THE ORIGIN OF OLD RUSSIAN HIPPED ROOF ARCHITECTURE: THE RETURN TO THE PROBLEM
DOI: 10.23951/2312-7899-2018-2-32-61
In 2007, the author of this article published the studies on the origin of Old Russian hipped-roof architecture. Since then the author has received many letters on this theme from colleagues, this issue was widely discussed at scientific conferences and in Internet. In 2012 the author’s book “Typological forming and basic classification of Old Russian Church architecture” was published, and some additional considerations about the origin of hipped-roof architecture were issued there. In general, the author’s position on this theme did not change, but some problems required clarification and expansion of argumentation. On the basis of analysis of new architectural and archaeological data and chronicle information, the issues of the origin of Old Russian hippedroof architecture are systematically considered. The low probability of direct origin of Russian hipped-roof architecture from Western European Gothic is shown, since tower-like, hipped-ceiling and relatively small area of the main volume of temples are not typical for Gothic architecture. The inconsistency of theories of the origin of Old Russian hipped-roof architecture from the Romanesque and Eastern architecture are also shown. In previous studies on stone hipped-roof architecture, the author of this article cited a number of provisions showing its origin from Old Russian wooden architecture. In this work they are expanded and structured. The wide spread of the hipped-roof churches in Old Russian wooden architecture before the first stone hipped-roof temple is shown. The hypothesis about the origin of not only stone, but also wooden hipped-roof architecture of Old Russia is put forward: the wooden hipped-roof was a “simplified form” of the dome, which was canonically conditioned and obligatory in the stone Orthodox Church architecture during the whole history of the Old Russian architecture, since the 10th century. Having shown the widespread, canonical and constructive conditionality of hippedroofs in wooden architecture earlier than the beginning of the 16th century, the author proves that the first hipped-roof stone church came from wooden hipped-roof architecture, not from any Gothic, Romanesque, Eastern and any other foreign sources, and reconstructs the specific circumstances of its appearance in the early 16th century. In previous studies on the origin of Russian stone hipped-roof architecture, the author’s position was that it came only from wooden architecture. But in this article the author shows influence of Old Russian pillarless stone dome churches, which, though few in number, were built during the entire previous history of Russian architecture. The main conclusion of this article is the following: Old Russian stone hipped-roof architecture became the organic continuation of the previous national architectural tradition. That tradition included hipped-roof wooden architecture, stone domed churches and the wide range of connections with world architecture. The article also proposes general principles for the determination of the origin of architectural forms. It is shown that such issues should be solved only in comprehensive manner, as these forms could be generated by talent of architects, artistic taste of customers, the progress of construction equipment, changes in aesthetic preferences of society, ideology, influence of other countries, cultures and styles, and many other factors, up to purely utilitarian ones. A certain role here could be played by financial, human and constructive limitations which led to non-standard solutions.
Keywords: Old Russian architecture, hipped-roof architecture, wooden architecture, Gothic, Renaissance, architectural forms, construction
References:
Batalov 2009 a – Batalov A. L. On the origin of the tented roof in the Russian stone architecture of the 16th century. Old Russian art: idea and image. The experience of studying Byzantine and Old Russian art. Moscow, 2009. P. 55–74. In Russian.
Batalov 2009 b – Batalov A. L. Once again about the origin of the tented roof in Russian architecture. Lazarev readings. The art of Byzantium, Old Russia, Western Europe. Moscow, 2009. P. 158–196. In Russian.
Denike 1923 – Denike B. P. The Art of the East. Essay on the history of Muslim art. Moscow, 1923. In Russian.
Denike 1927 – Denike B. P. The Art of Central Asia. Moscow, 1927. In Russian.
Guber 1966 – The general history of architecture. Vol. 4. Architecture of Western Europe. The Middle Ages. Ed. by A. A. Guber. Moscow, 1966. In Russian.
Il’in 1980 – Il’in M. A. The Russian hipped roof architecture. Monuments middle of the 16th century. Problems and hypotheses, ideas and images. Moscow, 1980. In Russian.
Il’in et al. 1955 – Il’in M. A., Maksimov P. N., Kostochkin V. V. Stone architecture of the heyday of Moscow. History of Russian Art. Vol. 3. Moscow, 1955. P. 282–481. In Russian.
Jeffery 1919 – Jeffery George. A brief description of the Holy Sepulchre, Jerusalem, and other Christian churches in the Holy City, with some account of the mediaeval copies of the Holy Sepulchre surviving in Europe. Cambridge, 1919.
Kawelmacher 1995 – Kawelmacher W. W. Architectural monuments of old Alexandrovskaya Village. Vladimir, 1995. In Russian.
Kawelmacher 2008 – Kawelmacher W. W. Antiquities of Alexandrovskaya Village. Moscow, 2008. In Russian.
Kawelmacher, Panova 1995 – Kawelmacher W. W., Panova T. D. The remains of the white stone temple of the 14th century on the Cathedral Square of the Moscow Kremlin. Culture of medieval Moscow 14th – 17th centuries. Moscow, 1995. P. 66–83. In Russian.
Khudyakov 1923 – Khudyakov M. G. Essays on the history of the Kazan Khanate. Kazan, 1923. In Russian.
Komech 1987 – Komech A. I. Old Russian architecture of the end of 10th – the beginning of 12th century. Byzantine heritage and the formation of an independent tradition. Moscow, 1987. In Russian.
Maksimov 1968 – The general history of architecture. Vol. 6. Architecture of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. 14th – first half of 19th centuries. Ed. by P. N. Maximov. Moscow, 1968. In Russian.
Maksimov, Voronin 1955 – Maksimov P. N., Voronin N. N. Wooden architecture of the 13th – 16th centuries. History of Russian Art. Vol. 3. Moscow, 1955. P. 245–281. In Russian.
Mokeev 2012 – Mokeev G. Ya. Three Sophia. About the beginning of the distribution of multi-domed churches in Russia. 2012. URL: http://www.rusarch.ru/mokeev6.htm In Russian.
Pod’yapolsky 1983 – Pod’yapolsky S. S. Architect Petrok the Lesser. Monuments of Russian architecture and monumental art. Style, attributions, datings. Moscow, 1983. P. 34–50. In Russian.
Pod’yapolsky 1985 – Pod’yapolsky S. S. On the question of the peculiar architecture of the Moscow Assumption Cathedral. Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. Materials and research. Moscow, 1985. P. 24–51. In Russian.
Rappoport 1993 – Rappoport P. A. Old Russian architecture. St. Petersburg, 1993. In Russian.
Tikhomirov 1941 – Tikhomirov M. N. Little-known annals of the 16th century. Historical notes. Vol. 10. Moscow, 1941. С. 84–94. In Russian.
Utkin 1998 – Utkin N. N. Church antiquities of the Unski Posad. Ecology of culture. News bulletin. Is. 1 (4). Arkhangelsk, 1998. P. 68–74. In Russian.
Voronin 1953 – Voronin N. N. Architecture of Kievan Rus. History of Russian Art. Vol. 1. Moscow, 1953. P. 111–154. In Russian.
Voronin, Lazarev 1955 – Voronin N. N., Lazarev V. N. Art of Central Russian principalities of the 13th – 15th centuries. History of Russian Art. Vol. 3. Moscow, 1955. P. 7–42. In Russian.
Wagner 1995 – Wagner G. K. On the peculiarity of style formation in the architecture of Old Russia (return to the problem). Architectural heritage. Is. 38. Moscow, 1995. P. 22–38. In Russian.
Zagraevsky 2002 – Zagraevsky S. V. Yuri Dolgoruky and Old Russian white stone architecture. Moscow, 2002. In Russian.
Zagraevsky 2003 – Zagraevsky S. V. Architecture of North-Eastern Russia of the end of 13th – first third of 14th century. Moscow, 2003. In Russian.
Zagraevsky 2005 – Zagraevsky S. V. On the dating and authorship of the monuments of Alexandrovskaya Village. Zubov readings. Is. 3. Strunino, 2005. P. 69–96. In Russian.
Zagraevsky 2007 – Zagraevsky S. V. The first stone tented roof temple and the origin of the tent architecture. 2007. URL: http://rusarch.ru/zagraevsky19.htm In Russian.
Zagraevsky 2008 а – Zagraevsky S. V. The architectural history of the Trifon Church in Naprudniy and the origin of the ribbed vault. Moscow, 2008. In Russian.
Zagraevsky 2008 b – Zagraevsky S. V. New research of architectural monuments of Alexandrovskaya Village. Moscow, 2008. In Russian.
Zagraevsky 2008 c – Zagraevsky S. V. Forms of chapters (dome coverings) of Old Russian temples. Москва, 2008. In Russian.
Zagraevsky 2012 – Zagraevsky S. V. Typological formation and basic classification of Old Russian church architecture. Moscow, 2012. In Russian.
Zagraevsky 2014 – Zagraevsky S. V. Troitskaya, now Pokrovskaya, the church in Alexandrovskaya Village – the first stone tented roof temple of Old Russia. New research. 2014. URL: http://rusarch.ru/zagraevsky41.htm In Russian.
( 3.25 MB ) 
( 3.22 MB )
Issue: 2, 2018
Series of issue: Issue 2
Rubric: ARTICLES
Pages: 32 — 61
Downloads: 1592