Vladimir’s
(first Russian ruler*) choice of Greek-Orthodoxy in preference to Roman Catholicism may indeed have been in part determined, as the earlier Russian chronicles imply, by aesthetic considerations, for the Russian have from the earliest times shown themselves quick in the appreciation of beauty. Happening when it did, his choice resulted in the establishment of an almost exclusive link with Byzantium, not only in the religious sphere, but also with regard to cultural and artistic life. Kiev’s extensive commercial contacts with Europe, which at times extended as far west as Regensburg, might well have enabled the newly converted Principality to become integrated with Western Europe had not the animosity which separated the Orthodox faith of Constantinople from the Catholic Church of Rome inevitably forced the newly Christianised State to become firmly associated with Byzantium. Rome seems tacitly to have recognised the situation, for although a number of divines visited Kiev, and although commercial cities such as Novgorod took every opportunity to expand their western trade, no papal legate was ever appointed to Kiev. Yaroslav (1019-54), Vladimir’s younger son and successor, attempted to bring his country into European affairs, but he was never able to weave the Kievan State into the European framework, even though
he himself married the Swedish princess Ingigerd, and three of his sons married the daughters of German princes and only the fourth a Byzantine princess, while one of his daughters became the wife of the King of France, another of the king of Hungary, and
a third of the King of Norway […]
[…]The fact that so much was taken over from Byzantium was not due to Russian indolence, not to indifference, nor even was it for the sake of expediency; it was an entirely conscious process inspired by a sincere admiration for the Byzantine achievement, which evoked a profound and spontaneous response from the innermost depths of the Russian nature, thereby releasing to the full the spring of Russian creativeness.
That it should have done so is hardly to be wondered at, since, from the earliest times of which we have any knowledge, the inhabitants of the South Russian plain, and especially those in the vicinity of Kiev – the area which has in consequence often been described as the cradle of Russian civilisation – had come into contact with various alien cultures and had thereby acquired both the ability to select from these foreign cultures the elements which were most advantageous, and the skill to adapt them to their own need. Thus the Slav artists of both the late pagan and the Early Christian periods had
remained unaffected by Scandinavian, or rather Varangian art, in spite of the fact that many of the
Kievan princes including Rurik, the founder of the ruling horse, were of Norse extraction, and although a constant stream of Scandinavian merchants travelled along Russian’s great waterways, and numerous Varangian mercenaries continued over the years to enlist in the defence forces of the major Russian towns. Only occasionally do Norse elements appear, as for instance in the interlace patterns on the jewellery, especially on bracelets.
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| Illustration 1 |
This silver bangle (ill.1) was found on the site of Kiev’s Mikhailov-Zlatoverkh Monastery. It dates from the twelfth century and its decorations include birds of Byzantine origin, heraldic-looking beasts of oriental character, and interlace designs of
Scandinavian inspiration.
And buckles (ill.2), on an infrequent stone capital or, more important, in the decoration of manuscripts.
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| Illustration 2 |
A capital letter from a Gospel dated to 1346 in which a bird of oriental character in intertwined in a
Norse interlace, the extremities of which terminate in birds’ heads bearing a distinct resemblance to those which appear in Scythian art.
In exactly the same way the Scythians, some thirteen hundred years before, had made wide use in their decorative arts of both Achaemenid and Greek motifs, but had not reacted to the beauty of Persian or Greek architecture.
* Personal notes
From the Book: A concise history of Russian Art by Tamara Talbot Rice (London: Thames and Hudson)
