Signature works by carver Grigory Bondarevsky

Abstract

Kiev masters have not yet become the object of a separate study despite their cultural prominence in Russia. With rare exceptions, such examples of iconographic art can only be found in single copies in the catalogs of exhibitions and museum collections. The article is the first to present the collection and analyze signature works by a hitherto unknown Kiev carver Grigory Bondarevsky, active during the second third of the 19th century. They include four icons and one cross discovered in various museums and private collections across multiple cities. The difficulty in identifying these art objects is attributed to the fact that the artist did not always indicate his full name and surname, but more often carved only his initials. The examination of the artworks has made it possible to clarify the conception and intent behind them, determine the peculiarities of the author’s manner of carving and specific circumstances associated with their execution, as well as to roughly arrange them according to the chronology of creation. The narrative unfolding over several pieces depicting the scene of the “Dormition of the Mother of God”, immensely popular in Kiev, is linked to the tradition of making carved icons and crosses for Kiev pilgrims, however, they do not belong to mass production, but are custom made. To understand the technology of creating such handicraft items, a brief description of the Kiev carving industry is given, with the main source of information being a single publication from the middle of the 19th century. Archival documents reveal that the name of G. Bondarevsky was well-known in central Russia, where he enjoyed great prestige as an outstanding carver. His other artwork “Our Lady of Abalak”, as well as an altar cross portraying scenes from the Passion cycle, feasts and selected saints attest to his ties with Siberia.