Perhaps the last of the Medieval Old Masters of Russian art, Dionysius (also known as
Dionisius the Wise, Dionisii or Dionisy) grew up in the tradition of the Novgorod school of icon
painting before later being called
to Moscow by John III where he became the leading figure of the early Moscow school of painting at the end of the 15th century. His greatest
works include his monumental mural painting created for the Virgin Nativity Cathedral at the
Ferapontov Monastery, Novgorod; his Deesis for the Cathedral of the Dormition in
Moscow; and the icon painting he completed for the Joseph Volokolamsky
monastery. These devotional panel paintings along with his frescoes are regarded as the high
point of the classical style in Russianreligious art.
Novgorod School of Icon Painting
There is a very marked difference in approach
between the Christian art of Dionysius, the third great Russian icon-painter of
the Novgorod school, and that of his great predecessor Andrei Rublev
(c.1360-1430). It should probably be ascribed to the interest which later 15th
century Novgorodian painters began to take in composition. Whereas Rublev and
his contemporaries worked contentedly in the old iconographic tradition,
unconscious of any constraint, Dionysius and certain of his contemporaries
deliberately experimented with balance and composition. Their preoccupation
with these problems is clearly reflected in their works. A fine icon of the
Beheading of St. John the Baptist, for instance, reveals the lines their
thoughts were following. The saint is shown against Cubist-style mountains
rising steeply one above the other. Their towering verticality is emphasized on
the one side by a narrow, upright chapel, on the other by a very straight tree.
In contrast, the upper part of the saint's body is bent forward at right
angles, and this horizontal line is repeated by the sword poised to strike at
his neck. The use of such horizontal lines in an otherwise wholly vertical
composition marks a new departure in this form of painting, for it introduces a
dramatic spirit derived from composition instead of the customary pose and
content. Fifteenth-century icons acquired a new pictorial quality from such
experiments.
Whereas Rublev was a primitive in the best sense
of the term, Dionysius was agitated by the questioning spirit which precedes
all periods of rapid development and reform, especially in art. In this case
the arrival in Moscow of a group of Early Renaissance artists from Italy acted as a powerful stimulant for
evolution, and Dionysius's palette and style reveal how deeply the Italians
affected his art. His colours are softer
and certainly less exciting, though perhaps as insidious as those in previous
Novgorodian painting, whilst his figures are even more elongated than was usual
at Novgorod.
Dionysius's earliest recorded works are the
wall-paintings in the church of the Parfuntiev Monastery at Borovsk, 60 miles
south-west of Moscow, which are dated to 1467-70. They were probably painted
when he was still quite a young man, since he was employed there as assistant
to the painter Mitrofan. Ten years later, however, his own sons were acting as
his assistants, from which Grabar deduces that Dionysius must have been born in
the 1440s.
Again, as with Theophanes and Rublev, virtually
nothing is known of Dionysius's life. His death is presumed to have occurred in
1505. His finestfresco paintings are to be seen in the Ferapontov Monastery
situated in the extreme north of Novgorodian territory, not far from Kirilov on
the shore of the White Lake: see, for instance, The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth(c.1480).
They rank with the finest masterpieces of Novgorodian painting, and are the last
mural decorations which Dionysius executed for Novgorod. All his later
paintings were carried out for Moscow. Both cities thus vie in claiming him,
Novgorod as the last of its great masters, Moscow as the finest of her medieval artists, working during the
closing period of the Middel Ages. The Ferapontov Monastery rises from amidst
gentle hillocks and fine forests. Its church is dedicated to the Virgin, and
the landscape in which it stands forms a delightful setting for its
wall-paintings, all of which depict scenes drawn from the cycle of the Virgin's
life. All of them were the work of Dionysius, but he was assisted by his sons.
Although these particular religious paintings may lack something of the intensity of earlier
Novgorodian work, they make their own appeal, and their soft color pigments, mainly turquoises, pinks
and lilacs, are delicately blended and balanced, whilst their impressionist
brushwork conveys intense animation. They constitute the happiest
stepping-stone between two periods, for they retain the best of Novgorodian
painting and to a certain extent foreshadow the later Stroganov school.
Personal Style
Dionysius's personal style of Byzantine art -
nicknamed "Muscovite Mannerism" - was characterized most obviously by
his mastery of colour in painting. His colours are delicate and transparent,
producing a range of harmonious chords, notably in solemn scenes populated with
large numbers of figures. And while his figures are even more elongated than
was customary in Novgorod, he escaped both artificiality and effeminacy. His
drapery is moulded with a classic touch, which adds forcefulness to the whole,
and the curiously coloured hills and architectural features in his backgrounds
possess a fresh vitality. The perfect spacing of his figures and the highly
successful disposition of each scene are not the least of his achievements,
since their presence, whether on pendentive or arch, is so satisfactory that it
is apt to be taken for granted. A master of numerous mediums including
encaustic as well as tempera painting, Dionysius arguably had an even greater
impact upon contemporary Russian artists than his predecessor Rublev: indeed,
the lyrical effect of his colour schemes permeated much of the art of the early
16th century. His style was continued by numerous followers including his sons
Feodosy and Vladimir, who decorated the Annunciation Cathedral in the Kremlin
in 1508.
Icon Painting (1482-1502)
In 1482 John III summoned Dionysius to Moscow to
paint the superb Deesis on the iconostasis in the Cathedral of the Dormition:
(note: a deesis is a representation of Christ seated, with the Virgin on his
right and John the Baptist on his left, both trying to intercede for mankind).
He also decorated two of the cathedral's chapels with murals. After this,
Dionysius and his sons were set the task of providing the Joseph Volokolamsky
Monastery with a hundred icons. Dionysius must have enjoyed this assignment,
for he devoted the remainder of his life to religious panel painting. This
makes it all the more regrettable that so few of his icons have as yet been
discovered. Of the hundred painted for Volokolamsk only eighty-seven are
mentioned in its inventory, and several still await cleaning. Until they are
restored to their original condition no exhaustive opinion can be formed of
Dionysius as an icon-painter, and for the present at least his reputation must
rest on the superb work which he executed for the Ferapontov Monastery and with
his Moscow Deesis. These, however, suffice as proof of his exceptional skill. |
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