Ancient Russian motifs in the ceramics of M. A. Vrubel. Ornamentation

The appeal to centuries-old national traditions became a general trend in Russia at the end of the XIX century. Studies and albums of ouvrages dedicated to ancient monuments of Russian art were published. Old Russian motifs were vividly reflected in the works of M. A. Vrubel of the second half of the 1890s. Stylized keel-shaped kokoshniks, tiled friezes and stylizations on the theme of ornaments made of cut metal of the XVII century appear in them. The apogee of these searches were the ceramic suites "Sadko" and "Snow Maiden", the fireplace "Meeting of Volga Svyatoslavovich and Mikula Selyaninovich" and decorative vases created in the Abramtsevo pottery workshop in 1898–1899. Vrubel's ceramic works of the second half of the 1890s are the result of a detailed study of the best examples of ancient Russian art and architecture and their Byzantine prototypes. They also embodied fantastic images of Russian epic and folklore. Synthesized in the artist's soul, refracted through his individual "prism", Byzantine and ancient Russian motifs acquired a deep symbolic meaning and gave his works a characteristic national note.