Drawings of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra icon workshop in the 18 c.: interaction between text and image

Abstract

The article is devoted to the 18th century drawings from the Kyiv icon workshop situated in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra. The author accentuates the peculiarities of interaction between text and image in the works of art. He describes the process of apprenticeship within the workshop and underlines the role of its principals and teachers. As it was found out, Alipiy, Roman, Ihnat, Volodymyr and Zakhariy Holubovskyi headed the Lavra workshop during the 18th century. It was discovered that the workshop produced different types of the books called «kuzhbushky» (“the art books” in corrupted German). The author defines the current location of these «kuzhbushky» and their quantity. He comes to conclusion, that Lavra painters took samples from the European collections of prints and pictures published by the foreign Academies of Arts. It is stated that in most cases the drawings treated religious subjects. Nevertheless, several drawings addressed exclusively secular topics and they differ significantly from other drawing studies. The examination of the accompanying text leads author to conclusion that it describes the image in every detail.