Scientific Papers of St Petersburg Academy of Fine Arts'70. Preservation of Cultural Heritage

Discussion about the possibility of erecting the bell tower of the Smolny Monastery based on the design materials of Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli highlighted the problem of optimizing the value of the ensemble and the urban landscape. The question of the relationship between the concepts of originality, authenticity and identity has become acute. The article overcomes the residual synonymy of their use at different levels of object organization.

The article is devoted to the study of the oeuvre of the Moscow icon painter of the 2nd half of the 19th – early 20th centuries Vasily Kolupaev. The article presents an overview of the activities of the icon painter and his workshop of church painting. For the first time, the article provides information about previously unknown works and demonstrates the projects identified so far. The article pays special attention to historical data, issues of style and creative interactions of the master with other cultural figures.

The publication presents a Russian translation of the chapter “The primary activities of conservator” from the book by one of the founders of restoration science in Canada, and the well-known theorist and practicing conservator Philip Ward “The Nature of Conservation: A Race Against Time”, devoted to the fundamentals of the profession of a conservator – to the preventive conservation measures. Philip Ward formulates the basic principles of this type of restoration activity, which has currently received deep theoretical elaboration. Comments on the translation include some cases of practical, applied implementation of conservation-restoration techniques of paintings within the educational process, based on the ideas of preventive conservation.

In the late 1930s, extensive building construction begins in Leningrad. The building commissioner is the People's Commissariat of the Soviet Navy, established in 1937. Educational buildings are being built (for example, on Chelyuskintsev Square (now Zanevskaya Square), residential buildings in Vologodskaya and Slutskogo street (now Chapygina and Tavricheskaya) were erected. In most cases, D. Buryshkin becomes the architect of these buildings, the author of the decorative design of buildings is sculptor Ya. Troupiansky. Troupiansky. However, the exception to the established practice of cooperation was the construction of the House of the People’s Commissariat of the Soviet Navy on Petrovskaya Embankment, 8. The architects of the large residential complex in the city center were E. Levinson and I. Fomin. By the time the construction was completed in 1938-1940, the project had finally lost its initial “constructivist” features. The new aesthetics demanded decoration in the forms of socialist realism. The famous neoclassicist Ya. Troupiansky who became famous in 1910s, was invited as an experienced specialist in the field of concrete decorative sculpture. Together with his young assistants and the team of the moulder A. Gromov, the sculptor had to create a 6-meter-high composition depicting a seaman and a shipbuilder. The implementation of the project was hampered not only by personal disagreements between the creators of different generations, technical difficulties (installation of heavy sculpture at high altitude), but also by the beginning of the siege of Leningrad. The study of Troupyansky's personal archive, the comparison of comprehensive research and sculptor’s handwritten memoirs made it possible to recreate the entire process of erecting a monumental sculpture, as well as its restoration by the author of the article.

The article, based on the material of the fortified cities of the Swedish Empire, analyzes the problem of the destruction of their architectural landscape, by the middle of the 19th century aggravated due to massive demolition of city fortifications. A typology of spatial connections of perception generated by fortification complexes (movement connections, event connections and visual connections) is being developed. Based on a comparative artistic analysis carried out by iconographic and natural methods, a universal methodology is developed. It allows us to determine the degree of destruction of the architectural landscape according to two criteria: the percentage of physical loss of fortifications and their identification in the urban environment (the degree of preservation of the complex of spatial connections). 6 types are classified. For each type, categories of lost and potentially possible for regeneration spatial connections are identified.

The article, based on the research and practical experience of conservation-restoration of two paintings of different periods (18th and 20th centuries), presents the method of using transparent support materials, which is an alternative to lining of canvases in the restoration of paintings, and shows the advantages of conservation of easel paintings using this technique.

The work for the first time examines the stylistics and design features of the furniture set of the White Living Room in the Fountain House in connection with the furniture projects of A. Stackenschneider for the Mariinsky Palace in 1837. The interrelation of three furniture sets from the 1840s, made by the masters of the Gambs Brothers company for two grand ducal palaces and for the Sheremetev Fountain House, has been revealed. For the first time, the degree of I. Corsini’s participation in the creation of the White Living Room set was determined.

Qian Qi, the traditional Chinese porcelain technology of decorating the roofs of temples and houses, is not famous in the world, even within China. However, today, the Chinese government provides support for the preservation and advancement of this art. The article contains information about the features of Qian Qi production and outstanding contemporary masters, who create not only roof decorations, but also modern interior items using traditional techniques.

The article for the first time considers three icons of St Nina Equal-to-the-Apostles, created in the 21st century by masters of the North-West of Russia (St Petersburg – Pskov) and united by a common subject. The unique nature of the solution of these images in the work of the icon painter Y. Filippov and the master of the gold embroidery V. Kazarina is noted. The peculiarities of the subject presentation in the iconography of icons make it possible not only to determine the level of their artistic merit, but also for the first time to highlight one of the trends of modern icon painting – documentalism. Its various forms as determining the characteristics of images and subjects are revealed, the role of narrative and symbolism in their interpretation is emphasized. In parallel with the considered icons of St. Nina, the examples of the use of forms of documentalism in the works of icon painters of the northern capital – G. Panayotov and D. Mironenko – are given. Attention to the role of professional education (composition, drawing, color scheme) in the imaginative solution of icons is drawn. An attempt is made to briefly characterize the trends of documentalism in the icon painting of Old Russia and later period, up to the early 20th century. The role of traditions of the masters of the northern capital in the modern icon painting is emphasized.

The article is devoted to revealing the features of Art Nouveau style in the contemporary works of St Petersburg church artists. The article considers the experience of St Petersburg artists recreating the upper and lower iconostases in the Kronstadt Naval St Nicholas Cathedral. The author analyzes a number of new original icons of St Petersburg artists, in which the features of the Art Nouveau style are observed. The article talks about the work of monumental artists of St Petersburg on the interior decoration of the restored church of the Icon of the Mother of God “The Joy of All Who Sorrow (with pennies)”, as well as about the involvement of students of the St Petersburg Repin Academy of Fine Arts in the development of preparatory cardboards and sketches for this church. There is a tendency to study the Art Nouveau style within the walls of the Academy of Arts. The assumptions about the cultural and ideological relevance of the use of the Art Nouveau style are made.

This article examines the preservation of material and nonmaterial cultural heritage as a topic addressed by contemporary Russian authors working in the field of visual arts with the phenomenon of magical spaces. With several works of female artists as an example, the research of the phenomenon of magical spaces in visual arts as a special artistic practice that allows authors to raise a wide range of topical issues that allows authors to raise a wide range of topical issues, that results in disputes about social equality, environmental awareness and, of course, the preservation of cultural heritage, including both physical artifacts and intangible traditions.

The article is devoted to the history of the formation and development of the method of socialist realism in visual arts - a principle that assumed “a truthful depiction of reality in its revolutionary development” and had a dominant influence on Soviet art. The origin of this principle in the field of fine art dates back to the early 1920s, and the crystallization of its officially approved formula occurred in 1932–1934. The article makes an attempt at a balanced and impartial comprehension of a complicated and in many ways dramatic period of our cultural history.

The article considers the first experience of creating a personal training studio at the Higher Art School at the Academy of Arts, purposefully engaged in the training of masters of monumental painting. Based on little-studied archival materials, the author analyzes prerequisites for the creation of the studio, projects of its organization, monumental orientation of education, as well as the pedagogical and creative principles of its founder and first head, Professor V. Belyaev.