Kyiv Christianity in the Portraits of Metropolitans: Artistic Language and Coding of Identity in the 18th Century

The article is devoted to the analysis of the iconography of the Kiev metropolitans of the 18th century as a unique phenomenon of religious Ukrainian Baroque art. The portraits of the bishops are considered not only as representative images of spiritual power, but also as carriers of cultural codes that record a special type of “Kyiv Christianity” formed on the border of Eastern and Western civilizations. Special attention is paid to Baroque aesthetics – the splendor of the bishop’s vestments, the ornamentality, theatricality of the compositions and at the same time the psychological depth of the portrayed. The study shows how the artistic language of these works organically combines the traditions of the Orthodox iconographic heritage and the influences of European Baroque and Rococo, which makes them different from the Russian spiritual portraits of that time, which were stricter and more canonical. An analysis of the symbolism–from the details of vestments and gestures to the placement of attributes (the Gospel, the Crucifixion, the scepters)–allows us to uncover coded ideas about the autonomy, authority, and cultural distinctiveness of the Kyiv Metropolitanate. The article also examines the gradual loss of this identity after its subordination to Moscow in 1686 and the growing pressure of synodal unification in the 18th century. Thus, the portraits of Kyiv metropolitans serve not only as artistic monuments but also as important historical and cultural documents reflecting the struggle to preserve the Ukrainian spiritual tradition.