Moscow school

The Moscow school (Russian: Московская школа, romanized: Moskovskaya shkola) is the name applied to a Russian architectural and painting school in the 14th to 16th centuries.^[1] It developed during the strengthening of the Moscow principality.^[1] The buildings of Vladimir provided the basis of the Moscow architectural school, which preserved elements of the synthesis of the Byzantine and Romanesque styles.^[2]

In Vladimir and other older cities like Rostov and Suzdal, restoration efforts took place during the 13th century, rather than new architectural development.^[3] Vladimir never regained its former glory and only retained its formal status as the capital of the grand principality.^[3] By the end of the 13th century, there was a resurgence in the building of new churches in areas where political consolidation was taking place.^[4] The princes of Moscow and Tver fought for supremacy, which continued into the early 14th century.^[3] Tver was in the ascendant at first, with masonry building being revived in Tver nearly half a century before Moscow.^[3] The foundations of the first stone church in Moscow were laid on 4 August 1326 during the reign of Ivan I after the seat of the Russian metropolitan was moved to Moscow.^[3] The chronicler records:

the foundations of the first stone church in Moscow were laid in the square in the name of the Dormition [...] of the Holy Mother of God by the Most Reverend Metropolitan Pyotr and the Most Noble Prince Ivan Kalita.^[5]

Masonry building continued in the following years with the Dormition Cathedral being completed in 1327.^[4] This was followed by the Belfry of Saint John Climacus (1329) and the Cathedral of the Savior on the Bor (1330).^[6] Finally, the Cathedral of the Archangel was completed in 1333.^[1] The white-stone walls and towers of the Kremlin were built in 1366–1368.^[1] By the late 14th century, the Muscovite type of white-stone church emerged, being compact and having four pillars, heightened ribbed arches, tiers of kokoshniks, and carved decorative belts on the facades.^[7] This was a modification of the traditions of the Vladimir-Suzdal school.^[7] The Nativity Church in the Kremlin (1393–1394) is the oldest surviving monument in the Kremlin.^[7]

The Moscow architectural school, which extended to the smaller principalities that were incorporated, evolved steadily throughout the 15th century.^[5] In smaller towns, a more distinct type of church emerged, one that returned to the Vladimir school.^[5] A group of cathedrals built at the end of the 14th century and the beginning of the 15th century exemplifies the "early Moscow style" that preceded the arrival of Renaissance craftsmen.^[8] These include the Cathedral of the Dormition in Zvenigorod (1396–1398), the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in the Savvino-Storozhevsky Monastery (1405–1408), and the Cathedral of the Trinity in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (c. 1422).^[8] Scholars of Moscow's architectural history have emphasized that the traditions of a number of Russian principalities were integrated into a unified system in the early 15th century.^[9] The Cathedral of the Savior in the Andronikov Monastery (1425–1427) is often cited as the main example of this.^[10]

The late 15th century marked a significant period for masonry architecture, with many new masonry buildings appearing in the Moscow Kremlin and in other parts of Moscow.^[11] Eight new churches were built within the Kremlin itself.^[11] Brick began to replace the previously used limestone ("white stone"), likely under the influence of brick architecture in northern Germany's coastal towns, with which Novgorod had trade connections.^[11] It is believed that that a group of Novgorodian masters worked in Moscow and introduced new techniques.^[11] Following the end of Mongol suzerainty, Ivan III transformed Russian architectural style after contacts with Italian cities were restored, introducing new features that were preserved throughout the following centuries.^[12] Italian Renaissance masters worked in Russia from 1475 to 1539.^[13] The career of Aristotele Fioravanti is considered to be evidence that Moscow attracted leading Italian masters.^[14] The Dormition Cathedral in the Kremlin (1475–1479) reflects the spirit of early Vladimir and Fioravanti used the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir, a symbol of the center of the Russian Church, as his model while introducing new influences at the same time.^[15]

The basis of the Moscow school of painting was the synthesis of local traditions with Byzantine and South Slavic art.^[7] From the mid-14th century, two stylistic lines appeared: one associated with monastic art and the other with large-scale depictions.^[7] The flourishing of the Moscow school in the late 14th and early 15th centuries is associated with Theophanes the Greek, Andrei Rublev and Daniel Chorny.^[7] Andrei Rublev led the school in the early 15th century became one of the most celebrated Russian icon painters.^[16] Rublev's traditions were continued by Dionisius in the late 15th and early 16th centuries.^[7] His icons and frescoes were known for their refined proportions, decorative festive coloring, and harmonious composition.^[7] The achievements of the Moscow school significantly influenced the development of the all-Russian style in the 16th century.^[7]

• Alfeyev, Hilarion (2011). Orthodox Christianity Volume III: The Architecture, Icons, and Music of the Orthodox Church. Yonkers, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press. ISBN 9780881415032.
• Riasanovsky, Nicholas V.; Steinberg, Mark D. (2019). A history of Russia (Ninth ed.). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0190645588.
• Shvidkovsky, Dmitry Olegovich (1 January 2007). Russian Architecture and the West. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-10912-2.
• Smirnova, E. S. (2013). "Московская школа" [Moscow school]. In Kravets, S. L. (ed.). Болшая Российская энциклопедия. Том 21: Монголы — Наноматериалы (in Russian). Болшая Российская энциклопедия. pp. 273–274. ISBN 978-5-85270-355-2.

• Vzdornov, Gerol'd I. (20 November 2017). The History of the Discovery and Study of Russian Medieval Painting. BRILL. ISBN 978-90-04-30527-4.

• Icon-painting schools
• Medieval Russian architecture
• Russian art movements
• Medieval art

• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Articles containing Russian-language text
• CS1 Russian-language sources (ru)