«Собор Києво-Печерських святих» як відображення загальнохристиянського ідеалу у художній культурі Києва

The article, using a comparative analysis of the composition “The Council of the Kyiv-Pechersk Saints” in the monuments of Kyiv’s fine art—murals, paintings, engravings, and metal—reveals the relationship between art and religion as components of artistic and spiritual culture. An art historical and cultural study of plot analogies from the collection of the National Reserve “Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra” and the National Art Museum of Ukraine was conducted; their artistic features and main iconographic characteristics were revealed, the connection of images with verbal sources was traced, and the significance of this plot for Kyiv art culture was determined. It has been proven that oral word and written testimonies of holiness became the basis for the official recognition by the Church of the phenomenon of the Kyiv-Pechersk saints. It isshown that the newly established church tradition of honoring the conciliar memory of the Kyiv-Pechersk Fathers, formed within the Kyiv-Lavra theology, was reflected in the visual arts, namely, the iconography of “The Council of the Kyiv-Pechersk Saints,” where the composition of the plot reflects and records the process of honoring the conciliar memory of the Saints. Emphasized was the principle according to which the criteria for belonging to the Council of the Kyiv-Pechersk Saints were formed, namely the bibliographical-funeral principle, which meant that the relics were in the monastery, primarily in the caves, and had biographical connection of the devotees with the Pechersk Monastery. It is noted that the composition “The Council of the Kyiv-Pechersk Saints” represents a holistic picture of the history of the Pechersk holiness, where the images of the Pechersk fathers represent the general Christian ideal. Additional semantic layers of works with the plot of “The Council of the Kyiv-Pechersk Saints” are the themes of special veneration of the Kyiv-Lavra relics—the Great Lavra Church and the icon “The Dormition of the Mother of God.” It has been proven that the attributive features of Kyiv compositions are the image of the western facade of the Dormition Cathedral, the crown lying on the ground in front of Rev. Fyodor, Prince of Ostrog, and Rev. Longin, the Gatekeeper of Pechersk, depicted in perspective, as well as the text of the kondak of “The Council of the Kyiv-Pechersk Saints.” It is emphasized that one of the last Council compositions in Lavra art was the monumental paintings of the Lavra artist V. Sonin; his composition is a spatial and pictorial complex and testifies to the organic connection of church building and the visual arts of the Church with theology.