Монументальная живопись Древнего Пскова последней четверти XIV – начала XV века: проблемы иконографии и стиля.
Frescos of Ancient Pskov of the Last Quarter of the 14th – the Beginning of the 15th Century.

Summary/Abstract: During the excavation (in the 1960s–1970s) in the Dovmontov Gorod at Pskov frescoes formerly unknown to the scholarly community were discovered. The greater part of them was found in the churches № 1 (near the southern wall of the Krom) and № 9 (near the eastern wall of the Dovmontov Gorod), according to the plan made by V.D. Beletskii. The analysis of their iconographic scheme the author of the article has realized that they follow the tradition of wall-painting specific of the 14th-century Orthodox churches. In the church № 9 compositions were placed strictly in tiers. An interesting fact is that painters depicted scenes with numerous figures and details even on the sides of the dome columns. Narrative principle and careful reproduction of the Holy Writ texts are peculiar of Pskovian wall-painting. The general theme of the iconographic programme of the painting in church № 9 is the Sacrifice of Christ It is presented in the symbolic scene of ‘Do not Weep for Me, Mother’ in the northern part of the altar. This composition was widely spread in wall-painting of the late 14th – early 15th century in Veliky Novgorod and the Balkan countries. This testifies to the fact that the frescoes of church № 9 were created later than mid-14th century, according to the opinion of V. D. Beletskii. The style of painting in church № 9 belongs to the so-called “pseudo-expressive” one. The iconographic scheme of wall-painting in church № 1 is also traditional enough for the 14th century. As to the manner of painting, most of the fragments resemble frescoes created by Balkan wall-painters in Our Saviour’s Church at Kovaliovo (1380). Still, types of images, the method of depicting hair of the saints, and white strokes of light reveal an affinity with frescoes of church № 9. It is, thus, possible to consider the attribution of church № 1 to be similar to the church of the Resurrection (1395) and church № 9 – as the church of the Nativity (1388).

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