ICONOGRAPHY: ON BAROQUE MENTALITY OF UKRAINIANS

Abstract

Based upon the empirical background of professional and folk baroque icons represented in the Radomysl Castle Museum’s exhibitions, this article reveals the compositional, artistic and ideological characteristics of the Ukrainian baroque icon painting. The coincidence of its images and ideals with the national character and public aspirations of Ukrainians is also described. It is due to this that the Ukrainian baroque icon painting (both professional and folk) in the time of long statelessness and cultural decentralization became the main means of rendering collective reminiscences that are basic for the preservation of ethnic and cultural identity, and social ideals with them. The latter transformed over time into mental models that unconsciously determined the ideological and value priorities of Ukrainians. They, as evidenced by the compositional specification of the baroque icons presented in the Radomysl Castle Museum’s collection, were much influenced by the ideas of the world’s transformation and achieving the Kingdom of Heaven on earth through the ascetic activity of heroes, which was basic for the baroque worldview. For a man of the “Baroque era,” such heroes were not only Orthodox saints, but also religious and political figures. Moreover, it was assumed that they could even ignore the demands of Christian moralists for the sake of promoting the specific vital interests of the people. Their ascetic activity was considered one of the main prerequisites for the transformation of the world, the prototype of which was the Mother of God. For Ukrainians, she was not only a tireless patron for disadvantaged and suffering ones, but also a prototype of the selfless love that would rule the world (“the holy Ukrainian land”), as the result of its transformation. The sincere hope of Ukrainians for the protection of saints, combined with an unshakable faith in the divine “omnipresence” and the fullness of the whole world with God’s wisdom led to the establishment of ontological optimism in the Ukrainian consciousness. This means the belief in the ultimate overcoming of all life obstacles without personal efforts. Ideas and mental models formed and transmitted by Ukrainian baroque icon painting, due to the spiritual leaders of the 19th century’s national revival (with the absolute primacy of Taras Shevchenko and his both literature and art heritage) acquired secular features. They continued to determine the way of thinking and behavior of Ukrainians. Even today, they sincerely believe that the renewal of the world and the formation of new and just order does not require any personal effort and is to be achieved by the forces of some heroes they would call.