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The building of the
Archangel Cathedral in 1505-1508 marked the completion of
the restructuring work in the residence of the Grand Dukes
contemplated and executed under Ivan III, Grand Duke and
sovereign of "All of Russia"(1462-1505). Under
his rule was achieved the unification of the Russian lands
which had delivered themselves of the Mongol-Tartar yoke
in 1480 thereby enhancing the international prestige of
the State of Muscovy that was rapidly gaining in strength.
The process was reflected in the grandiose building
projects that were launched in the Kremlin. The
ideological programmed that underlay the developments in
the Moscow Kremlin, as was intended by their commissioner,
a noteworthy part was allotted to the Archangel Cathedral,
the principal cathedral of the grand dukes that was to
become the burial place of the Moscow princes and tsars.
To this cathedral, dedicated by tradition to Archangel
Michael, the patron saint of the grand dukes in their
feats of arms, they would come to pray before going into
battle or leaving for the Horde, asking for endurance and
strength of mind. Here their younger brothers were sworn
in, here came the tsar at the head of the solemn
procession following his crowning ceremony.
The
Archangel Cathedral built under the direction of the
Italian architect Alevisio Novi stands on open ground at
the edge of mount Borovitsky and may be considered the
most original of all the monuments making up the
integrally complete ensemble of Cathedral Square in the
Kremlin. The new cathedral built on the site of a small
white-stone church erected in 1333 under Ivan Kalita
(1325-1341) was not merely higher and bigger than its
predecessor; it astounded its contemporaries by its
unusual resemblance to the Italian palazzo.
The
facades of the Archangel Cathedral are covered with a
well-defined austere order decor: the intricately profiled
plinth is topped by two rows of pilasters crowned by a
carved capital of the Corinthian order. A sham arcade, the
upper part- by broad slatted panels, embellishes the lower
part of the wall. The strict lines of the cornices
underscore its horizontal sections. The semicircular
zakomary gables, once decorated with gothic unusual for a
Russian church are the round medallion windows in the
central zakomara of the western facade. The initial
two-colored facades combining redbrick walls with white
decorative details also served to accentuate the order
architecture.
The
order decor typical of Italian architecture seems to have
been "superimposed" by Alevisio Novi on the
traditionally Russian construction pattern made up by the
six-pillared cross-and-dome church with the canonic five
domes and zakomary gabled roof. Its inner structure shows
a definite link with Old Russian architecture. The
split-pattern interior, hemmed in with massive almost
square- shaped pillars dividing the structure into three
naves, is its typical feature.
In
keeping with the Russian tradition Ale Visio set up in the
western part of the Cathedral a khory-gallery for the
family of the Grand Duke during service. Abutting on the
main building was a narrow four-storied structure. The
peculiar Khory on its third story jutted out into the
interior of the main building in the shape of a large
two-arched window. An innovation was the form of the main
entrance to the Cathedral made to resemble a perspective
portal set into a deep loggia, which along with the steps
formed the parvis. The portals of white stone crowned with
carved acroteria are decorated with finely chiseled
stylized floral patterns typical of the Italian
Renaissance.
With
time the Archangel Cathedral suffered several changes that
altered its initial appearance. In the second half of the
16th century two side-chapels were added to its eastern
wall: The Chapel of the Intercession, later renamed into
St. Uar's chapel, and the chapel of John the Forerunner.
The time an open gallery was imposed on the northern,
western and southern walls of the cathedral that was to
houseguests of honor during solemn ceremonies. In the 18th
century the gallery was taken down and the central dome
lost its former helmet-shaped form and acquired the form
of the "onion cupola"; the southern facade was
partially blocked by white-stone buttresses, the zakomary
gables acquired lancet-shaped contours and lost the
decorative finals. Obviously at this time the vaults and
domes lost their initial red-and-black glazed-tile
surface. In the 19th century there was added to
the southern wall of the cathedral a two-story chamber for
the ministers of the church, restructured into a one-story
chamber in the 20th century.
The
present murals inside the Archangel Cathedral were painted
between 1652-1666 under Tsar Alexi Mikhailovich whose
orders were “to cover the church of Archangel Michael
anew with wall paintings removing all that was made
before”, inasmuch as the 16th century murals
made at the time of Tsar Ivan IV had begun to peel off by
the mid-17th century. Before work was begun a
written account was made of all the initial compositions
and their sites, which helped preserve the main idea and
the compositional pattern of the 16th century
paintings.
The
system of their sitting and the composition of these
murals are quite unusual. Instead of the traditional
painting of Christ the Almighty the central cupola
displays the composition “Fatherland”, an illustration
of the Christian doctrine on the tri-one nature of God:
“So there are three witnesses, the Spirit, the water,
and the blood, and the three are one”(1 John. 5,7). In
the flaming-red circle of Glory is the Father garbed in
robes of white, on his knees in the Son. Between them
soars the white dove denoting the Holy Spirit. Faith in
the Trinity holds the central place in the Orthodox Symbol
consisting of the twelve apostles, a summary of the basic
doctrines of the Christian faith. The northern wall of the
main vault depicts the first General Council of the Church
convened at Nicaea in 325 on the initiative of Constantine
the Great. The Council established the Symbol of Faith and
the unity of the imperial power with Christianity.
Henceforth concern for the strengthening the church and
protecting the faith became the prime mission of the
state. “Fatherland”, reiterated in the central part of
the main vault, opens a cycle of compositions devoted to
the Symbol of Faith. The scenes “Annunciation” and
“Birth of Christ” depicted on the southern wall of the
vault interpret the third element of the symbol: “He has
come from the Heavens to save us, embodied in man from the
Holy Spirit and Virgin Mary.” The theme resounds in a
mighty chord on the western wall of the cathedral where it
assembles from the adjoining vaults. The grandiose
panorama of the emerging world comes before our eyes: from
God’s creation of the world to Doomsday that decides the
ultimate fates of the living and the dead.
The
southern and northern walls depict compositions dealing
with the feats of Archangel Michael who the first to rise
in struggle against Satan. The cycle of “feats” given
much room to subjects on military themes. This is not
accidental: the idea of the paintings came up during the
time of Ivan the Terrible’s victorious wars where the
tsar was compared with the Biblical Gideon who had
conquered the unfaithful, and the Emperor Constantine who
had done much for the acknowledgement of the Christian
faith. The third story of the southern wall shows the
victory of the Israelites under Gideon over the Madian
troops. This Biblical scene was associated with Ivan the
Terrible’s victories over the Kazan and Astrakhan
khanates for in Russia the Tartars were looked upon as the
descendants of the Biblical Madians.
The
northern wall depicts the “Apparition of the Star Cross
to Emperor Constantine” forecasting a victory over
Maxentius, the last emperor who attempted to revive pagan
Rome’s former grandeur. This victory of Emperor
Constantine laid the beginning for the emergence of
Christianity as a state religion. Divine help in combating
non-Christians is the basic idea of the compositions where
the principal character is Archangel Michael, the champion
of Christian faith. A single blow of his sword fills the
enemies’ hearts with trepidation and brings confidence
to the ranks of Christians. No other than Archangel
Michael has been sent to Emperor Constantine at rest in
his tent to interpret the apparition of the star cross,
the symbol of victory over pagans.
The
subject of “non-avariciousness” has also been
interpreted in the mural paintings of the Cathedral. Its
protagonists came out against the accumulation of wealth
and land by the perfection. Five compositions on the
second story of the southern wall tell the story of the
boy Vasily who had found gold. The boy had disclosed the
treasure to the Father Superior of the monastery and was
sent along with several monks to get the treasure. The
monks appropriated the gold and drowned the boy. On their
return to the monastery they told the father that Vasily
had deceived them and ran away. Archangel Michael saved
the boy from the deep waters and transported him to the
monastery. The evil doings of the monks were exposed; they
repented and gave back the gold. The story of the boy
Vasily that emerged in the Duchies Monastery in Afon was
already known in the 15th century in Russia. In
the 16th century Metropolitan Makarius included
it into the “Velikiye Minei-Chetyi”, a multicolumn
collection of the lives of saints. The appearance of this
subject on the walls of the Archangel Cathedral was
apparently due to the criticism of the church’s land
ownership launched in 1550 at the “Stoglavy” church
Council with the aim of consolidating the single-state
policy of the Moscow sovereign.
Single
statehood blessed by the church, the alliance of the state
and the church are the essential idea of the mural
painting in the Cathedral of the Grand Dukes. The idea of
the tsar genealogy took its final shape only in the mid-16th
century and received its fullest reflection in the “Book
of Tsar Genealogy” which depicts Russian history as a
single chain of saintly Moscow sovereigns and their
ancestors, “God-chosen scepter-holders” who by their
battle feats have earned the “Wreath of Glory” in the
struggle against the heretics for the “Purity of
faith”. The idea of glorifying the genealogy of the
grand dukes and tsars is fully pronounced in all its
vividness and consistency in the Archangel Cathedral.
There are over 60 conventional portraits of the Russian
dukes on the pillars and along the first story of the wall
murals. This unique gallery opens with the images of
Duchess Olga, the “forerunner of the Russians’
reverence for God”(eastern facet of the northwestern
pillar, second story) and that of Grand Duke of Kiev
Vladimir Svyatoslavich who baptized the Russian land
(western facet of the northeastern pillar, second story).
The adjoining facets of the same pillar depict
Vladimir’s sons- Boris and Gleb who perished during
internecine warfare for the Kiev throne and were canonized
for their martyrdom. The first Russian saints Boris and
Gleb were honored in Old Russ as patron saints of the
Russian military in defense of their native land against
its foes.
The
great Duchy of Vladimir is represented first of all in the
image of Andrei Bogolyubsky (northern facet of the
south-eastern pillar, first story), a formidable and
influential voyevoda, the first Duke to reject the Kiev
throne. For the first time the principal role among all
Russian principalities went to the Vladimir-Suzdal land.
The northern facet of the southeastern pillar (first
story) shows the Grand Duke of Vladimir Alexander Nevsky,
a valiant military chief known for his wise policy. His
son Daniel was the founder of the dynasty of the Moscow
Dukes and “the first to raise the authority of the
Moscow Dukes, leaving behind a long-lasting memory of a
kind, just, prudent ruler, and elevating Moscow to take
the place of Vladimir”(N.M.Karamzin). Daniel’s son
Ivan Kalita was already a Grand Duke of Muscovite. The
Archangel Cathedral is an old burial place of Muscovite
rulers, hence the rather full genealogy of the Muscovite
Dukes represented in the murals. On the walls of the
cathedral over the tombs are the “probable” portraits
of the entered remains of the Grand and appendage dukes.
Among them are the Grand Dukes Ivan Kalita, Simeon the
proud, Dmitri Donskoy, Ivan III and Vasily III, who
contributed greatly to Moscow’s growing authority and
the making of a unified Russian state (first story of
southern wall).
Ninety-two
painters selected by Simon Ushakov, the famous icon
painter of the 17th century, took part in
painting the murals of Archangel Cathedral, among them
Stephan Rezanets, Sidor Pospeyev, Yakov Kazanets, Fyodor
Zubov and Fyodor Kozlov – painters from the Armory of
the Moscow Kremlin, Iosif Vladimirov from Yaroslavi, Guriy
Nikitin and Sila Savin from Kostroma among talented
masters from other Russian towns. The paintings in the
Archangel Cathedral are monumental and majestic showing
the obvious tendency of the masters to spaciousness and
simultaneously to simple and clear composition unburdened
by subject-matter detail. The depicted events are shown in
their gradual development, the characters’ movements are
restrained and inwardly grounded. The elongated
proportions impart a special elegance to the figures. The
faces are painted in a firm plastic hand, the soft
painting technique typical of 17th century icon
painting. The rich princely robes are decorated with a
diverse ornament resembling the patterns of rich imported
textiles popular in Old Russ. The color scheme is
reserved. With pure colors: golden-yellow, green,
light-blue, blue, pink, and red. A special “serenity”
of the color harmony, its integral unity with a fresh
world outlook is a distinguishing feature of the
Cathedral.
The
custom to use the church as a burial place was adopted
into Russia from Byzantium where the honor was conferred
on those who “did not die even after their death”:
kings, high officials, and patriarchs. The custom gave
rise to the straggle dynasty. Family tombs were usually
dedicated to Archangel Michael who according to Christian
mythology guided the deceased into the kingdom of the
dead. A family necropolis of this kind was the Archangel
Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. Starting from the 14th
century representatives of the ruling dynasties of
Muscovite: the Ryurik and Romanov families were buried
here. The burials of the Ryurik Dukes run along the walls
of the Cathedral following a definite order. The southern
wall was reserved for the Grand Dukes and close relatives
of the Grand Dukes, the northern- for dukes fallen into
disgrace who had been put to death. Amend them are the
burials of the Stravinsky Dukes- Vladimir Andreyevich and
his son Vasily, the victims of Ivan the Terrible’s
oprichnina policy.
Ivan
the Terrible gave special attention to the building of his
own burial vault in the southern (deacon) part of the
altar premises. The need for a special vault was due to
the title of “Tsar” conferred on him, an act that
firmly established the autocracy in Russia, which had by
the 16th century developed into a strong
uniform state. Nearby are the burials of Ivan’s sons:
Ivan Ivanovich who fell victim to his father’s wrath,
and Fyodor Ivanovich, who succeeded to his father. The
burial vault of Ivan the Terrible has preserved in part 16th-century
murals that were discovered during the restoration work of
1953-1956. A foremost attraction is the composition
“Farewell to the Family on the Deathbed”. It shows a
dying duke with his eldest son standing at the head of the
bed whose shoulders the dying duke embraces with his right
hand. Sitting at the foot of the bed is the duchess with
her younger son in her lap. In the background are the
angels and Satan struggling for the dying man’s soul.
The scene fits the description of the last moments of
Vasily III, father of Ivan the Terrible, as described in
the “Book of Royal Genealogy”.
In 1963
the burial vaults in the deacon niche were opened for the
sake of archaeological studies. The well-known
anthropologist M.M Gerasimov, using the remains discovered
in the sarcophaguses, restored the outward image of the
Tsars Ivan the Terrible and Fyodor Ivanovich.
The
Archangel Cathedral is also the resting place of Ivan’s
youngest son, prince Dmitry who died in 1591 in Uglish
under the age of eight. In 1605 he was canonized as an
innocent babe who had been murdered: according to one of
the versions Boris Godunov’s men killed him. Since 1606
the shrine with prince Dmitry’s relics has been
stationed at the southeastern pillar. In the 1630’s
carved white-stone canopy was set up over the grave with
an open-work cast bronze grating running along the bottom
part: the stylized vines are entwined around figurines of
unicorns symbolizing according to Christian mythology
purity and innocence.
The
burial vaults of the Romanov dynasty are located at the
base of the pillars in the central part of the cathedral.
This is the final resting place of the founders of the
Romanov dynasty: Tsar Michael Fyodorovich and the Tsars
Alexei Mikhailovich, Fyodor Alexeyevich and Ivan
Alexeyevich – the father and half – brothers of Peter
the great. After the founding of St. Petersburg as the new
capital the Archangel, Cathedral in Moscow lost its
significance as a burial place for the royalty. Russian
emperors starting with Peter the Great were buried in the
SS peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Since that
time only Emperor Peter II, the grandson of Peter the
Great, who died in the 1730 was buried there: he died in
Moscow of smallpox. Altogether there are 46 tombs in the
Cathedral. The deceased were interred in white-stone
sarcophaguses that were buried under the floor. In the
first half of the 17th century brick
gravestones with white-stone plaques decorated with finely
carved floral ornaments and Slavonic scripture were set up
over the burials. In the early 20th century the
gravestones were encased in cooper- and – glass
containers.
The
iconostasis of Archangel Cathedral, which has been
preserved to our days, is made of four ranges: Prophets,
Deesis, Church Feasts and Local. Over the Prophets Range
is the Crucifix with the Mother of God and John the
Theologian in the foreground, carved of wood and painted
by artists Fyodor Zubov and Mikhail Milyutin. The prophets
Range shows the prophets from the Old Testament holding
unfurled scrolls with texts of their prophecies on the
Incarnation – the appearance of Jesus Christ the Savior
on earth. In the center of the range IS Mother of God on
the throne with the Christ child in her lap – a
figurative tale of Isaiah’s prophecies “The Virgin
will be with child and shall bear a son, and they will
name him Immanuel which means “God is with us”. The
subject of the Deesis Range is prayer to God for the
humane feat of Mother of God who had given the work the
Savior, and John the Forerunner, the last in the line of
Christian prophets, the direct predecessor of Jesus Christ
the judge, enthroned in his glory. This principal image
unites all the ranges of the iconostasis.
The
Church Feasts Range depicts the events from New Testament
that enjoy a solemn celebration in the church. Usually the
festive icons follow the course of the church year with
its days devoted to Christian holidays and saints. Yet
sometimes they follow the biblical events in chronological
order. The consecutive order of biblical events is
observed in the left part of the Church Feasts Range
depicting Christmas, Candelas Day, Epiphany, the
Resurrection of Lazarus, Enter into Jerusalem,
Crucifixion.
The
lower tier of the iconostasis is known as the Local Range.
In its center is the Holy Gates, the symbolical entry into
the Heavenly Kingdom, Paradise. On the northern and
southern doors also leading to the altar are images of
angels and canonized deacons assisting in the sacraments.
The second icon to the right of the Holy Gates is the
church image of “Archangel Michael and his Acts”, the
oldest in the iconostasis of Archangel Cathedral. The
artistic peculiarities of the image make it possible to
date the icon to 1399 when the cathedral enjoyed the
artistic gift of Thespians the Greek who came to Russia
from Byzantium. The creation of this monumental image was
infused with lofty civic ideals: unity against the enemy
and faith in the ultimate victory that inspired Russian
people. Medieval Russ had faith in the help of its Godsend
protector Archangel Michael. The majestic figure of the
Angel in his scarlet cloak and shiny Armour, sword in hand
(the painting of the sword has almost disappeared) stands
out against the gold background of the icon. “Your image
is fiery and full of wonderful; goodness”, “the pure
reflection of the divine light” – with these words the
author of the hymn dedicated to Archangel Michael sings
him praise. The eighteen medallions encircling the central
part of the icon depict the Acts of Archangel Michael
glorifying him as an ideal warrior ready at any time to
flight all evil for the triumph of good. The Old Russian
master created an epic image of the “perfect military
leader of the perfect regiment of heavenly forces”, full
of noble feelings and invincible force.
Quite
an unusual composition is observed in the second icon left
of the Holy Gates, the so-called “The Annunciation from
Ustyug”. The peculiarity of the image is discerned in
the embodiment of the good news brought by Archangel
Gabriel: on our Lady’s bosom “as through as a haze”
one can discern the image of the still unborn child
Christ. The icon was painted in the second half of the 16th
in the times of Ivan the Terrible, and is a copy of the
Novgorod icon of the 12th century of the same
name that was brought to Moscow after the fire of 1547 and
preserved in the iconostasis of the Cathedral of the
Annunciation (now in the Treytyakov Gallery).
All the
icons in every ranges of the iconostasis with the
exception of the Church image and “The Annunciation from
Ustyug” were painted in 1679-1681 by the tsar’s
icon-painters who may have been working under Fyodor Zubov,
one of the best masters of the Armoury, and a close
assistant of the famous painter Simon Ushakov. The icon
“Crucifixion” from the festive tier is the only one
that bears the painter’s signature, “painted by
Mikhail Milyutin”.
All the
other icons, following the medieval Christian tradition
were left unsigned. The 17th century icons are
executed in a new artistic manner employing the rules of
linear perspective and an active light-and-shade depiction
of the figures.
For a
long time it was considered that the woodsmen frame of the
iconostasis of the late 17th century was smooth
and that the lavish décor of its central part and local
Range were added during restoration work in the interior
of the Cathedral after the invasion of the French in 1812.
The latest studies, however, have given ample proof that
smooth and carved forms had come into being from the
start, i.e. in the late 17th century. The
serene rhythm of the smooth pillars in the three top
ranges gives way in the central part of the iconostasis to
a wired play of light and shade. The central pillars in
the upper tiers and those of the local tier are covered
with lavish lace-work carvings of vines. The pillars are
crowned with splendid Corinthian capitals. The high relief
carving was performed by exceptionally talented masters of
the 17th century in the best traditions of the
“Moscow baroque” style known for its grandiose,
luscious nature and passionate elation. Initially the
carved décor of the iconostasis was both gilded and
silvered with additions of red and blue paint. Apparently
the iconostasis lost its polychrome coloring in 1853 after
a thorough repair job of its frame following which all the
carved elements were again gilded and the blue background
replaced by one of crimson red. In the 1770’s the holy
Gates with the chipped paint were replaced by a new gilded
carved gate embellished with six oval icons painted on
metal with the traditional image of the Annunciation and
four Evangelists in the center.
Archangel Cathedral is a unique cultural monument
incorporating the creative spirit of the Italian architect
and royal icon painters. The murals give a clear-out
depiction of the principal political ideas of the epoch
ruled by the first Russian Tsar Ivan the Terrible. The
Cathedral is an inalienable part of the living history of
the Kremlin, Moscow and the Russian state.
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