Model of Shipka Memorial Church was presented in Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve!

06 December 2017

The creator of the masterpiece came to Kirillov to present his work personally.

The event the public was waiting for more than a month took place in Kirillov within the framework of the International Action “Night at the Museum”. The model of the Shipka Memorial Church made of gold and silver was officially presented in the House of the Father Superior.

“Show your hands!” asked the visitors the author of the masterpiece, Sergey Kaznacheev, who had created it during 26 years.

Breaking into a smile, he put out his hands. Guests from St. Petersburg, Moscow, Vologda, and Cherepovets were delighted with the artist’s work looking at the exhibit, “Can you imagine? He has made a miracle with these very hands!”

Mikhail Sharomazov, director of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve, opened the exhibition of one article. Greeting the guests, he told not only about the value and originality of the displayed article, but emphasized that everything was possible and we could see it by the example of Sergey Kaznacheev who was a tuner of musical instruments by profession, but studied jewelry to fulfill his dream – to make a model of the church.

T.A. Kovsha, president of the International Craft Guild of Masters, introduced the master’s work, “This unique article was not cast; it was made of gold and silver according to the proven “grandfather’s” techniques – by hand. Sergey Kaznacheev made this miracle at home – in a usual flat. All details, even microelements, are scrupulously soldered together – there are 60000 thousand silver-blazed joints without burn-through and overlaps. All horizontals, verticals, axes and volumes are strictly maintained and delight the eye. The master used different techniques making the model of the church: melting of silver coins, rolling, dressing, marking-out, bending, cutting, shaping, rolling-out, sawing, sawing-out, drawing, drilling, milling, soldering, bleaching, polishing, engraving, and others. Inscriptions are particularly interesting. Metal was skillfully sawed through using a fretsaw. But the thickness of letters is equal to hairbreadth. Amazing marking was made on the domes – the number of checker patterns in the horizontal row has been preserved. 8500 strips were engraved only on the central dome. In all, there are over 32000 and all of them have the same cutting depth. There are neither cracks, nor abscesses, nor burrs on the surface of the article – everything is perfect!”

The exact replica of the glorious and majestic Shipka Memorial Church made of gold and silver is a real masterpiece of contemporary art. The article has a passport issued by the Higher Expert Board. The document confirming singularity and a high level of execution of this work was signed by specialists of the State Hermitage, the Moscow Kremlin, the Russian Museum of Ethnography and the State Historical Museum. Nevertheless, if you didn’t know all these details, when you saw the model you would understand that it was a work of art!

“I didn’t tell anybody what I was working on. All charitable deeds should be done with secrecy. My wife Tatiana supported me in everything. She always believed that I would succeed”, said the author of the church model.

Answering the question why he decided to present his work exactly in the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve, he said, “I am an Orthodox, so I have made up my mind to do it in one of the most sacred places”.

The model of the Shipka Memorial Church will be exhibited in Kirillov till August 20. You will be able to see the miracle made by the artist from Cheboksary during the whole summer. We look forward to seeing you in the House of the Father Superior.