By Roksolana Kosiv | Lviv National Academy of Arts, Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv, Ukraine

Overview

The icon painting collection at the Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv is the largest that represents the development of Ukrainian icons since the 15th century. It consists of over 4,000 objects. The icon collection is the most valuable asset of the museum and forms the basis of the permanent exhibition (closed during the current and ongoing war). Significant collections of similar icons from the 15th–17th centuries are also held in the Historical Museum in Sanok, the Museum of Folk Architecture in Sanok, the Museum of the Przemysl Land in Przemysl (all in Poland), and the National Art Museum of Ukraine in Kyiv.

The collection of icons at the National Museum in Lviv dates to the museum’s founding in 1905. Medieval icons that were previously located in churches and were no longer used for display became the main target of staff expeditions in the first decade of the museum’s operation. According to the old Christian tradition in Ukraine, consecrated church items, including icons that were no longer used, were burned by parishioners to prevent them from being desecrated. According to Metropolitan Andrei Sheptytskyi, the founder of the National Museum in Lviv, one such story became the reason for the museum’s establishment. Andrey (in baptism Roman) Sheptytskyi from the noble Sheptytskyi family, when preparing to take the vows in the Basilian Monastery in Dobromyl in the 1880s, saw how parishioners were preparing to burn old icons near the church in the village of Polyana. Andrei Sheptytskyi requested these 15th–16th century icons, and thus they became one of the first acquisitions of the newly established museum.

The collection of icons covers a relatively narrow geography, which is due to the limitations of expeditions during that time period. The oldest icons, dating between the late 13th and the 18th centuries, mainly come from the churches of the Ukrainian (then Rus’ka) dioceses of Peremyshl (now Pszemysl in Poland) and Lviv. These are now part of the Lviv region of Ukraine and the south-western part of Subcarpathian, and a small part of Lesser Poland voivodeships in Poland. Most of the icons belonged to rural churches, some to churches in towns or monasteries in Peremyshl, Lviv, Lavriv, Spas, Zdvyzhen, Skyt Maniavskyi, Zhovkva. A relatively small number of icons represent the Central Ukrainian, Volyn, and Transcarpathian centers of icon painting of the 17th–18th centuries.

The study of the icons in the collection of the National Museum in Lviv raises a number of questions. The oldest icons (more than 200 objects) from the 13th to the middle of the 16th centuries are anonymous (without the signature of the artist) and rarely have a date of creation. Consequently, questions arise regarding their moment of creation, and the identity of the center or artist who painted them. To this day, there are discrepancies, often significant (up to a century), in scientific and popular literature regarding the dating of the oldest icons. These icons were painted with tempera on wooden boards, mainly on linden wood, less frequently on boards made of coniferous trees (pine, fir, spruce). Chemical methods of wood analysis, including dendrochronology, provide insignificant results, as there is no exact dating scale for linden wood in this region. Some comparison could be made with miniatures of manuscripts or frescoes, but few have survived from the 15th century.

From the mid-16th to the end of the 19th centuries, there are more icons with dates of creation and, occasionally, with the names of the artists (more than 200 objects), which facilitates the attribution of undated and anonymous works. Visual examination allows scholars and museum curators to identify related objects by style of painting and iconography, which helps to determine their possible origin in one painting center or author. Archival documents of the 15th–17th centuries contain relatively many names of icon painters who worked in larger and smaller towns of this region, but rarely can they be associated with preserved objects.

In particular, in Peremyshl, which is considered to be the leading center of icon painting in the 15th and the first half of the 16th centuries, more than 15 names of icon painters were found in documents, but we do not know their art works. It is interesting to note that most of these icon painters were priests. Thus, we can say that the old tradition has been preserved here, according to which icon painting was associated mainly with the clergy. It is believed that in the 16th centuries, the center of icon painting was located at the Lavriv or Spas monastery (the monastery in Spas was closed by the Austrian authorities at the end of the 18th century), as well as at the monastery in Peremyshl. It is assumed that some of the icons from the collection of the National Museum in Lviv, dating from the 15th to the middle of the 16th century belonged to the Peremyshl icon painting center.

The activity of icon painters in the 17th–18th centuries is much better documented than that of earlier periods. Here, the leading masters of icon painting were representatives of the Lviv and Zhovkva schools: Fedir Senkovych, Mykola Petrakhnovych, Ivan Rutkovych, and hieromonk Yov Kondzelevych, to name a few key figures. Their works are represented in the collection of the National Museum in Lviv. In particular, two of the most valuable iconostases that reflect the development of high iconostasis in the western Ukrainian lands is preserved here – the Zhovkva iconostasis, painted in 1697–1699 by Ivan Rutkovych for the local monastic church, and the Bohorodchany iconostasis, painted by Yov Kondzelevych in 1698–1705 for the monastic church in the Skyt Maniavskyi (the monastery was closed at the end of the 18th century and the iconostasis was sold to the church in Bohorodchany).

The icons in the collection of the National Museum in Lviv have been the subject of several scientific catalogs that classify works by iconography or time of creation, as well as several monographs and album publications. The icons in this collection are valuable for the study of the history of Ukrainian icon painting, which existed at the intersection of two great cultures – Eastern and Western Сhristian.

Key Issues and Debates

The study of icons from the collection of the Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv raises questions about dating, sources, and analogies in iconography, the activities of different icon painting centers and individual masters, the interplay between various art forms, including manuscript miniatures and icons, and the impact of engravings, both Western European and from local printing presses, on icon painting. Through the icons in the collection of the Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv, one can trace how local masters adapted the Byzantine tradition and responded to the new challenges of the Renaissance and Baroque periods.

The oldest icons from the late 14th to the early 16th centuries are the most valuable and the most difficult to attribute. These are the icons of St. George the Dragon Slayer and the Synaxis of Joachim and Anne, which come from the church in Stanylia (Lviv region). The icon of the Synaxis of Joachim and Anne dates to 1466, although in scientific literature this date was considered later than the icon itself. The icon of St. George, as well as the Synaxis of Joachim and Anne, are often attributed to the late 14th century. To the early 15th century dates the group of the oldest icons from the church of St. Paraskeva in Radruzh (Poland), which probably belonged to one workshop. These icons reflect the tendencies of local icon painting of the 15th century, oriented toward the Byzantine tradition, however, one icon – the Ascension of Christ – stands out with its Romanesque-Gothic influences. A group of icons from the churches in Vanivka and Zdvyzhen, which probably belonged to one Peremyshl workshop, is painted in a light color palette with a semi-transparent layer of paint and has features of the Palaiologan style of Byzantine icon painting. Among them, the icon of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross with biblical scenes stands out, which originally probably belonged to the iconostasis of the church in Zdvyzhen (the name of the village apparently derives from the name of the monastery in honor of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross). Some late 14th to the early 16th centuries icons have a cyrillic inscription of a Greek word “aгиос” (“saint”) which also testifies to the Byzantine connections (e.g. the icon of St. George from Stanylia). Later most inscriptions have abbreviation of Slavonic word “святий” / “свята” (“saint”). The churches of the Lviv and particularly the Peremyshl eparchies were the western edge of Ukrainian Orthodox culture, bordering the Catholic sphere. By adapting rituals and church art from the Byzantine environment, local medieval iconography was oriented toward the Eastern Christian tradition. However, there are some icons of the 15th and 16th centuries that show noticeable elements of Gothic and later Renaissance styles.

Icons from the 15th and 16th centuries demonstrate that artists often used common patterns. It was typical for the local tradition to depict the icon of the Virgin Hodegetria with prophets, hymnographers, and the parents of the Virgin on the borders. The Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv preserves about 60 icons of this type, whose large sizes indicate that they belonged to the iconostasis. The prototype for the image of the Virgin with the Christ Child was likely a replica of the miraculous Hodegetria icon from Constantinople. One of the oldest icons of this type in the museum’s collection, from the church in Pidhorodtsi (Lviv region), has the inscription “Hodegetria” in cyrillic (“ωдигитріє”). In the iconostasis, paired with the Virgin Hodegetria, were icons of Christ Pantocrator standing in full-length or Christ in glory surrounded by angelic forces and symbols of the evangelists. The museum has over a dozen icons of Christ Pantocrator in full-length from the 14th to 16th centuries, and 32 icons of Christ in glory. In addition, during the medieval period, the images of St. Nicholas and St. Paraskeva (the Great Martyr and Venerable) were highly revered. The museum has about 30 icons of St. Nicholas with life scenes of the 15th – 16th centuries, most of which apparently also belonged to the sovereign tier of the iconostasis.

In the first half of the 17th century, local iconography underwent quite radical changes in terms of style and technique, which are evident in the icons from the collection of the Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv. At that time, masters borrowed patterns from Western European works, mainly engravings. Therefore, perspective, volumetric painting of figures, naturalistic landscapes or interiors appear on the icons. The technique of icon painting involves oil painting on top of tempera, which allows for modeling of forms. New painting techniques are noticeable in the iconography of icons from iconostases, as well as large-format icons of the Passion of Christ and the Last Judgment.

In particular, the icon of the Last Judgment of 1662 from the church in Medenychi (Lviv region) depicts God the Father in a tiara and Christ sitting on a throne, which is a visual scheme adapted from Catholic iconography. In the 17th century, icons painted on canvas began to appear, which often served as an alternative to wall-painting or the upper tiers of the iconostasis. Examples of such icons can also be seen in the museum’s collection. Groups of icons from the second half of the 16th – 17th centuries from the museum represent the activities of various painting centers and schools: Sambir, Sudova Vyshnia, Mushyna, Rybotychi, Lviv, Kamianka-Buzka, and Zhovkva, to name a few examples. Based on the style of the painting, part of the icons in the museum’s collection are attributed to an unknown artist or painting workshop whose location is unidentified.

The icons of the Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv showcase the evolution of Ukrainian iconography from the 14th century. Through the works in this collection, the impact of Byzantine art on local iconography in the 14th–16th centuries can be traced. One can determine the priorities of local iconographers and artists, and identify how the impact of Renaissance and Baroque styles was reflected. Research on the icons in this collection is also relevant in the context of the impact the local iconography had on the art of neighboring cultures across Eastern Europe. The museum is currently engaged in ongoing efforts to identify and compare the icons in their collection with those in other museums and churches to help contextualize and further analyze their holdings.

Further Reading

Helytovych, Maria. Богородиця з Дитям і похвалою. Ікони колекції Національного музею у Львові [Theotokos with Child and Praise. Icons from the collection of the National Museum in Lviv]. Lviv, 2003.

A catalog of icons depicting the Mother of God with Jesus and Praise, which includes 63 objects from the 15th to 18th centuries. It contains summary and catalog data in English.

Helytovych, Maria. Українські ікони ХІІІ – початку ХVI століть зі збірки Національного музею у Львові імені Андрея Шептицького [Ukrainian Icons of the 13th –early 16th Centuries from the Collection of the Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv]. Kyiv, 2014.

This album presents 143 of the oldest icons from the collection of the Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv.

Іконостас церкви Воздвиження Чесного Хреста монастиря Скит Манявський : альбом-каталог. Автори проекту М. Откович, В. Турецький, С. Кубів. Львів, 2005. [Iconostasis of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross of the Skyt Maniavskyi Monastery: album-catalog. Project authors M. Otkovych, V. Turetskyi, S. Kubiv]. Lviv, 2005.

This album presents icons, restoration, and reconstruction of the Bohorodchany iconostasis by Yov Kondzelevych from the collection of the Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv.

Swěnzizkyj-Swiatyzkyj, Ilarion. Die Ikonenmalerei der galizischen Ukraine d. XV – XVI. Jhr. Sammlungen des ukrainischen Nationalmuseums in Lwow. Lwow, 1928.

A monographic study of medieval Ukrainian icon painting based on objects from the collection of the National Museum in Lviv.

The Ukrainian Icon of the 11th–18th Centuries. State Collections of Ukraine. Ed L. Miliaeva with the participation of M. Helytovych. Kyiv, 2007.

Bilingual Ukrainian-English album that retrospectively reveals the history of Ukrainian icon painting. Out of 528 icons, half (264 works) belong to the Andrei Sheptytskyi National Museum in Lviv. The majority of these are icons from the 15th to 17th centuries.

This contribution was sponsored through the Research Fellowship on the Cultural Heritage of Ukraine, 2023.