Paintings of Volodymyr's Cathedral

Hello, my dear readers!

I am thrilled to offer you a virtual tour around St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv. I visited in with the guide and was greatly impressed and fascinated by everything I've seen and heard. Let me share it with you today.

This is the story of talented artists, famous and young, who came to Kyiv from Russia or Italy and fell in love with Kyiv. Some experienced divine inspiration, and some struggled with demons. Someone met his only love here, and someone simply settled in Kyiv for several generations.

Frankly, St Volodymyr's Cathedral in Kyiv is less famous than Saint Sophia Cathedral among tourists. Besides, it is much younger. But it is essential for the city, first because it was built in response to the need of the townspeople to honor the memory of Volodymyr the Great, the prince who christened Rus. Besides, the cathedral was constructed exclusively using people's donations.

Funny fact. It is located on a hill in the center of the city, at 1 Botanichna Square, but a rare passerby will be able to point you in the right direction. The square is in fact the territory of the cathedral, so everyone is sure that it stands on Shevchenka Street.

Its history began in 1853 when the construction of a temple in honor of Saint Prince Volodymyr in Kyiv was approved by the emperor Nickolay I. At that time, most of Ukraine was a de facto colony of the Russian Empire, so all important decisions had to be approved by the tsar.

Construction was interrupted and delayed several times. The defeat of the Russian Empire in the Crimean War had a significant impact on fundraising. When the walls of the cathedral were ready, the unexpected happened. Cracks began to appear in the walls. To remedy the situation, it was necessary to slightly change the original appearance of the cathedral, which was planned to be similar to Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. For a long time, residents were dissatisfied with the new look of the cathedral and considered it ugly. The interior decoration of the temple was also the result of searches and disputes. Finally, in 1896, the temple was ready.

My real acquaintance with this cathedral began one gloomy winter day earlier this year with a guided tour from which I expected little more than the opportunity to climb the "choirs" and see the church from a different perspective. Well, I must confess the guide surprised me, and 3 hours passed quickly, just as she promised. The main part of the story was devoted to the interior painting, besides, I had a camera with me to take pictures of everything.

So, let me start my brief version.

The drawings had to correspond to the churches of the time when Prince Volodymyr of Kyiv lived, which was the Old Byzantine style. The author of the project and the supervisor of all the works was one of the best experts in ancient Byzantine art, archaeologist, professor of Kyiv University and the first professor of art history in the Russian Empire, Adrian Prakhov.

Adrian Prakhov had to find artists for the painting of St. Volodymyr's Cathedral. At first, he wrote letters to his Russian colleagues Vasnetsov and Nesterov, but they were busy on other projects at the time. Then Prakhov wrote letters to Italy, where the Svedomsky brothers were staying. They immediately agreed, also recommending a young Polish artist, Wilhelm Kotarbinski. A year later, Vasnetsov and Nesterov gave their consent. The team was ready.

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The first surprise for me was the main doors. I used to see them wide-opened and never noticed the embossed figures of Princess Olga who became the first Christian in Rus (you probably know her from my story of the mini-sculpture), and Prince Volodymyr the Great, who made Christianity the main religion of Rus in 988. Actually, I could have seen them if I had come really early or late at night but... it's not about me. 🙂

The author of the bronze door is Prakhov himself, and the model of the figure of Princess Olga was made by the sculptor R. Bach (Р. Бахъ), it is mentioned in the inscription to the right of the princess's shoe.

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The first thing we see when we enter the church is the gaze of the Mother of God with the Child, painted by Vasnetsov. She is looking at us from the main nave. Her facial features are quite canonical, but who do those deep eyes belong to? It is known that Vasnetsov fell in love with Emilia Prakhova, the wife of Adrian Prakhov. It was she and her young son who became the prototypes for this painting.

A similar story happened with another artist who participated in art works named Vrubel. At that time, he was young and his style of painting was too modern in the opinion of the supervisory board. Therefore, Vrubel painted ornaments. But later, when he painted the Madonna and Child for St. Cyril's Church here in Kyiv, he wrote her off from Emilia Prakhova, with whom he was also in love. French citizen, and student of Franz Liszt, she is a true femme fatale. But not only she. 😉Femme fatale

Her eldest daughter Olena Prakhova was known as an unsurpassed embroiderer and a virtuoso pianist. The whole of Kyiv loved her and called her L'olya.

Nesterov was in love with L'olya and depicted her in the image of the Holy Great Martyr Barbara in the right iconostasis. Barbara bore a portrait resemblance to her prototype, and the Supervisory Board did not like it. The priests were outraged by the non-canonicity, and they also considered L'olya ... not beautiful.

Therefore, this painting had to be slightly "beautified". On the left, you can see a completely canonical image of Saint Barbara on the church's column, made by a lesser-known artist, as well as her image above her tomb.

Despite the mutual love between Nesterov and L'olya, her parents considered the young and unknown artist to be an unworthy match for their daughter. The one-love L'olya never married.

Another non-approved from the first try was the image of Princess Olga mentioned above authored by Vasnetsov. Look at her eyes. She is depicted as a warrior princess, the one she actually was, initially holding a sword (that sword again!).

But the priests insisted on her holding a cathedral instead of the sword.

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As the most famous and experienced artist, Vasnetsov was commissioned to paint the entire central part of the cathedral. Nesterov depicted Princes Boris and Hleb on the pillars of the main nave according to sketches by Vasnetsov.

"Baptism of Volodymyr" (Vasnetsov)

"Baptism of Kyivans" by Vasnetsov.

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The drawing style of the Svedomsky brothers differed from Vasnetsov's canonical sketches. Prakhov used their style gained in European School of Arts to write scenes in Jerusalem. The compositions "Prayer for the Cup", "Last Supper", "Entry into Jerusalem", "Judgment of Pilate" in the side naves belong to P. Svedomskyi.

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Pay attention to how naturally the artist inscribed the rectangular Greek door in the arch of the painting.

It is said that the father of the famous aircraft designer Igor Sikorsky Ivan was the one from whom Vasnetsov painted St. John.

Some random characters...

The second part of the tour continued on the upper tier. We were allowed to go up to a place where only choristers and Sunday school students have access. There was a very nice view from the top, besides that we had the opportunity to see more beautiful paintings. Some were hidden behind a curtain. As for me, it's a shame to hide them.

But there is en element that worth mentioning. The paintings of the cathedral are united into a single whole by the ornamentation that is everywhere - on the walls, pillars, arches, and vault. They were painted by Ukrainian artists based on Vasnetsov's sketches. When Vasnetsov first came to Kyiv, he was amazed by the beauty of the city. It was spring, and a variety of flowers were blooming in every garden and at every gate. He liked the flowers of the cozy Kyiv streets so much that he brought them into the cathedral. Enjoy this wealth of shapes and colours, and a rich imagination...

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Impressive "Transfiguration of the Lord" on the ceiling by Polish artist Wilhelm Kotarbinski.

These four seraphim are also his work.

One last look at the Virgin Mary. It's time to finish the tour. We can see some movement in the choir wing, probably preparations for the service.

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This is all, folks. Thank you for checking my post today. I hope you enjoyed.

Yours truly,
@zirochka