Ushakov Chambers is a building in Moscow at Ipatievsky Lane, building 12, buildings 1 and 2. An object of cultural heritage of federal significance.
Ipatievsky Lane is located between Ilyinka and Varvarka streets.
Muscovite scholar S.K. Romanyuk in the book "From the history of Moscow
lanes" explains its name in this way: "In Ipatievsky Lane there was a
church of the Ascension with a chapel of the Holy Martyr Hypatius, by
whose name it was most famous. The church, the building of which was
built in 1757, was located in the courtyard of the famous Kostroma
Ipatievsky monastery, which stood on the right side of the alley,
approximately in its middle. Since 1849, the church has been given over
to the representation of the Antiochian Patriarchate. Demolition of the
church began in the late 1940s, but its remains finally disappeared in
1965."
In Soviet times, Ipatievsky Lane was almost blocked by the
huge building of the Central Committee of the CPSU, built in the 1960s.
The real decoration of Ipatievsky Lane is the two-storey rich merchant
chambers on the basement, built in the second half of the XVII century.
At that time, the eastern mountainous part of Kitay-Gorod was actively
built up with such stone residential buildings. The chambers were built
in an estate owned in 1652 by the wealthy merchant Ivan Chulkov. Perhaps
the next owner of the yard, Dmitry Kazakov, was the builder of the
house. They were both members of the living room of the Hundred, a
privileged corporation of Russian merchants.
The walls of the
house were beautifully decorated with hand-hewn brick architraves,
cornices, shoulder blades and belts between the floors. In the center of
the courtyard facade was a red porch of complex shape and admirable
beauty. There is an assumption that in 1673 the merchant chambers were
transferred to the leading iconographer of that time, the "royal
isographer" Simon Fyodorovich Ushakov, who set up an icon painting
workshop in them. Here it is necessary to make a reservation. Most
researchers believe that Simon Ushakov was not the owner of the
chambers, and the beautiful name was coined in the 1920s by the restorer
P.D. Baranovsky, in order to save the architectural monument.
Russian Russian iconography ended, but the Russian "painting", which
some of them seemed to dream about, did not begin with them... It was
necessary to appear. The name of Simon Ushakov in the history of ancient
Russian art is on a par with the names of Feofan the Greek, Andrei
Rublev and Dionysius. I.E. Grabar characterizes the time of Simon
Ushakov in this way: "The Russian "iconography" ended, but the Russian
"painting", which some of them seemed to dream about, did not begin with
them ... an iconographer endowed with sufficient talent and a special
innovative temperament to ensure victory for new searches. And such a
person appeared in the person of the famous royal "isographer" Simon
Ushakov, after Rublev, perhaps the only well-known master in the entire
history of ancient Russian art."
Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, his beloved boyar Bogdan Khitrovo, who
was appointed head of the Armory, and even Patriarch Nikon loved and
encouraged the new realistic art – "pictorial writing". In contrast
to his father, Alexei Mikhailovich was not such an ardent guardian
of old traditions in icon painting. Of course, Simon Ushakov enjoyed
special privileges at court. By the way, Simon is only Ushakov's
nickname. His real name is Pimen. This follows from the signatures
on some of Ushakov's icons: "This real image was painted by the
sovereign iconographer and nobleman of Moscow, the sinful Pimin,
called Siman Fedorov, the son of Ushakov."
It was the custom
of people of the XVII century to have two names, one secret,
dedicated to God, the other – "called", which everyone knew. Simon
Ushakov became famous for his extraordinary art in painting holy
faces, which received new features for Russian iconography. In this
art, he really knew no equal: no one except Simon Ushakov painted
such faces in Moscow, neither during his lifetime nor after his
death. The central theme of Ushakov's work was "Saved by Man-made."
Until now, researchers do not know the exact number of such icons
created by the artist. Ushakov's customers were the tsar, the
tsarina, the patriarch and the most noble boyars.
At the age
of thirty–eight, he became the leading master of the Armory, the
first state art school. Ushakov's influence on the fate of Russian
icon painting is so great that art historians often refer to the
second half of the XVII century and part of the XVIII century as the
Ushakov era. Of course, not everyone in the Russian Kingdom
supported the new trends in icon painting. There were also
detractors of those who extolled the beauty of the living human
body. Among them, the fiercest was the main opponent of Patriarch
Nikon, the founder of the new Russian literature, Protopop Avvakum.
He gave the new painting a peculiar, but rather apt description:
"They write the image of the Savior Immanuel, his face is puffy, his
mouth is red, his hair is curly, his arms and muscles are thick, his
fingers are inflated, and his thighs are thick at his feet… Look at
that face and that belly, you damned Niconian, you're fat! How can
you fit into the door of heaven! It is necessary to eat the kingdom
of heaven, and the necessities are admired, not the fat-bellied
ones. Look at the holy icons and see those who please God, as good
artists describe their likeness: the face and the hands, and the
nose, and all the senses are thin and exhausted from fasting and
labor, and all the sorrows they find. And you write the same ones,
just like yourself: fat-bellied, thick-necked, and legs and arms
like chairs at kazhnov svyatogo."
Simon Ushakov lived in
Kitay-gorod near the Church of the Holy Trinity in Nikitniki. In
1657-68, the master painted several wonderful icons for this temple.
By the way, historians learned about the year of Ushakov's birth
from the signatures on one of the icons he created. It reads: "In
the summer of 7166 [1658], the sovereign icon painter Simon Fedorov,
Ushakov's son, wrote, 32 years of his age." In 1667, he addressed a
petition to the tsar, in which he reported: "According to your great
sovereign's decree, give me – your servant – your sovereign icon
affairs and disciples; and I, your servant, have a small courtyard
and in the mud in a Chinese city, and there is nowhere to build a
mansion for the icon writing and for the students."
Simon
Ushakov's request was respected, and he received the former
possession of Ksenia Yudina on Embassy Street (now Nikolsky Lane).
However, in 1672, the icon painter had to cede this courtyard to the
tsar's father-in-law, the closest boyar Kirill Poluektovich
Naryshkin. Perhaps, in return, the "royal isographer" got the former
stone chambers of merchant Ivan Chulkov in Ipatievsky Lane. So it
was or not, we do not know for sure, but the authors of the
authoritative publication "Monuments of Architecture of Moscow.
Kremlin. China is a city. The Central Squares" write about it
without making any reservations about the urban legend.
At
the beginning of the 19th century, the chambers were significantly
rebuilt: the vaults on the second and third floors were destroyed,
new windows and doorways were pierced. It was then that the rich
decor of the XVII century was lost. In 1829, the house housed one of
the schools of the Moscow University. The old chambers began to look
like typical buildings of that time. The stone wing, erected on the
border with the neighboring property at about the same time as the
chambers themselves, was built on the second floor. Once the wing
was combined with the chambers with the help of monumental gates
with arched openings, above which there was a passage with a small
room above the passage.
In Soviet times, Simon Ushakov's
chambers were in an emergency condition. Only the intuition,
professionalism and incredible love for Moscow of the restorer P.D.
Baranovsky have preserved for us the monument of architecture of the
XVII century. In 1996, a book of memoirs about the famous restorer
was published. It contains a story by architect I.I. Kazakevich
about how Baranovsky saved Simon Ushakov's chambers from demolition:
"The chambers "prevented" the construction of new "chambers" –
Tsekov buildings. When the meeting came to an end, I asked Pyotr
Dmitrievich, about whom heroic legends were composed in our
environment: "How do I sign you?" - "Write simply: "Architect
Baranovsky," was the answer.
Since the wards were adapted for
housing, their condition turned out to be simply catastrophic. No
antiquity, no beauty for you– sad ruins, that's all! At that
meeting, Pyotr Dmitrievich suggested: "In order not to be demolished
overnight, it is necessary to carry out a complete study and
fragmentary restoration of the facades. They will see that this is a
monument, and someday they will finish the job." That day,
Baranovsky brought to our attention a sketch in which they looked
wonderful. And the work began to boil. We restored the building in
small, three-meter pieces, and its value became obvious. After all,
they didn't demolish it – Baranovsky was right!"
In 1968, one
of the buildings of the Borovsky farmstead, built in the middle of
the XVII century, was moved to the courtyard of the manor from the
neighboring Nikolsky Lane. This was due to the construction of a
huge administrative building of the Central Committee of the CPSU —
those very "Central Committee chambers". Photographs have been
preserved in which Simon Ushakov's chambers look just awful. The
windows of the house do not match the old platbands, they seem to be
superimposed on top of the platbands and destroy them almost by
half. During the restoration, the chambers of Simon Ushakov,
occupied at that time by state institutions, were not resettled, and
work was carried out only on the facades, so there was no
possibility to move the windows.
Fortunately, now this
monument of architecture of the XVII century has been beautifully
restored. Today, it is doubly surprising to find neat old stone
chambers near the awkward tall Soviet "giant". You can fantasize a
little and imagine how this house was built almost four centuries
ago along the red line of a small Kitaygorodsky lane. As the owner
of the chambers, arguing with the architect, he asked him to
decorate the facades as richly as possible, especially those that
overlook the courtyard. According to the restorers' research, the
front facade of Simon Ushakov's chambers was turned not to the
street, but to the courtyard. What kind of jewelry is not here!
The walls of the house are decorated with picturesque platbands,
shoulder blades, cornices and inter-floor belts made of hand-hewn
bricks. And if you remember that the front facade also had a
fabulously decorated porch, the picture seems more than magnificent.
Unfortunately, only through the lattice gate connecting the house
and the wing, you can see a small part of the side facade. Perhaps
the time will come when the chambers will make a museum of the
famous icon painter, especially if there is a possibility that he
lived and worked in this ancient building. But modern realities are
such that Muscovites cannot even take a peek at the wonderful beauty
of jewelry.