The Icon of the Mother of God of Jerusalem from the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin and its lost original. On the question of copying ancient icons in the Muscovite workshop in the late 17th — early 18th centuries

Abstract

The article presents the results of the work on studying Moscow icon painting from the end of the late XVII — early XVIII centuries. The author examines the history of copying the miracle- working icon of Mother of God of Jerusalem from the Assumption Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin. The information about copies of icon from the Museums of Moscow Kremlin (nowadays — in the Assumption Cathedral), from the Church of Archangel Michael in Bronnitsy (nowadays — in the Church of Saint Demetrius of Thessaloniki in Malakhovo near Moscow) and from the collection of the State Russian Museum (Tikhon Goranskii’s icon of 1710) is given. The author establishes the differences in the iconography and analyzes the content of some of the inscriptions on the icons. The inscription on Tikhon Goranskii’s icon enables to justify the version of the origin of the ancient original of Theotokos icon from Novgorod the Great. In connection with the history of the existence of the ancient image, the author considers the question about its original location in the altar screen of the Cathedral of St.Sophia in Novgorod. Other icons connected with the ancient altar screen of Novgorod cathedral are analysed for research purposes (the icon of Saint Apostles Paul and Peter from the end of XX — the beginning of XII centuries and the icon of the Mother of God of Korsun of the XII century). Special attention is paid to the question of ancient icon frames of “Korsun icons” (preserved in Novgorod, and known by the printed inventories from Moscow Assumption Cathedral). On the basis of resorting to inventories, the author makes a suggestion about the consequences of the restoration of the ancient icon in the Moscow Royal workshops. At the end of the article new archival documents on the Muscovite icon painter Tikhon Goranskii are published.