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ABSTRACT
on the topic: “The influence of Christianity on Russian culture”
Introduction
1. Christianity and Russian culture
2. The influence of religious books on folk culture
3. The influence of Christianity on Russian art
4. The problem of interaction between cultures and religion
Conclusion
List of used literature
Introduction
Introduction to Christianity is an event of enormous significance that determined the path of development of Russian culture. When, in 988, Kievan Rus adopted the Christian faith, it became an organic part of the vast Christian world, and not only eastern, but also western, for baptism occurred almost 70 years before the formal division of churches (1054). Ancient Rus' joined the rich treasury of the culture of Byzantium, and through it - the culture of Ancient Rome and Ancient Greece, as well as the cultures of the peoples of Babylon, Assyria, Iran, Judea, Syria and Egypt.
The work highlights the cultural and historical consequences of the adoption of Christianity by Kievan Rus, the role of Christianity in the process of formation of ancient Russian culture, the interaction of culture and religion, the influence of Christianity on folk artistic culture.
1. Christianity and Russian culture.
The choice of faith is one of the constant themes of world culture. It is not only the fact of appeal that is interesting Kievan Rus to the Byzantine version of Christianity, but also how it was motivated. Old Russian people used an aesthetic criterion when choosing a faith: they were first of all struck by the beauty of the Byzantine church rite, the beauty of the service, the temple, and the singing.
And this connection between the Christian religion and beauty, felt and perceived by Russian people, was long and carefully preserved in Russian folk culture and served as the source for the creation of many artistic masterpieces.
Having entered the Christian world, Rus' not only did not get lost, but found its own face in it through the Cyril and Methodius heritage. The acceptance of the Christian heritage by our ancestors can be likened to the abundant spring rain, to which the earth responds with the beauty of its flowering, fragrance and abundance. If you even take a quick look at the fruits that have grown on our soil in the field of culture thanks to the Good News, you will involuntarily be amazed at both the abundance of these fruits and their deep significance for human self-knowledge. Without striving for chronological or genre sequence, we will give a few examples. These are the cathedrals of Kyiv, Novgorod, Pskov, Vladimir, Suzdal; and paintings on biblical stories A.A. Ivanova, N.N. Ge, V.M. Vasnetsova, M.V. Nesterova; and finally, a Russian icon, whose world significance is generally recognized today. Christianity religious culture Rus
The Christian faith shaped the picture of the world of ancient Russian man. At its center were ideas about the relationship between God and man. The idea of love as a force that dominates the lives of people and their relationships with God and among themselves has organically entered into Russian culture. The idea of personal salvation, which is most important for the Christian faith, oriented a person towards self-improvement and contributed to the development of individual creative activity. A person has several “shells”: external, i.e. body, and internal ones, as if nested one into the other - Soul, Spirit. The spiritual center of man is the image of God. The development and improvement of man was thought of as a transition from outer shells to inner ones - until the outer shells become completely transparent and the image of God contained in man is revealed in all its fullness and clarity.
The Christian picture of the world determined not only the relationship between God, Man and his Soul, but also the position of man in the natural world and in history. Pagan consciousness is cosmogonic and cyclical. Christian consciousness has historicism. For a pagan, time moves in a circle determined by the changing seasons. Kolyada, Ovsen, Maslenitsa, Kostroma and others mythological characters every year they came into the world of people and left it, only to return next year. A Christian lives in a system of open time coordinates, feeling his connection with world history and with the future; time itself is viewed by him as a spiral. Any historical and even private event can have an analogy in the past. Christian worship always includes remembrance of the events of Sacred history.
Man in the Christian world had the gift of freedom. History is the result of human free creativity, the result of a consciously made choice. According to the ideas of ancient Russian people, the action of two principles is manifested in history - good and evil. Russian people considered goodness to be the dominant principle; evil was supposed to exist on a limited scale to test man. Evil realizes itself in violence and destruction, good - in mercy and creative human activity. The most important form of such creation is creativity in the sphere of spiritual culture.
2. The influence of religious books on folkcrops
The influence of Christianity on Russian culture was extremely versatile. We have already discussed the impact of religion on folk, “non-professional” culture. Here we will only point out the contribution of Orthodoxy to the formation and development of a “literate” culture, to the formation of ancient Russian literature.
When you hear the phrase “Ancient Rus'”, measured, solemn lines of epics and spiritual poems, the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, amazing in its beauty and modesty, and the majestic Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv come to mind. The appearance of all these monuments is associated with the adoption of Orthodoxy. Together with the Christian faith, the art of stone architecture and icon painting came to Rus' from Byzantium and Bulgaria; books of the Holy Scriptures, Old and New Testaments (primarily the Gospels and the Psalter); "Paleys" (books interpreting the text of the Holy Scriptures); “Celebrants” (interpretations of the text of Scripture dedicated to Christian holidays); liturgical literature - numerous “Books of Hours”, “Trebniks”, “Servants”, “Troparia”, “Triodion” - Colored and Lenten; “Paremias” (collections of excerpts from various books of the Bible), “Ladders”, collections of Christian sermons - “Chrysostom”, “Zlatoust” and “Margarita”; lives of saints, as well as some secular works - stories, novels (“Alexandria”, “The Tale of Akira the Wise”, “Deed of the Virgin”) and historical chronicles (for example, the Greek “Chronicle of George Amartol”). From church books, ancient Russian people learned about new norms of morality and morality, received historical and geographical information, information about living and inanimate nature (the books “Physiologist”, “Shestodnev”). The works of the “church fathers” - John Chrysostom, Ephraim the Syrian, Gregory the Theologian, Basil the Great, John of Damascus, John Climacus, etc. - organically merged into Russian spiritual culture. The images they created became firmly part of Russian art through books.
Old Russian people (even the richest and most noble) were quite modest in everyday life. Their homes were unpretentious, the food they ate, and their clothes were simple. The temple was a place of beauty - it was there, among the beautiful icons and frescoes, that the human soul found shelter and peace.
Old Russian people, who adopted the teachings of John of Damascus, believed that man consists of two substances - soul and body. Accordingly, he has two rows of sense organs - bodily senses (“servants”) and spiritual senses: there are “physical” eyes and “spiritual” (“smart”); “physical” ears and “spiritual” ones. “Smart” eyes are directed to heaven (“towards the mountain”), bodily ones are “fixed to the ground.” Authentic, spiritual world a person can see only with “smart” eyes, and books can reveal them. Therefore, it was books that were at the center of ancient Russian culture.
The idea that art should depict the world as the spiritual eye perceives it is consonant not only with ancient Russian, but also with modern culture.
For the ancient Russian people, the book was the true focus of spirituality, and the “scribe” - the copyist of ancient manuscripts - was the central element of the ancient Russian spiritual life. Many Russian saints, for example Sergius of Radonezh, were involved in rewriting books.
3. Impact xChristianity on Russian art
Christianity not only stimulated the development of ancient Russian writing and literature. Outstanding figures of Orthodoxy have made a huge contribution to enriching the culture of the ethnic group and expanding the spheres of artistic creativity.
With Orthodoxy the art of eloquence came to Rus'. Old Russian orators and preachers in their speeches affirmed the spiritual and moral values of faith, united people, and taught the powers that be. Church preaching - oral and written - was a school for introducing people to high cultural values and contributed to the formation of national self-awareness.
The favorite reading of Russian people was the lives of saints (also called hagiography). At first, in Rus', naturally, there were only translated biographies. Then they began to create them using their own material. This is how the lives of the first Russian saints Boris and Gleb, Theodosius of Pechersk, Mstislav and Olga, Alexander Nevsky appeared. The author of the first Russian hagiographies - about Boris and Gleb, about Theodosius of Pechersk - was the monk Nestor, one of the compilers of The Tale of Bygone Years. Later lives were included in various books-- “Prologues”, “Cheti-Minea” (collections containing the lives of saints, “Words” and “Teachings”, arranged according to the calendar principle - in accordance with the days of memory of each saint), “Pateriki” (collections that described individual episodes of the life and deeds of ascetics - monks, hermits - of any one locality). The one that developed in the 12th-14th centuries enjoyed special love among the Russian people. Kiev-Pechersk Patericon, which described the acts of the monks of the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra.
In the lives of Russian saints, three main national ideals of human behavior were expressed: a voluntary meek and suffering martyr - a passion-bearer in the name of an idea, not resisting oppression and death (Boris and Gleb); a stern ascetic who lives in solitude and at the same time reveals great strength of spirit and mind (Antony, Joseph Volotsky); meek guardian of human happiness, organizer and protector (Theodosius of Pechersk, Sergius of Radonezh).
Russian art and the Orthodox faith have gone hand in hand for many centuries. For almost seven centuries (and this is two-thirds of the historical path of the Russian state!) art developed within the framework established by religion. Closely connected with the religious canon were the first secular novels and stories that appeared in the 17th century. (let’s name, for example, “The Life of Archpriest Avvakum”, which became, in fact, the first Russian novel), the first dramas (“The Comedy of the Parable of the Prodigal Son” by S. Polotsky) and poems (his “Vertograd the Multicolored”), the first portrait images of kings ( "parsuns") and the first popular prints.
In general, starting from the end of the 17th century. in Russian culture, as in the culture of other European peoples, the process of secularization begins. On Russian soil it was not carried out painlessly and was accompanied by complex conflicts.
The separation of art and religion that occurred at the beginning of the 18th century. as a result of the reforms carried out by Peter I, it became the largest tragedy of Russian culture. It had sad consequences both for the Orthodox Church (they moved away from a significant part of the Russian intelligentsia) and for art - literature, painting and music (which lost some of the positive values expressed in religious ideals).
In the 19th century In Russian culture, two ideological trends have clearly emerged. One was associated with traditional spiritual values embodied in the Orthodox faith; another - with liberal values Western culture. The first trend oriented society toward slow, gradual development based on compliance national traditions; the second - for rapid modernization, reforms that were supposed to bring Russia closer to Western Europe.
Less noticeable was the confrontation in art itself: conflicts between writers, artists and composers were often determined by personal relationships, and only then acquired ideological overtones. The difference between them is to a greater extent manifested itself in the predominance of denying or affirming pathos in works. The latter was more often associated with religious values. And yet, as a rule, Russian cultural figures sought to combine both types of values in their work.
Despite the outward separation of art from Christianity in its ecclesiastical guise, it is Christianity that must be recognized as one of the most important sources of the moral ideal characteristic of Russian art. Writers and artists, composers and thinkers drew inspiration and strength from this source. Following this trend, Russian culture, in our opinion, did not break with its Christian origins, but, on the contrary, feeding on them, brought enormous moral forces to society, captivating the minds and hearts of those who remained deaf to church preaching.
In our opinion, throughout the 18th and 20th centuries. Russian literature, painting and music have repeatedly tried to return to the lost synthesis of religion and art. We come to this conclusion based on a study of the work of a number of Russian artists. Motifs, plots and images that are religious in origin can be found in the works of all significant masters artistic word XVIII--XX centuries It is interesting that despite the presence of strong Western influences, despite the seeming separation from Orthodox roots, this literature turned out to be truly Russian, Christian and in many ways Orthodox. The person she is talking about is a Christian, and not even in the sense of his belonging to the Church or spiritual and moral state, but in the sense of those values that were fundamental to him.
Russian writers often turned to gospel stories. Gospel plots and motifs can be found even in those works that, in their ideas, are very far from the Holy Scriptures, for example, in the novel by N.G. Chernyshevsky “What to do?” (“the Christ-like” figure of the “special” person Rakhmetov) or in M. Gorky’s novel “Mother” (the Virgin Mary giving her son as a sacrifice for the salvation of humanity).
Attempts to create a new version of Scripture, which could become the Testament of the Russian people, were made by many Russian writers. One can recall the attempt of L.N. Tolstoy to return to the origins of Christianity and create his own version of the Gospel (“A Brief Summary of the Gospel”; “The Teachings of Christ Set forth for Children”) or a unique idea for the creation of the Third Testament - the Testament of God the Holy Spirit, which arose from D.S. Merezhkovsky and Z.N. Gippius.
Many Russian artists experienced a spiritual upheaval caused by a change in attitude towards religion. Among them are L.N. Tolstoy and N.N. Ge, who came to a new understanding of the relationship between religion and art in the 80s. XIX century These years became a short period of stabilization of Russian culture, when a brief reconciliation of the main opposing forces took place. And the appeal to religious values was quite natural at this stage.
The influence of religion on Russian literature was not limited to Orthodoxy. We have already mentioned the facts of penetration into Russian culture of certain Catholic (P.Ya. Chaadaev and V.S. Solovyov) and Protestant (L.N. Tolstoy) ideas. At the end of the 19th century. The ideas of the Muslim and Buddhist religious systems began to penetrate quite actively into Russian literature. Russian life and art
Russian life, Russian way of life existed in the 19th century. are closely related to both art and religion. All this filled them with high spirituality and expediency, which was manifested both in the education system and in family relationships, and in holding Russian religious holidays.
An excellent description of the life of a Russian family as it was in the 80s. XIX century, left by the writer I.S. Shmelev. In his book “The Summer of the Lord. Holidays - Joys - Sorrows,” the writer recreated the atmosphere that reigned in their home. Pickling cucumbers on the Intercession, the blessing of apples on the day of the Transfiguration of the Lord, the celebration of Christ on Easter, the wonderful Maslenitsa organized by the old man in Zaryadye, birch trees in the church on Trinity Day - all these signs of the holidays testify to the possibility of synthesis, reconciliation of life, sincere faith and beauty. Children’s perception more clearly reveals the essence of the picture of the past recreated by the writer: “It seems to me that Christ is in our yard. And in the barn, and in the stables, and in the cellar, and everywhere. In the black cross from my candle - Christ came. And everything we do is for Him. The yard has been swept clean, and all the corners have been cleaned, even under the canopy where there was manure. These days are extraordinary—passionate days of Christ. Now I’m not afraid of anything: I walk through the dark hallways - and there’s nothing, because Christ is everywhere.”
This very feeling - “Christ is everywhere” - was the basis of stability and world order. Its disappearance in people’s consciousness and art inevitably led to negative consequences for both society and culture.
4. The problem of interaction between culture and religion
The relationship between Russian art and religion was not always as idyllic and cloudless as depicted by I.S. Shmelev. There have been periods in the history of Russian culture when it sought to move away, to separate itself from religion and the Orthodox Church (and this happened not only in the 20th century!). One can note with regret facts of the opposite kind, when individual church leaders tried to ban certain works or entire types of art, forms cultural activities. Let us recall, for example, the persecution of buffoons in the 17th century, or the excommunication of the writer L.I. Tolstoy. For the sake of truth, let us note: he himself moved away from it, writing “Critique of Dogmatic Theology,” and the Church, with its anathema, only stated this fact.
As a rule, conflicts between the Russian Church and cultural figures occurred precisely when some church hierarchs, due to circumstances, began to engage in politics and became carried away by the administrative side of things.
The complex path of Russian culture, filled with tragic conflicts and confrontations, demonstrates both the inevitability and irreversibility of the process of separation of religion and art, and the impossibility of their complete and final separation. The nature of the connections between art and religion can change significantly, but they are constantly in interaction.
The problem of interaction between culture and religion is actualized, as a rule, in the most difficult, critical moments, when society feels the need to revise and update its spiritual foundations. This conclusion can be confirmed by Russian history over more than a thousand years of its existence, including in last decade XX century
Late 80's - 90's. XX century was marked by a rapid growth of interest in religion in Russian society. An increase in the number of believers, the return to the Church of destroyed churches and monasteries, their restoration and the construction of new ones - all these are characteristic signs of Russian life at the end of the second millennium. Various religious literature began to be published in large quantities. The works of Russian religious philosophers (N.A. Berdyaev, S.N. Bulgakov, I.A. Ilyin, D.S. Merezhkovsky, V.S. Solovyov, P.A. Florensky, G.V. Florovsky, etc.) were republished Russian religious writers (B.K. Zaitsev, I.S. Shmelev), works by classical writers (N.V. Gogol, F.M. Dostoevsky, N.S. Leskov, L.N. Tolstoy), raising questions of religion . The influence of religion on the work of modern writers has also increased, whose works touch upon biblical pritri (Ch. Aitmatov) and biblical symbolism.
Conclusion
Decades of “atheistic” development of Russian Soviet culture, naturally, could not be in vain for society. The connections between the Orthodox religion and art, the life described by I.S. has irrevocably collapsed. Shmelev, the traditions of folk religious holidays have practically disappeared.
What happened in the 90s can also be considered a consequence of the loss of national religious traditions. XX century rapid Americanization of Russian culture (culture seemed to have lost its immunity), and to some extent, increased immorality. The penetration of foreign beliefs is unlikely to replenish those stabilizing principles that have determined the development of national culture since the Baptism of Rus'.
The restoration of traditional and natural connections for Russian culture between everyday culture, art and religion is a process on which the future of the nation largely depends. But this requires long and strenuous efforts.
List of used literature
1. Averintsev S.S. The Baptism of Rus' and the path of Russian culture // Context - 90. - M.: Nauka, 1990
2. Akhundov M.D., Bazhenov L.B. Natural science and religion in the cultural system // Questions of Philosophy.- 1992.- No. 12.- P.42-53.
3. The influence of Christianity on the development of culture, spirituality and morality of society // Millennium of the introduction of Christianity in Rus' 988-1988.-M., 1993.-P. 176-185.
4. Balakina T.I. History of Russian culture.- M.: Publishing house. Center A3, 1995 .-264 p.
5. Zlatostroy. Ancient Rus'. 10th - 12th centuries / Comp., author. text, comment. A.G. Kuzmina, A.Yu. Karpova. -- M., 1990.
6. Collection: Collection of works. lit. Ancient Rus'. -- M., 1969.
Klibanov A.I. Spiritual culture of medieval Russia. - M.: JSC "ASPECT-PRESS", 1994. - 367 p.
7. Kontsevich I.M. Acquisition of the Holy Spirit in the ways of Ancient Rus'. - M., 1993.
8. Likhachev D.S. Poetics of Old Russian Literature // Izbr. works: In 3 volumes - L., 1987. Vol. 1.
9. Fedotov G.P. Saints of Ancient Rus' / Preface. D.S. Likhachev and A.V. Me. -- M., 1990.
10. Saltykov A. About Orthodox culture // Journal of the Moscow Patriarchate. - 1997. - No. 3. - P. 88-96.
11. Florensky P. Christianity and culture // Crisis of civilization.-1991.-No.3.-P.74-75.
12. Christianity and Russian spiritual culture: Methodological approach// Russian culture and the world. - Nizhny Novgorod, 1993. - pp. 83-85.
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The new faith could not influence Russian history and culture. In the period of the X - XIII centuries, a complex psychological breakdown of pagan beliefs and the formation of Christian ideas took place. The process of changing spiritual and moral priorities is always difficult. In Rus' it did not take place without violence. The life-loving optimism of paganism was replaced by a faith that demanded restrictions and strict adherence to moral standards. The adoption of Christianity meant a change in the entire structure of life. Now the church has become the center of public life. She preached a new ideology, instilled new values, and raised a new person. Christianity made man the bearer of a new morality, based on a culture of conscience, arising from the evangelical commandments. Christianity created a broad basis for the unification of ancient Russian society, the formation of a single people based on common spiritual and moral principles. There has been a humanization of society. Rus' was included in the European Christian world.
Christianity influenced all aspects of Russian life. The adoption of a new religion helped to establish political, trade, and cultural ties with the countries of the Christian world.
Architecture
If wooden architecture goes back mainly to pagan Rus', then stone architecture is associated with already Christian Russia. Unfortunately, ancient wooden buildings have not survived to this day, but the architectural style of the people has come down to us in later wooden structures, in ancient descriptions and drawings. Russian wooden architecture was characterized by multi-tiered buildings, crowning them with turrets and towers, and the presence of various types of extensions - cages, passages, vestibules. Intricate artistic carving wood painting was a traditional decoration of Russian wooden buildings. This tradition lives on among the people to this day.
The world of Christianity brought new construction experience and traditions to Rus': Rus' adopted the construction of its churches in the image of the cross-domed temple of the Greeks: a square dissected by four pillars forms its basis; rectangular cells adjacent to the dome space form an architectural cross. But the Greek masters who arrived in Rus', starting from the time of Vladimir, as well as the Russian craftsmen working with them, applied this model to the traditions of Russian wooden architecture, familiar to the Russian eye. If the first Russian churches, including the Church of the Tithes, at the end of the 10th century. were built by Greek masters in strict accordance with Byzantine traditions, the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv reflected a combination of Slavic and Byzantine traditions: thirteen chapters were placed on the basis of the cross-domed temple. This step pyramid of St. Sophia Cathedral resurrected the style of Russian wooden architecture.
St. Sophia Cathedral, created at the time of the establishment and rise of Rus' under Yaroslav the Wise, showed that construction is also politics. With this temple, Rus' challenged the architecture of Byzantium. In the 11th century St. Sophia Cathedrals grew in other large centers of Rus' - Novgorod, Polotsk, and each of them claimed its own prestige, independent of Kyiv, just like Chernigov, where the monumental Transfiguration Cathedral was built. Monumental multi-domed churches with thick walls and small windows were built throughout Rus', evidence of power and beauty.
Architecture reached great prosperity during the reign of Andrei Bogolyubsky in Vladimir. His name is associated with the construction of the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir, located on the steep bank of the Klyazma, a white-stone palace in the village of Bogolyubovo, and the “Golden Gate” in Vladimir - a powerful white-stone cube crowned with a golden-domed church. Under him, a miracle of Russian architecture was created - the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl. The prince built this church not far from his chambers after the death of his beloved son Izyaslav. This small single-domed church has become a poem made of stone, which harmoniously combines the modest beauty of nature, quiet sadness, and the enlightened contemplation of architectural lines.
Art
Old Russian art - painting, carving, music - also experienced tangible changes with the adoption of Christianity. Pagan Rus' knew all these types of art, but in a purely pagan, folk expression. Ancient woodcarvers and stone cutters created wooden and stone sculptures pagan gods, spirits. Painters painted the walls of pagan temples, made sketches of magic masks, which were then made by artisans; musicians, playing string and woodwind instruments, entertained tribal leaders and entertained the common people.
The Christian Church introduced completely different content into these types of art. Church art is subordinated to a higher goal - to glorify the Christian God, the exploits of the apostles, saints, and church leaders. If in pagan art “flesh” triumphed over the “spirit” and affirmed everything earthly, personifying nature, then church art sang the victory of the “spirit” over the flesh, affirmed the high feats of the human soul for the sake of the moral principles of Christianity. In Byzantine art, considered at that time the most perfect in the world, this was expressed in the fact that there painting, music, and the art of sculpture were created mainly according to church canons, where everything that contradicted the highest Christian principles was cut off. Asceticism and rigor in painting (icon painting, mosaic, fresco), sublimity, “divinity” of the Greek church prayers and chants, the temple itself, becoming a place of prayerful communication between people - all this was characteristic of Byzantine art. If this or that religious, theological theme was strictly established in Christianity once and for all, then its expression in art, according to the Byzantines, should have expressed this idea only once and for all in an established way; the artist became only an obedient executor of the canons dictated by the church.
And so the art of Byzantium, canonical in content and brilliant in its execution, transferred to Russian soil, collided with the pagan worldview of the Eastern Slavs, with their joyful cult of nature - the sun, spring, light, with their completely earthly ideas about good and evil, sins and virtues . From the very first years, Byzantine church art in Rus' experienced the full power of Russian folk culture and folk aesthetic ideas.
It was already discussed above that a single-domed Byzantine temple in Rus' in the 11th century. transformed into a multi-domed pyramid, the basis of which was Russian wooden architecture. The same thing happened with painting. Already in the 11th century. strict ascetic manner Byzantine icon painting Under the brush of Russian artists, it turned into portraits close to life, although Russian icons bore all the features of a conventional icon-painting face.
Along with icon painting, fresco and mosaic painting developed. The frescoes of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv show the writing style of the local Greek and Russian masters, and the commitment to human warmth, integrity and simplicity. On the walls of the cathedral we see images of saints, the family of Yaroslav the Wise, and images of Russian buffoons and animals. Beautiful icon paintings, frescoes, and mosaics filled other churches in Kyiv. Known for their great artistic power are the mosaics of St. Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery with their depiction of the apostles, saints who have lost their Byzantine severity; their faces became softer and rounder.
Later, the Novgorod school of painting took shape. Its characteristic features were clarity of idea, reality of image, and accessibility. From the 12th century Wonderful creations of Novgorod painters have come down to us: the icon “Golden Haired Angel,” where, despite all the Byzantine conventions of the Angel’s appearance, one feels reverent and beautiful human soul. Or the icon “Savior Not Made by Hands” (also 12th century), in which Christ, with his expressive arched eyebrows, appears as a formidable, all-understanding judge human race. In the icon of the Dormition of the Virgin Mary, the faces of the apostles depict all the sorrow of loss. And such masterpieces Novgorod land gave a lot.
The wide distribution of icon painting and fresco painting was also characteristic of Chernigov, Rostov, Suzdal, and later Vladimir-on-Klyazma, where wonderful frescoes depicting “ Last Judgment", decorated Dmitrievsky Cathedral.
At the beginning of the 13th century. The Yaroslavl school of icon painting became famous. Many excellent iconographic works were written in the monasteries and churches of Yaroslavl. Especially famous among them is the so-called “Yaroslavl Oranta”, depicting the Mother of God. Its prototype was the mosaic image of the Virgin Mary in the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv.
Over the course of many centuries, the art of wood carving, and later stone carving, developed and improved in Rus'. Wooden carved decorations generally became a characteristic feature of the homes of townspeople and peasants, and wooden churches.
White stone carving of Vladimir-Suzdal Rus', especially from the time of Andrei Bogolyubsky and Vsevolod the Big Nest, in the decoration of palaces and cathedrals, became a remarkable feature of ancient Russian art in general.
Utensils and dishes were famous for their beautiful carvings. In the art of carvers, Russian folk traditions and Russian ideas about beauty and grace were most fully manifested. This applied not only to wood and stone carving, but also to many types of artistic crafts. Elegant jewelry and true masterpieces were created by ancient Russian jewelers - gold and silversmiths. They made bracelets, earrings, pendants, buckles, tiaras, medallions, trimmed with gold, silver, enamel, precious stones utensils, dishes, weapons. With special diligence and love, master craftsmen decorated icon frames, as well as books. An example is the skillfully trimmed leather and jewelry frame of the “Ostromir Gospel”, created by order of the Kyiv mayor Ostromir during the time of Yaroslav the Wise.
Like all medieval art, church painting had practical significance and, being the “Bible for the illiterate,” served primarily the purposes of religious enlightenment. Religious art was also a means of communication with God. Both the process of creation and the process of perception turned into worship. This main function of it reinforces the significance of what is depicted, and not how, and therefore, in principle, does not distinguish between a masterpiece and an ordinary icon. In the context of its era, the icon also performed quite utilitarian functions - a protector from epidemics and crop failures, an intercessor, a formidable weapon (pagan influence).
Religious ideology permeated all spheres of life, religious institutions were protected by the state. A religious canon was established - a set of Christian worldview principles and corresponding techniques, norms and main tasks of artistic and figurative creativity. The canon was developed and approved by the church as an example (template) to follow, as an ideal of holiness and beauty, as a standard for combining the elements of an image. For example, strict adherence by icon painters to the church canon was required in order to make the faces of deities, apostles or saints on all icons or frescoes dedicated to them absolutely identical. The ideal relationship between the religious and artistic sides in its art for the church is the situation in which artistic media are used only for the most complete embodiment of religious content within the framework of the accepted canon. Sample - ancient Novgorod and Pskov icons and frescoes of the 13th - 14th centuries. This religious and artistic canon, after the adoption of Christianity by Russia in 988, was borrowed from Byzantium and, in a revised form, established itself on Russian cultural soil. Thus, in accordance with the requirements of the iconographic canon, in the images of Jesus Christ and the entire pantheon, the saints on the icons emphasize their incorporeality, holiness, divinity, and detachment from earthly things. The appearance of motionless, static, flat figures of biblical characters and saints symbolizes the eternal and unchanging. Space on icons is always depicted conditionally, by combining several projections on a plane using reverse perspective. Golden backgrounds and halos, golden radiance transferred the depicted event in the perception of the viewer to some other dimension, far from the earthly world, into the sphere of spiritual entities, actually representing this sphere.
Color played a special artistic and religious symbolic role in Byzantine painting. For example, purple symbolized divine and imperial dignity; red - fiery, fire (cleansing), the blood of Christ, as a reminder of his incarnation and the future salvation of the human race. White denoted divine light, purity and holiness, detachment from the worldly, aspiration towards spiritual simplicity and sublimity. In contrast to white, black was perceived as a sign of the end, of death. Green color symbolized youth, flowering, and blue and blue - the otherworldly (transcendent) world.
For masters, the canon acted as artistic method and the style of embodying the religious-aesthetic social ideal and approaching it. For the mass of mediocre icon painters, among whom the main place was occupied by monastery monks (“bogomaz”), the canon often served only as a set of formal norms and rules that distinguished religious writing from artistic writing.
One can single out the brilliant Russian painter Andrei Rublev (c. 1370 - c. 1430), who did not always follow established iconographic traditions. Showing creative individuality, both in the construction of compositions and in the color schemes of icons, he embodied the new ideological direction of art. As research has shown, with the unique range of his creations, even with new shades of colors, Rublev seemed to expand the boundaries of the canon. For example, in contrast to the gloomy, dark-colored icons of Theophanes the Greek, Andrei Rublev’s palette is characterized by a light range of colors; his icons and frescoes are imbued with reverent sunshine and embody a joyful attitude, admiration and tenderness for the world. Andrei Rublev's worldview happily combined the spiritual traditions of the pre-Mongol heritage, imbued with echoes of Hellenistic art associated with the Byzantine style, on the one hand, and pan-European pre-Renaissance aesthetics, on the other. Such a complete and deep understanding of the classical canon was most fully expressed in Rublev’s frescoes, in “The Trinity”. Bright joy fills the heart from meeting this priceless monument of the national spiritual and artistic culture, a great world masterpiece, filled with exceptional figurative power and humanistic pathos. Distinguished by deep psychologism, “Trinity” inspires a feeling of inner peace, clear simplicity, pride and great moral strength. This is achieved primarily by the classically balanced static composition of the arrangement of the figures of the three angels, the melodiousness of the clear lines of the design, the harmony of the color scheme and the cheerfulness of the overall color background of the icon.
Serving high ideals and striving for perfection distinguished the masters of Russian religious art.
Gradually, spiritual music was formed, written specifically to accompany religious cult rituals, which evoked a whole range of experiences and moods among believers.
Applied, decorative art and religious objects, used during worship or constantly present in the interiors of churches, sometimes acquired a non-ecclesiastical sound. Altars, candlesticks, crosses, cassocks, cassocks, miters, all the attire of the priests were not so much works of worship as of applied art.
The year 988 went down in history as the time of the baptism of Rus', the conversion of the Slavs gathered at hand Prince of Kyiv, in the Orthodox faith. Baptism is the only example in world history of the rapid and relatively painless introduction of a new religion on the territory of a huge state.
Christianization did not always proceed smoothly. Since the 10th century, there has been plenty of evidence of the forced introduction of a new faith into the masses.
Prince Vladimir instructed his governors to persuade the Slavic tribes to convert to Orthodoxy, among whom the prince’s uncle, Dobrynya, enjoyed special trust. Yes, yes, the same Dobrynya Nikitich, well known to us from epics and legends. “Dobrynya baptized with a sword, and Putyatya with fire” - these words very accurately describe the process of forced Christianization of the population. Exemplary executions of pagans who rejected the new faith gave rise to this saying.
But resistance to baptism has its own background: with the advent of the Church in the Slavic lands, a new tax was imposed on peasant farmsteads and farms - church tithes. One tenth of the profit received, from the harvest or the offspring of livestock, was to be given to the benefit of the churchmen. Many historians believe that tithing became one of the main “stumbling blocks” in the process of Christianization.
However, the process of introducing Christianity did not meet resistance everywhere. Thanks to the primordial religious tolerance and peacefulness of the Slavs, as well as because of the long neighborhood with Christian preachers, whom Byzantium willingly sent to the Slavic lands, mass baptism took place quite peacefully in many places. Of course, if for active assistance central government, not for the forceful pressure of Prince Vladimir, then the Christianization of Rus' would probably have lasted for centuries. Since its inception, the Russian Church has always relied on the central government, relying on the power of the state, in return promoting its interests.
Consequences of the Christianization of Rus'
Many researchers believe that the adoption of Orthodoxy was not only a well-thought-out action on the part of Prince Vladimir, but also a kind of spiritual impulse, a sign of repentance for fratricide and revelry. Be that as it may, it is impossible not to talk about the political and social consequences that the Christianization of Kievan Rus as a state brought.
Thanks to the powerful support of Byzantium, which Rus' received after its baptism, the Slavic state gained considerable weight in the political arena of both Europe and Asia. In addition, the adoption of Christianity made it possible to actively begin to establish relations with those states that professed the same faith. Having received the new status of a “civilized”, rather than pagan, state, the Slavs began to develop trade relations with European countries. Subsequently, these contacts will bring not only economic, but also political benefits, making Kievan Rus a significant player on the world stage.
By starting baptism “from above,” that is, by first baptizing himself, his family and his closest circle, Vladimir created a central vertical of power. The Church became the force that united the scattered Slavic tribes and strengthened the princely power. Existing independently of each other, these two institutions - the church and the state - have always acted together. The church directed its forces to establish the state and support the central government, while the state, in turn, contributed to the prosperity of the church.
It was Christianity that became the central spiritual force that united the people. And even during state fragmentation In the 12th century, the Church remained unchanged, helping the Slavs feel like a single nation.
Another important consequence can be called a general softening of morals. The Church made a lot of efforts to eradicate pagan customs. The cessation of sacrifices and bloody rituals is a direct merit of the new faith. Enlightenment and moral education people became the real responsibility of the Christian clergy.
The influence of Christianity on the culture of Ancient Rus'
The emergence of Christianity with its rich traditions could not but influence the culture of the Slavs. The new faith required new rituals - and temples and monasteries were actively built throughout the country. Temple architecture, which initially copied the Byzantine style, very quickly came under the influence of the original Slavic traditions. And the monuments of ancient architecture clearly demonstrate this. A good example St. Sophia Cathedral in Novgorod can become such an influence.
Christianization also opened the doors to literary creativity. Thanks to the works of Cyril and Methodius, worship was conducted in a language understandable to everyone, and accordingly, all church literature was also translated into Old Church Slavonic. Very quickly, monasteries and churches acquired their own libraries, and not all of the works in them were translated - Rus' had its own authors of spiritual literature.
With the spread of writing, history also received an impetus for development. Recording current events or chronicling became a voluntary duty of Orthodox monks. That is why written evidence has reached us about the formation of Christianity and the development of Russian statehood from the 10th to 12th centuries.
But Christianity played its main role in the process of unification of Rus'. Orthodoxy became the core around which disparate Slavic tribes began to form one nation. The spiritual, cultural, social unity that Christianity provided became a catalyst for the unification of Rus', the creation of a single state with united people on its territory.
4. The adoption of Christianity in Rus' and its influence on the historical fate of Russia
Acceptance of Christianity was an important step in the history of Kievan Rus. The main reason that led Vladimir to make such a bold decision as abandoning the traditional Slavic faith was the change in many aspects of the life of Rus' since the formation of the state. Pagan ideas were poorly suited to the needs of the new state and its feudal elite. The need for changes in the sphere of religious beliefs was realized by Vladimir and his associates before the question of accepting Christianity arose. First, an attempt was made to reform traditional religion: the princely warrior god Perun was placed at the head of the pantheon, and an attempt was made to create a more strict hierarchy of celestials. But the population did not support this initiative, since Perun, in his opinion, could not compete with such powerful deities as Svarog or Dazhdbog. In addition, in the prince’s squad there were many representatives of other nations, for whom any Slavic god was alien and incomprehensible. In addition, the attitude of the neighbors towards the pagan state was far from recognizing it as an equal partner, especially with regard to Byzantium. Actually, after making the decision to renounce the pagan faith, there was no question of which religion to adopt. It is clear that this had to be Byzantine-style Christianity. There were many reasons for this: Vladimir’s grandmother, Princess Olga, had already been baptized in Constantinople, there were many Christians among his warriors, there were Christian churches in Kyiv, and Orthodoxy was not a completely unfamiliar faith for the Eastern Slavs. In addition, it was Byzantium that was the state with which contacts were of the greatest value for Ancient Rus'.
The Kiev nobility willingly accepted Christianity - it helped her rule over the people. But the people in many places resisted the new faith. Christianity was often introduced by force. In Novgorod, those who introduced Christianity burned half the city for resistance. There were uprisings against the new faith in other cities. The church received from the princes large land holdings and a tenth of state revenues (“tithe”).
The adoption of Christianity in Rus' was of great importance. Christianity forced people to eat a lot of vegetables, and consequently, gardening improved. Christianity influenced the development of crafts; techniques for laying walls, erecting domes, mosaics, etc. were also adopted. Stone architecture, frescoes, and icon painting also appeared in Rus' thanks to Christianity. Many temples were built (There were about 400 temples in Kyiv, and not one of them copied another). Rus' received two alphabets: Glagolitic and Cyrillic, which contributed to the spread of literacy. The first handwritten books began to appear. Morals in Rus' changed very noticeably, since the church categorically prohibited human sacrifices and the killing of slaves... Also, Christianity contributed to the strengthening of princely power. The prince was now perceived as a messenger of God. And finally, the adoption of Christianity radically changed the international position of Rus'. It organically fit into European culture and diplomatic relations with other countries.
This was especially noticeable under Prince Yaroslav, nicknamed the Wise (978-1054). In Kyiv, on his orders, many beautiful buildings were erected - the majestic Church of Hagia Sophia, new city walls with the Golden Gate. During his reign, many skilled artists and architects, Russian and foreign, worked. Although the influence of Byzantium was strong in famous buildings, church icons and paintings, in general, a new, unique Russian painting and architecture gradually took shape.
Culture of Ancient Rus'
1. The adoption of Christianity and its influence on the development of Russian culture
Long years Russian culture - oral folk art, art, architecture, painting, artistic craft - developed under the influence of pagan religion and pagan worldview. With the adoption of Christianity by Russia, the situation changed dramatically. The Baptism of Rus' in 988, in its influence on the consciousness of man at that time, was a genuine revolution that brought completely new values, new forms of life. Metropolitan Hilarion, the author of the “Sermon on Law and Grace,” regarded this act as the coming to Rus' of grace and truth, which gave “the people hope ... eternal life.” Bokhanov A.N. History of Russia from ancient times to the end of the 20th century. In 3 books. Book I. / A.N.Bokhanov, M.M. Gorinov. - M.: AST, 2005. - P.52. The Christian ideal, introduced into a pagan environment, stimulated spiritual development, humanized this environment.
However, Christianity, having had a strong impact on Russian culture, was never able to overcome the folk origins of Russian culture. For many years, dual faith remained in Rus': the official religion, which prevailed in the cities, and paganism, which went into the shadows, but still existed in remote parts of Rus', especially in the northeast, retained its position in rural areas, the development of Russian culture reflected this duality in the spiritual life of society, in folk life. Pagan spiritual traditions, folk at their core, had a profound impact on the entire development of Russian culture in the early Middle Ages.
The harsh ascetic Christianity of Byzantium on Russian pagan soil with its cult of nature, worship of the sun, light, wind, with its cheerfulness, love of life, deep humanity was significantly transformed, which was reflected in all those areas of culture where the Byzantine, fundamentally Christian cultural influence was especially large. Under the influence of folk traditions, foundations, habits, under the influence of the people's worldview, church culture itself and religious ideology were filled with new content.
The Christianization of Rus' manifested itself in all spheres of life:
A special form of ritual for enthroning a prince was created: if earlier he was simply the head of a tribal union, now the princely power was sanctified by God. The prince had to be aware of his responsibility to his subjects, due to his high divine role;
new opportunities for trade with the outside world opened up: Byzantium and Europe were more willing to make contact not with the former “barbarians” or “Scythians,” but with fellow believers;
The church enriched ancient Russian public law with social and political experience, opposed slavery and the slave trade, prohibited human sacrifice, and condemned blood feud and polygamy. Theft, murder, robbery began to be considered as crimes and were introduced Physical punishment, which was previously considered a great insult to a free person;
After baptism, writing and “book learning” began to actively develop in Rus'. Christianity introduced the country to Byzantine and Western European cultures. Education began to be seen as a Christian virtue.
Active construction of churches began with funds from private individuals, folk communities and the Orthodox clergy. In Kyiv by the beginning of the 12th century. there were up to 600 churches, in Vladimir - more than 30. Monasteries became the cultural centers of Christian Rus', which by the first half of the 13th century. about 70 were built. By the center Orthodox culture became the Kiev Pechersk Monastery. Gradually, the largest collection of ancient Russian works was collected here: icons, items made of precious metals, sewing.
Before Mongol invasion The Orthodox Church in Rus' was not able to finally solve the problem of spreading its influence throughout the entire country. Its structure was in a state of design. But in the time that has passed since the official act of baptism, the Orthodox faith has increasingly become an integral part of the culture and spiritual basis of Rus'. The unity of language, faith and power was formed, without which the creation of a single state would subsequently have been impossible, as well as its preservation during the colonization of lands. This openness and synthetic nature of ancient Russian culture, its powerful reliance on folk origins And popular perception, developed by the entire long-suffering history of the Eastern Slavs, the interweaving of Christian and folk-pagan influences led to what in world history is called the phenomenon of Russian culture. Culturology: Textbook for university students / Ed. Dracha G.V. - M.: Alfa-M, 2004. - P.376.
Its characteristic features are the desire for monumentality, scale, imagery in chronicle writing; nationality, integrity and simplicity in art; grace, a deeply humanistic principle in architecture; gentleness, love of life, kindness in painting; the constant beating of the pulse of quest, doubt, passion in literature. And all this was dominated by the great unity of the creator of cultural values with nature, his sense of belonging to all of humanity, worries about people, their pain and misfortunes. It is no coincidence that one of the favorite images of the Russian church and culture has become the image of Saints Boris and Gleb, lovers of humanity, non-resistance, who suffered for the unity of the country, who accepted torment for the sake of people. These features and character traits The cultures of Ancient Rus' did not appear immediately. In their basic guises they developed over the centuries. But then, having already taken on more or less established forms, they retained their power for a long time and everywhere. And even when united Rus' disintegrated politically, common features Russian culture was manifested in the culture of individual principalities, and despite political difficulties and local peculiarities, it was still a single Russian culture.
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