago, I got a rare opportunity to study thoroughly the
construction of the foundation of the altar screen dating to the second half of the 14th
or early 15th century (Fig. 1), the key-period of transition from an altar screen to a high
iconostasis. General information about this monument is already published. However,
I would like to consider it in more detail3. Let us remind you of a long dispute con-
cerning the dating of the first stone Moscow churches, among which one of the most
important roles belongs to Bogoiavlenskii cathedral (Fig. 2). According to this discus-