Transfiguration Cathedral is located in Uglich, Yaroslavl Oblast of Russia. It was built in 1713 by architect Gregory Fedorov. The bell tower of Transfiguration Cathedral was added in 1730. It is a five- domed cathedral without pillars made with elements of Naryshkin Baroque. South facade of the church is facing the city, characterized by a classic portico erected in 1840. The interior of Transfiguration Cathedral is covered by icons that combine traditional Russian Orthodox styles as well as style of Renaissance and Baroque. Large square hall of Transfiguration Cathedral has no supporting pillars thus increasing the size of the room. Baroque iconostasis that separates the altar of the church from the rest of parishioners was installed in 1860.
The main building of the Uglich Kremlin - the
Transfiguration Cathedral - is distinguished by its clear
monumentality of forms. It was erected by talented serf craftsmen
headed by Grigory Fedorov in 1706 on the site of a dilapidated 15th
century cathedral. The general composition goes back to the
Yaroslavl churches of the 17th century, but some elements were
brought from the "Naryshkin Baroque".
The building has a
pronounced main southern facade, which faces the city, and used to
face the central square of the Kremlin.
The laconic cubic volume
is crowned with the traditional five-domed. From the east and west,
low apses and porches are symmetrically located, visually connected
by a path from small towns that surrounds the building. The
adjoining parts create the effect of a measured stepwise increase in
masses.
The construction of the facade is purely pictorial.
Three-part, two-tier, false zakomars and decorative five-domed do
not correspond to a single internal space, covered by a deaf closed
vault. These compositional techniques are like a memory of the
architectonics of the four-pillar cross-domed church. The five-dome
also serves as a means of creating a picturesque compact silhouette,
although it is not large enough in relation to the main volume.
The details introduced with a sense of proportion leave the smooth
surface of the step open. Elements of the “Naryshkin Baroque” are
combined with the traditional decor - thin semi-columns, a lush
white-stone portal and platbands with figured sandriks, in the gaps
of which balusters are included. The portal is designed in the form
of a two-column portico with an open entablature and a split
sandrick. The forms of the portal, adorned with high-relief
"Flemish" carvings with rich and rich floral ornaments, are inspired
by the iconostases of the late 17th century. The scale of the
southern entrance was enlarged by a four-column classicist portico,
added around 1840. A side-altar with a similar portico appeared
simultaneously on the north side of the building.
The
interior of the cathedral is unusual. It is a spacious two-story
square hall with a side size of fourteen meters and a height of
about seventeen meters. The light, as if floating ceiling of such a
vast room without intermediate supports was a great achievement of
the builders. Free space, flat planes of the walls contributed to a
better perception of the painting.
In 1813 the cathedral was
painted again under the guidance of the serf painter T.A.Medvedev.
(The time of the creation of the original painting has not been
established.) The artists completely switched from the traditions of
Old Russian mural painting to the mainstream of academic art.
Fifty-five compositions, bypassing the four tiers of the wall, are
made according to the models of the late Renaissance and Baroque.
Each scene (all of them are dedicated to the Gospel parables) is a
separate picture, enclosed in a frame written on the wall. This
principle of painting, reminiscent of palace picture halls with a
tapestry, contradicted the principles of monumental art. The
impression of sharp variegation is enhanced by bright, coarse glue
paints. At the same time, the painting is distinguished by a high
level of craftsmanship. Artists are confident in academic
techniques. The perspective is given with a transition from the
foreground to depth, the arrangement of the figures obeys the shape
of a circle or triangle, the coloring is based on combinations of
intense complementary colors. Painting in the grisaille technique, a
picturesque imitation of architectural details and reliefs, achieves
complete illusion.
The main temple plot - "Transfiguration"
with a scene of the healing of a demoniac - is a copy of a painting
by Raphael. Later, the work of the great master attracted academics
with its stormy dynamics of passions, the affectation of movements
and gestures, external pathos and theatricality. A provincial artist
(probably T. A. Medvedev himself) exaggerated these features. Facial
expressions are sometimes caricatured, sharp color collisions
sometimes cause a feeling of disharmony. Large, expressive painting
serves as the semantic and visual center of the interior. It is
located on the northern steppe, opposite the entrance to the
cathedral. Thus, in contrast to the generally accepted and Christian
churches, the orientation to the east is no less significant here
the "south - north" axis, due to the location of the entrance on the
southern facade.
The strongest decorative effect is produced
by the inclusion of the composition in the "painted" architecture.
The Renaissance colonnades receding into the distance and a
protruding portico with a torn pediment open before the viewer, in
the gap of which the figure of Christ illuminated by light hovers.
An illusory breakthrough into depth and upward, repeated in the
painting of the vault, takes the gaze beyond the interior. This
solves the typically baroque problem of visual expansion of space.
The grandiose and solemn building is a multi-tiered carved
iconostasis (1860). It closely repeats the forms of the "Naryshkin
Baroque", but does not achieve their plasticity. Columns decreasing
in tiers, braided by a curling vine, loosened cornices, friezes
saturated with ornament make up the rich framing of icons.
Older icons are in the lower tiers. "The Intercession of the Mother of God" from the local row is a vivid example of painting of the Yaroslavl school of the second half of the 17th century. The festive rite, created at the beginning of the next century, belongs to the works of the same school. Most of the icons date back to the 19th century. But even during this period, when the high art of icon painting was transformed into handicraft, the artists largely preserved the pictorial culture. Icon painting was not a purely easel art, it was included in a specific spatial environment. Clearly readable silhouettes, rhythm, general smooth movement to the center impart compositional unity to the iconostasis painting, facilitate interaction with architectural articulations, and the shimmering shine of gilded carving merges with the golden backgrounds of icons.