Scientific conference and exhibition in Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve are about works of church art

From June 25 to 26, 2016

M.N. Sharomazov, director of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve, greeted all participants and guests at the beginning of the conference. “We are first staging the display within the framework of the conference in Kirillov, but not in Ferapontovo. It is connected with the fact that restoration is being carried out in the Refectory of the Ferapontov Monastery now and we won’t hold any exhibitions in Ferapontovo during two-three years”, noted M.N. Sharomazov. Besides, he told the participants of the conference about the work of two museum branches and plans for the future.

The best specialists in Old Russian art, representatives of research institutes and museums, restorers and collectors from all over Russia and foreign countries participated in the event.

Most of the presented reports were about the subject of the conference. Observers learnt some interesting facts about the research methods of cast copper articles from the talk of E.Y. Zotova (the Central Andrey Rublev Museum of Ancient Russian Culture and Art, Moscow).

I.L. Buseva-Davydova, Doctor of Art History, chief expert of the Research Institute of Theory and History of Fine Arts in the Russian Academy of Arts, introduced the classification of inscriptions in the icons: prayer, blessing, author’s, memorial, confirming a gift, commemorative and commenting. This classification is based on the content and functions of this or that icon and has a sacral meaning.  

Guests from Latvia and Italy took part in the conference. P.P. Alekseev, representative of the Institute of the Old Believers in Riga, spoke about manuscripts of the Old Believers from Riga. D. Maltseva, representative of the Museum of Russian Icons in Peccioli, presented signed icons from the Italian collections. Some reports were about the displayed articles.

The exhibition of works of church art was opened in the People’s House on June 25 within the framework of the scientific conference.

It presents church silver articles, cast cooper icons and crosses, clerical portraits, about 150 icons and other works of church art from the collections of the museums of Archangelsk and Vologda, the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve and from private collections of S.A. Afonin, A.V. Ilyin, A.V. Renzhin, O. Teter, A.L. Kusakin, A.I. Malashenko, A.I. Rudnev, Y.V. Roizman, and A.D. Lipnitsky.

Woodblocks for textile printing found in the outskirts of Petrozavodsk were donated to the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve at the opening ceremony of the exhibition. They were used to make fabrics and kerchiefs.

You will be able to see interesting moments of the conference and the opening ceremony of the display in the program “National Heritage” on the Russian Orthodox Channel “Spas” soon.

The exhibition “Signed and Dated Works of Church Art” will be open in the People’s House from June 26 to August 14.

For further information, please, call: +7-921-232-54-03