ABSTRACT
Our paper opens with a review of the concepts and methodology of the research derived from exempla in churches of the Golden Ring in Russia. We also analyze the role and objectives of the Jesuits in Russia and the circulation of a Jesuit collection of exempla: the Magnum speculum exemplorum by John Major (Douai, 1614), which was first translated from Latin to Polish by the Jesuits under the title Wielkie Zwierciadło Przykładów [ed. Kraków, 1621]. Later on it was translated from Polish to Russian.
We need to consider the two Russian translations of the Polish Magnum Speculum Exemplorum: The first Russian translation: Великое зерцало—Velikoïe Zertsalo was commanded by the Tsar Alexis Mikahïlovitch (1645–1676). It was elaborated by Semion Lavretskiï, Grigoriï Koltchitskiï, Ivan Goudanskiï, Gavrilo Bolotinskiï, Ivan Vasutkinskiï, and members of the Foreign Affairs Office, under the direction of the Tsar’s confessor, Andreï Savinov (Postnikov). It contains 700–800 exempla; it is preserved in only twelve manuscripts. The second Russian translation maybe have been done by Feodor Kassianov, son of Gozvinskiï, a translator of Greek and of Polish background in Moscow between 1675 and 1676. It is a smaller collection with 70–260 exempla depending on the manuscript. It was a great success with 134 preserved manuscripts. These two translations have additions from different kinds of Russian and Byzantines sources. Our first case study is “The woman on the dragon.” This is a popular exemplary picture found in the galleries of two churches of Yaroslavl (St. John the Baptist and St. Elysea) with the text of the exemplum beneath the frescos, but also found in illuminated manuscripts of the Velikoïe Zertsalo and on Lubki (pages of chapped books sold in fairs) with the same disposition as in the frescoes. This circulation opens a set of questions about the cultural dynamics and the link between frescoes in the galleries of churches and the preaching.
Our second case study is the baptismal miracle painted in the frescoes around the altar (behind the iconostasis) of the cathedral of the Dormition in the Princess convent at Vladimir. This convent was created by Vsevolod III Vladimirski at the very beginning of the thirteenth century for his wife, the grand-princess Maria Chvarnovna (1158–1205). The cathedral was painted with frescoes in 1647–1648. This example shows that the exemplary pictures can also be painted behind the iconostasis to edify the priest. This discovery opens up a new avenue for our research.
