Abstract

The article covers the connection of the artistic heritage of Novgorod with the ancient culture of Kiev and preservation of old Kievan traditions and brought artifacts. We assume that the two large 11th-century paired icons, “Saviour in a Golden Riza” (from the 16th century in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin) and “Peter and Paul the Apostles” (Novgorod Museum) go back to the Kievan tradition. The Ostromir Gospel, the aprakos in the cathedral of Saint Sophia in Novgorod, was also composed in Kiev in 1056-1057. We believe that many miniatures of the Simon Psalter (State Historical Museum, Moscow, Khlud. 3), produced in Novgorod in the second quarter of the 14th century, go back to illustrations of the lost 11th-century Kievan manuscript. The illustrations of the Psalter to biblical songs reproduce ancient Byzantine samples of the 9th-11th centuries copied by miniaturists in Kiev. Other miniatures are replicas of lost Kievan compositions that glorified Christianity and revealed the foundations of the Christian religion. The cycles of Novgorod miniatures indicate a close relationship between the cultures of Kiev and Novgorod throughout the pre-Mongol period. The ancient Psalter in the cathedral of Saint Sophia in Novgorod, which later served as a model for manuscripts in other significant churches and monasteries, was probably long ago copied from a Kievan original. When copying, the miniaturists preserved the plot features of the compositions that epitomized the preaching of the Christian faith, and yet stylistically simplified the images. The article examines written sources and preserved artifacts by using iconographic and stylistic analysis. The identification of original cultural features plays leading role in the study of the artistic heritage of Novgorod. This work focuses on the preservation of old Kievan traditions in the art of Novgorod in the 14th century and continuity in the evolution of Russian artistic culture. No less important is the possibility to expose some phenomena in the culture of ancient Kiev.