he mention of Rostov enamels brings to mind precious miniatures,
which have for centuries adorned church utensils, household
objects and pieces of jewellery. Bright colours glowing
against white enamel plaques brought to life scenes of biblical
and Russian history and mirrored multifarious life and the
beauty of native land. Masterful craftsmen of Rostov the
Great, in which a unique technique of enameling was carried
on for over two centuries, are producing these treasures
to our day. In the past, craftsmen of the Rostov bishopric
and the monasteries painted, on commission from the clergy,
enamel plaques to decorate icons, chalices, reliquaries
and other cult objects. Later on townsfolk took up the expensive
craft of enameling , passing its secrets from father to
son, from one generation to another.
N.Kulandin
The portrait of Maria Volkonsky. 1983
|
In its
two-century history Rostov enamels have repeatedly gone
through the periods of florescence and decline. The main
theme of the craft - a tribute to the beauty of the native
land and to man's lofty spirit - was, however, never abandoned.
Rostov enamellers have preserved to our day and carried
on the best traditions of Russian enamel miniature painting.
The craft never existed in isolation: while developing the
local tradition of icon painting, it came under the influence
of other schools of painting. The technique of cloisonne
enamel was known to have been employed in Kievan Rus way
back in the 11th century. It was referred to as "finift",
which is the Old Greek for alloy or shining stone. The vitreous
surface of enamel, decorating old ritual vessels, women's
diadems, colt-pendants, barmy-shoulder pieces and so on,
indeed shone with a deep light of precious stones.
Scoop. The end of 17 century
|
The enameling
did not start from scratch in Rostov, whose icon painters
and silversmiths were well acclaimed in the past. The Rostov
bishopric was known to have had an icon-painting workshop
since olden days. It is hard to say when the expensive craft
of enamelling struck root in that provincial town. Legend
has it that an exiled Italian enameller taught his craft
to local icon painters in the reign of Empress Anna Ioannovna,
but there is no documentary evidence of that fact. Many
scholars sought to shed light on the obscure history of
the emergence of Rostov enamels. Some connected it with
the activity of metropolitan Iona Sysoyevich, who contributed
to the development of the Rostov bishopric in the late 17th
century. The bishopric workshop was operational until the
late 1780s, fulfilling clerical orders from different Russian
cities and towns. After the metropolitan's office was transferred
to Yaroslavl, some enamellers continued to execute the bishopric's
orders, while other, such as the Isayevs brothers were granted
relative independence and came to be registered at the enamel
workshop of the Rostov artisan tribunal. That fact can be
considered as a starting point in the development of enamelling
as a full-fledged trade in the town. The Rostov bishopric
workshop had an important role to play in the evolution
of Rostov enamels.
A.Nazarov
The Virgin Eleusa. 1912
|
The Rostov
enamel tradition is, however, far more versatile. It developed
for centuries in close contact with other major art schools
and grand styles. From the outset Rostov enamellers espoused
the flamboyant symbol-laden baroque style and evolved, on
its basis, their own artistic tradition. The pictorial style
of Rostov enamels began to be renovated in the first half
of the 19th century both due to a change in taste and due
to the impact of the classicist principles of Rostov's temple
architecture and its interior decoration. Enamel miniatures,
which decorated church utensils formed but a minute segment
of the entire ensemble and, naturally, adopted the pictorial
idiom of the new style. Rostov enamellers used as models
engravings from paintings by West European and Russian artists,
as well as numerous original religious paintings that landed
in Rostov monasteries and churches in the form of donations.
Rostov craftsmen sold their wares in different Russian cities
and towns and, when visiting the capital, could see works
by Academy artists. Less tied up with religious canons,
enamellers living in cities were faster to assimilate classicist
pictorial techniques. They naturally took in iconography
and traditional shapes, as well as the lofty aesthetic ideals
of the new style.The special atmosphere of a provincial
town and the affinity between the local townsfolk and peasants
could not but influence the development of enamelling. Though
guided in general by St. Petersburg trends, Rostov enamelling
remained true to the values of local folk culture in the
first half of the 19th century. By the mid-19th century
there were about 50 enamellers in Rostov, some of them running
their own businesses but the majority working at home. United
by a trade corporation, the enamellers remained independent
both in their work and in marketing their products. The
best of them retained individuality and their own original
idiom.
A.Toporov "Hunter". Casket. 2003
|
After
the 1917-revolution Rostov's craftsmen formed an artel,
which produced enamel caskets, boxes, brooches and cuff
links. Many talented painters capable of carrying on the
local tradition joined the business in the late 1960s. They
analysed new possibilities for the development of Rostov
enamels. A close-knit group of gifted craftsmen appeared
at the factory in the 1970s and the 1980s. Graduates of
different art schools, skilled in the craft, mastered the
secrets of the pictorial tradition and the decorative art
of enamelling. The best of them, endowed with bright creative
individuality, worked to renovate the idiom of Rostov enamels
and to modify jewellery designs.The decorative nature of
miniature paintings, which could embellish both big and
small objects, ensured the longevity and the wide application
of Rostov enamels. They shine with motley hues in jewellery
pieces produced by today's craftsmen. A frame of metal wire
twining in fancy patterns complements exquisite enamel miniatures.
The painters and jewellers pool efforts to create extraordinary
integral works of art, be it a decorative panel, a casket,
a portrait or women's jewellery. Though not indispensable,
these things add colour to our households and life, giving
joy and warmth to the inhabitants of this cold industrialised
world. When we look at these miniature pictures of Russian
nature or old history, we are brought back to our sources
and eternal values.
The Rostov enamel business has an immense creative potential.
While embracing
the local pictorial tradition, every new generation of artists
imparts a new world outlook and their own idea of beauty
to Rostov enamels. However, like any truly folk craft, Rostov
enamels retain unchanged the ideal of the beauty of Russian
nature and man.
N.Kulandine
Triptych. "The bells of Rostov". 1967
|
|