New finds of crosses from the churchyard of the Church of the Savior in Tobolsk

Abstract

The subject of the study in the presented article is two crosses from the graves of the Spassky cemetery of Tobolsk. They were discovered during the rescue archaeological excavations in 2022. The range of analogies of the considered finds, as well as their territorial distribution, is considered. A number of issues related to their dating based on typologically identical finds, as well as the chronology of the existence of the churchyard at this church, are touched upon. One of the illustrative specimens in the collection was a rare type of white bronze alloy cross with a crucifixion of Christ on the obverse and an image of an angel on the reverse, originating from burial No. 4. On this cross, the attributes of the Passion Cycle are considered. The analysis showed that such a find, although it has analogies, is still not completely identical to them. It is concluded that the studied type of cross has iconographic origins in the works of European masters. Baroque secular art also had a great influence on the further development of the forms and content of such crosses. The author findings are based on typologies developed by E.P. Vinokurova and V.I. Molodin. The finds were compared with a circle of typologically similar crosses from the territory of Russia and Ukraine, and their chronology was clarified. Identification and comparative analysis of the attributes of the Passion Cycle have been carried out. On the basis of a set of features, their common and distinctive features are revealed. Over the past decades of archaeological research in Tobolsk, a number of archaeologists have collected a representative database of objects of personal piety. For a number of reasons, these findings are not always promptly and fully published, which creates gaps in the source database. The scientific novelty of the presented article is the contribution to the stavrographic collection from the excavations of the churchyard of the Church of the Savior in 2022. Of particular interest is the well-preserved cross No. 4 with a crucifixion, which had not previously been found during excavations in Tobolsk and its surroundings. It is concluded that the studied crosses have iconographic origins in the works of European masters. The further development of the forms and content of such crosses was also greatly influenced by Baroque secular art.