Lot n° 348
Estimation :
4000 - 6000
EUR
Result with fees
Result
: 5 796EUR
BOROVIKOVSKY Vladimir Lukitch (1757-1825).
The... - Lot 348 - Coutau-Bégarie
BOROVIKOVSKY Vladimir Lukitch (1757-1825).
The Evangelist Saint Mark
Rare round icon, oil on wood, preserved in a modern blackened and gilded wood frame. Slight restorations and edge wear, but overall good condition.
Sight: Diam.: 17 cm.
Frame: H.: 46.5 cm - L.: 46.5 cm.
Biography: renowned for his portraits of the aristocracy and the court, Borovikovsky was also the author of an important religious production. His vocation stemmed from his birth into a family of icon painters, but also from a personal inclination: according to his first biographer, he had painted icons all his life. From the painter's personal archives remain projects preserved today, bearing numerous inscriptions borrowed from Orthodox liturgy. He was a devout churchgoer (see V.P. Gorlenko, in "Russian Archives", no. 6).Prior to his arrival in the capital in 1788, Borovikovsky's paintings of secular subjects are unknown.However, a series of historical facts have made his religious works extremely rare. First of all, his early works did not conform to any prevailing canon of religious painting; it was not until he became famous and frequented the court that his icons were commissioned. Borovikovsky painted the Royal Doors of the Cathedral of Our Lady of Kazan in St. Petersburg (1804-1811), featuring the 4 Evangelists and the Annunciation scene (on one side, the Archangel Gabriel and on the other, the Holy Mother of God), as well as large icons depicting St. Constantine, St. Helen, St. Theodosius and St. Peter.
Helena, St. Theodosius, St. Anthony and St. Catherine. The success of these works led to private commissions, the best-known of which came from a close friend of the Emperor, Prince A.N. Galitzine, in autumn 1811, for the private chapel of his palace in St. Petersburg. The atmosphere of the 2nd half of Emperor Alexander's reign was marked by strong mysticism, giving rise to the emergence of religious circles, and sometimes even sects, all of which encouraged the production of devotional "images" and the multiplication of private chapels in the homes of the aristocracy. Later, a patron commissioned an iconostasis for the church of his country residence in Novaia-Romanovka, in the Bryansk region, which was considered a milestone, as the artist finally freed himself from the European and canonical influences of the Church to give free rein to his art. In the 19th century, the renewal of religious painting throughout
Europe, under the influence of the Nazarenes, also found its place in Russia, thanks to Borovikovsky.
Borovikovsky, whose inspiration several Russian painters followed: A.I. Ivanov and
O. A. Kiprensky, for example. What's more, Borovikovsky studied the works of the European artists featured in the Hermitage, including Raphael, Murillo and Domenichino.
It's only natural, therefore, to see the influence of these masters in Borovikovsky's works, yet 100 years later, the massive destruction wrought by anti-religious Marxist ideology and the two world wars led to the almost total disappearance of Borovikovsky's religious production.
The book published by the Russian Museum in St. Petersburg in 2009 cites a decree issued by the Soviet authorities on January 2, 1922, aimed at liquidating church property. As a result, the Royal Gates of today's
Our Lady of Kazan are only copies, the originals having been destroyed in May 1922.
Despite the destruction, the iconostasis of the church in the Smolenski cemetery was donated to the Russian Museum in 1906. The handover of the originals to the museum followed the publication of a laudatory article about the iconostasis, advocating the making of copies to be left in situ and the safekeeping of the originals in the museum.
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