Valentin Bulkin On the Scenes in the Sixth Tier of Vasil’evskie Gates

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa155-3-35
Title On the Scenes in the Sixth Tier of Vasil’evskie Gates
Author email conference@actual-art.org
About author Bulkin, Valentin Aleksandrovich — Ph. D., associate professor, St.-Petersburg State University. 7/9, Universitetskaya nab., St.-Petersburg, Russian Federation, 199034
In the section The Harmony of Classical Antiquity under the Vaults of Old Russ DOI10.18688/aa155-3-35
Year 2015 Volume 5 Pages 333–337
Type of article RAR Index UDK 7.033.2(471), 7.072.2 Index BBK Щ 85, Б90 85.03
Abstract

This article discusses the bas-relief scenes in the sixth tier of Vasil’evskie Gates of St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod, erected under the order of the Archbishop, Vasilii Kalika. It was in accordance with Vasilii’s direction that these four scenes from the Old Testament and Apocrypha (“Rejoicing of King David”, “Spiritual Scales of the Last Judgement”, “David and Goliath” and “Centaur Carries King Solomon in his Hands”) were placed into the circle of scenes from the Gospels.

In particular, the scene of “Rejoicing of King David”, depicting the transfer of the Ark of the Covenant to the City of David by the King accompanied by his people, had a special meaning for the Archbishop of Novgorod. Vasilii must have seen parallels between his own life’s path of a commoner rising up to the position of a cathedral warden, and that of King David, a shepherd who became a king. Several other scenes from the sixth register may also be related to certain pivotal episodes of Archbishop Vasilii’s life.

In addition, the author proposes that the construction of both Vasil’evskie Gates and the Church of the Entry of Our Lord into Jerusalem (1336–1337) were integral parts of a unified project conceived by the archbishop after his pilgrimage to Jerusalem and could also be linked to his theologically substantiated rethinking of the layout of the northern area of Detinets, including Archbishop’s Court and St. Sophia Cathedral. 
Keywords
Reference Valentin Bulkin. On the Scenes in the Sixth Tier of Vasil’evskie Gates. Actual Problems of Theory and History of Art: Collection of articles. Vol. 5. Eds: Svetlana V. Maltseva, Ekaterina Yu. Stanyukovich-Denisova, Anna V. Zakharova. St. Petersburg, NP-Print Publ., 2015, pp. 333–337. ISSN 2312-2129. http://dx.doi.org/10.18688/aa155-3-35
Publication Article language russian
Bibliography
  • Bocharov G. N. Prikladnoe iskusstvo Novgoroda Velikogo (Applied Arts of Novgorod the Great). Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1969. 128 p. (in Russian).
  • Bulkin V. A. Notes on the Topography of Novgorod Detinets. Novgorodskii istoricheskii sbornik (Novgorodian Historical Collected Volume), vol. 5 (15) (in print).
  • Iaganov A.V. Ruzaeva E. I. On the History of Our Saviour Cathedral of the Monastery of the Transfiguration in Iaroslavl’. Arkheologiia: istoriia i perspektivy (Archeology: history and perspectives). Iaroslavl’, Rybinskii dom pechati Publ., 2006, pp. 363–391 (in Russian).
  • Ianin V. L. (ed.) Velikii Novgorod. Entsiklopedicheskii slovar’ (Novgorod the Great. Encyclopedic Dictionary). Saint Petersburg, Nestor-Istoriia Publ., 2009. 552 p. (in Russian).
  • Lazarev V. N. Russkaia srednevekovaia zhivopis’ (Russian Medieval Paintings). Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1970, рр. 179–215 (in Russian).
  • Nasonov A.N. (ed.). Novgorodskaia pervaia letopis’ starshego i mladshego izvodov (The first novgorodian chronicle of old and young versions), vol. 3. Moscow — Leningrad, Izdatelstvo Akademii Nauk SSSR Publ., 1950. 720 p. (in Russian).
  • Preobrazhenskii A.S. Ktitorskie portrety srednevekovoi Rusi. XI – nachalo XVI v. (The Donators’ Portraits of the Medieval Russia. 11th–the early 16th c.). Moscow, Severnyi Palomnik Publ., 2012. 542 p. (in Russian).
  • Rybakov B. A. Remeslo Drevnei Rusi (Crafts of the Ancient Russia). Moscow, Akademiia Nauk SSSR Publ., 1948. 803 p. (in Russian).
  • Sterligova I. A. (ed.) Dekorativno-prikladnoe iskusstvo Velikogo Novgoroda. Khudozhestvennyi metall XI–XV vekov: Sbornik statei (The Decorative and Applied Arts of Novgorod the Great. Art Metal of the 14th–15th centuries.: Collected Works). Moscow, Nauka Publ., 1996. 512 p. (in Russian).