Вячеслав Иванов и искусство Ренессансa

Abstract

Viacheslav Ivanov’s interest in Italian Renaissance painting is well known, and it has been analyzed more than once. For the most part, however, such investigations have treated poems of his with elements of ekphrasis or with mentions of artists and their paintings, or articles of his that refer to painting. In our opinion much remains to be said about this matter, and we offer some new materials relating to it. Among them are letters to Ivanov from members of his immediate circle (and, to a lesser, degree his own letters), which note his interest in Renaissance masters ; the reproductions of works of art that he wanted to have before his eyes throughout his life ; the advice that he gave to his friend and housekeeper M. M. Zamjatnina, who heard lectures on the subject and wrote about Renaissane painting ; finally, the books Zamjatnina checked out from the Geneva Library, volumes that could not have escaped Ivanov’s attention. These new materials demonstrate, firstly, that we should pay attention not only to paintings of the Italian Renaissance, but to those of the Northern Renaissance as well (German and Flemish artists above all). Secondly, we should pay much greater attention than previously to Ivanov’s attitude towards Botticelli. And, finally, we should examine the broad historical context in which he perceived Renaissance painting.