The Renaissance as a Process: the Transformation in Orthodox Church Painting in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

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The Renaissance as a Process: the Transformation in Orthodox Church Painting in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Agnieszka Gronek

Abstract

The Ruthenian Orthodox art in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the sixteenth century opened itself to the influences of Western European culture. The article is devoted to а description and analysis of this phenomenon. Although for most of the seventeenth century no work emerged that was pure enough in terms of its style that it could be termed а fully Renaissance work, this fact does not mean that there wasn't any Renaissance at all. Here the Renaissance was not a style, an epoch, or a period, but a process that unfolded over two centuries, without a strictly defined beginning and end.

Keywords: Renaissance, Orthodox Church art, Ukrainian art, Ruthenian Art, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, 16^th century, 17^th century

Introduction

The Orthodox church art of the Ruthenians was an inseparable and important part of the culture of the multi-ethnic society of the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth The phrase «Renaissance as Progress» was used by Ernst Hans Gombrich: Ernst Hans Gombrich, «The Renaissance -- Period or Movement?», in Background to the English Renaissance, ed. J. B. Trapp (London: Gray-Mills Publishing, 1974), 9-30. Although the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was established only by the Union of Lublin in July 1569, the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania had been in a personal union since 1386 with the marriage of the Polish queen Jadwiga and Lithuania's Grand Duke Jogaila.. For centuries it developed without any hindrance, drawing inspiration from the artistic world surrounding it. Associated institutionally, spiritually and culturally with the Byzantine civilisation in the Middle Ages, after the fall of the Empire it did not break its ties with the artistic and religious circles from Moldavia, Wallachia, the Balkans and Muscovy. Yet this did not stop it from becoming increasingly influenced by Western Europe. At that time artists working for the Orthodox Church began to gradually abandon old, well-tested painting techniques, traditional compositional patterns and iconographic models, ways of placing various themes within churches -- ways practised in medieval Byzantine culture -- in favour of new models from Western European art.

Every synthesis should be based on analytical research and every general assertion should be substantiated by concrete examples. Thus, if а general study features terms to define styles which often overlap with historical periods with clear temporal and territorial boundaries, it seems that the author should also indicate political, cultural and artistic phenomena, specific works even, which prompt and justify this intellectual exercise. The transformations in Orthodox church art in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth referred to above unfolded gradually from the end of the fifteenth century. Although they occurred at the height of the Renaissance in Europe, this does not mean that they characterised this particular style in Ruthenia. An analysis of the new formal features of works emerging as а result of these changes should provide an answer to the question of their stylistic provenance and thus make it possible to introduce а clear dividing line between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance other than the year 1453, which separates Byzantine from post-Byzantine art in а slightly artificial manner. The aim of the present article is to demonstrate whether this is possible at all The analysis consciously focuses only on the formal features of Orthodox church painting in former Poland, omitting the greater twentieth-century discussion about the beginning, diversity and nature of cultural changes in Europe, which are called Renaissance; see: Johan Huizinga «The Problem of the Renaissance,» in Idem, Men and Ideas: History, the Middle Ages, the Renaissance, intr. by Bert F. Hoselitz (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984), 243-87 (first published under the title «RenaissancestudU, 1: Het problem» in De Gids 84, vol. 4 (1920): 107-133, 231-255); Michele De Filippis, «The Renaissance Problem Again,» Italica 20, no. 2 (1943): 65-80..

The phenomenon of the Occidentalising of Ruthenian art in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was observed by the so-called Ancients already in the nineteenth century. The end of that century was also marked by the beginning of art history as а scholarly discipline in Poland. Already at that time Marian Sokolowski, the first Chair of Art History at the Jagiellonian University, when preparing the first Polish- Ruthenian Archaeological Exhibition in Lviv in 1885, recognised a style «of the Renaissance close to the Baroko» in Orthodox art exhibited there and described the changes he observed, including the stylistic impurity characteristic of these works Marian Sokolowski, «Obrazy,» w Wystawa Archeologiczna polsko-ruska urzqdzona we Lwowie w roku 1885, ed. Wojciech Dzieduszycki, Ludwik Wierzbicki, Marian Sokolowski (Lwow: Edward Trzemeski 1886), 13-24.. When in 1914 Ilarion Svientsitsky published for the first time the icons kept in the National Museum in Lviv, he noticed in some of them a similarity to Durer's and Wolgemut's prints Іларіон Свєнціцький, «Галицко-руське церковне малярство XV-XVI ст. MaTep^M і замітки,» Записки Наукового Tовариства імені Шевченка 121 (1914): 86.. Although in this case the source of inspiration was different, the novel and bold suggestion -- that a Ruthenian painter may have used German prints -- proved correct 80 years later Agnieszka Gronek, «On the Dependence of Western Ruthenian Passion Presentations on Western Graphics in the 16^th to 18^th centuries,» in Series Byzantina, ed. Waldemar Deluga, Michal Janocha (Warszawa: Neriton 2003), 1: 159-173..

Middle Ages

The Occidentalising of Ruthenian art in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth did not begin with its adaptation of early modern artistic forms. It was an earlier phenomenon, not limited to the territory of just one country. In the Middle Ages European Orthodox culture was not particularly isolated; solutions inspired by Western Christian art did find their way into it, as is evidenced by works scattered across Europe.

A completely separate chapter in the history of Byzantine art is that of Cretan painting, which from the moment the island of Crete came under Venice's jurisdiction in 1210 was constantly influenced by northern Italian culture, only to develop in the fifteenth century a characteristic style referred to by scholars as Italo-Cretan This topic is well represented in literature, see: The Origins of El Greco. Icon painting in Venetian Crete, ed. Anastasia Drandaki (New York: Onassis Foundation USA, 2009); Nano Chatzidakis, From Candia to Venice. Greek Icons in Italy. 15^th-16^th Centuries (Athens 1993); Nano Chatzidakis, Icons of the Cretan School (15^th-16^th century (Athens: Benaki Museum, 1983); Греческие иконы XV-XVII вв. из му-зейных и частных собраний, ред. Лилия Евсеева (Москва, 2010); Waldemar Deluga, «Mi^dzy Kandi^ a Wenecj^. Rola grafiki europejskiej w przemianach ikonograficznych malarstwa postbizantynskiego,» w Idem, Panagiotafitika. Greckie ikony igrafiki cerkiewne (Krakow: Collegium Columbinum, 2008), 13-25.. Mass production of icons in Candia and its location on the main trade routes contributed to the great spread of this type of painting both among the Catholics and the Orthodox monks on Mount Athos, Sinai, Patmos etc.

Leaving aside all political and social differences, we can see that the processes unfolding in the art of the Ruthenians (today's Belarusians and Ukrainians) living in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth were similar. Icon painting in the region as well as graphic arts and architecture changed slowly, gradually, but also permanently, leading to the emergence of an original, outstanding artistic language. It is hard to say with certainty in which sphere of art the process began. Fifteenth-century painting features very few motifs of Western provenance. Among the dozens of representations of Eastern provenance created by Ruthenian painters commissioned by King Wladyslaw Jagiello to decorate the walls of the chapel at the Lublin Castle, there was a scene depicting the Communion of the Apostles, the iconography and style of which suggest inspiration by German- Austrian art of circa 1400 Anna Rozycka-Bryzek, Bizantynsko-ruskie malowidta w kaplicy zamku lubelskiego (Warszawa: PWN, 1983), 84-84, 318.. The stylistic features of international Gothic are to be found in the shape of the folds of Peter's himation in the icon Deesis from Lysiatychi dated very generally to the end of the fifteenth and beginning of the sixteenth century National Museum in Lviv (later as NML), inventory no. Kb-2861/I-1270; Григорій Логвин, Лада Міляєва, Віра Свєнціцька, Український середньовічний живопис (Київ: Мистецтво, 1976), no. 58.. Linking this particular style to Western art may be correct, taking into consideration also other motifs found in the icon, motifs like the long elaborate rotuli and lettering in the names of the saints, modelled on Gothic script. Placing inscriptions made up of letters resembling the medieval Fraktur in icons was by no means unique, but more frequent in the region in sixteenth- century icons. Christ depicted in the fifteenth-century Crucifixion from Owczary is covered by а white mesh of the perizoma (fig. 1), which has its analogy in а miniature from the thirteenth-century Bohemian manuscript of Mater Verborum Historical Museum in Sanok (later as MHS), inventory no. 943; Miroslaw Piotr Kruk, Ikony Matki Boskiej z Dzieciqtkiem w zachodnioruskim malarstwie wiekow XV-XVI (Krakow: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellonskiego, 1999), 57, fig. 1-2; а monograph on the icon was written by Romuald Biskupski: Romuald Biskupski, Ukrzyzowanie z Owczar. Ikona z 2 potowy XV wieku. Katalog zbiorow (Sanok: Muzeum Historyczne, 2000). NML, inventory no. Кв-36510/І-2178; Логвин, Міляєва, Свєнціцька, no. 71; Віра Свєнціцька, Олег Сидор, Спадщина віків. Українське малярство XIV- XVIII століть у музейних колекціях Львова (Львів: Каменяр, 1990), fig. 28.. In the Korczyn icon St. George wears chain mail imitated by а mesh of white rings¹¹. A fancifully wavy flag and Gothic lettering suggest -- despite the traditional iconography next to St. Praskeva -- that the artist was inspired by Western paintings. Isolated motifs from this cultural milieu also found their way into book painting in the fifteenth century Andrzej Kaszlej, «Iluminacja ksi^zki cerkiewnej,» w Sztuka iluminacji i grafiki cerkiewnej. Katalog wystawypazdziernik-listopad 1996, red. Andrzej Kaszlej, Waldemar Deluga (Warszawa: Biblioteka Narodowa, 1998), 7-19.. The most frequent ornament in Cyrillic liturgical books at the time was the Balkan plaited ornament. It filled headpieces and initials. Larger and richer scriptoria produced books in the so-called new Byzantine style, historicising, consciously drawing on early medieval decorative forms. Yet in addition to these motifs, characteristic of Eastern Christian books, there were more and more initials in the form of straight vermilion capitals from which extended ornamental flourishes as well as sprigs with leaves and flowers. These are flat, monochromatic forms, often moresques. They are а new element, probably inspired by plant-based initials of medieval Western books, especially from Italy. The popularity of this motif in books from both cultures stemmed from а rare symbiosis of stunning effect and ease of production: such initials could be made by а scribe of average skill and there was no need to hire а miniaturist. This made the work more effective and less expensive.

Sixteenth century

The research material from the following century is much richer, which makes it possible to carry out а more complete analysis and formulate more credible general conclusions. At that time Ruthenian art in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth experienced а considerable boom caused by а rise in the demand for Orthodox church furnishings and by the greater number of painting workshops in operation. Their output often stands out by virtue of such clear and characteristic stylistic formulas that they can be distinguished and described in detail. Most of the works created at the time still fell within the framework of traditional aesthetics and iconography, and in spite of their considerably varied technical and artistic quality many were characterised by dynamism, freshness and experiments with formal and visual means. These new motifs found their way into Orthodox church painting mainly by means of prints -- a new medium providing an inexhaustive pool of models for artists working in all areas of art across the early modern world.

An analysis of sixteenth-century Ruthenian icons makes it possible to conclude that the earliest motifs to be adopted were those that were the easiest to copy. They included small architectural details like Gothic gargoyles in the Annunciation of Anna from Lubyni NML, Кв-4356Л-3189; Логвин, Міляєва, Свєнціцька, no. 97; Liudmilla Milyaeva, The Ukrainian Icon 11^th-18^th centuries. From Byzantine sources to the Ba-roque (New York: Parkstone Press 1996), 133, 234, no. 125; Michal Janocha, Uk- raihskie i bialoruskie ikony swiqteczne w dawnej Rzeczypospolitej (Warszawa: Neriton, 2001), 197., an ancient astragal from the Kostarowce Crucifixion MHS/S/3418; Katarzyna Winnicka, Ikony z XVI wieku w Muzeum Histo- rycznym w Sanoku. Katalogzbiorow (Sanok: Muzeum Historyczne, 2013), 2: 70-73, 124-125, includes the earlier literature on the subject. (fig.2), an Ionic cymatium in the King of Glory icon from Staryi Sambir NML, Кв-15483, І-1570; Іларіон Свєнціцький, Ікони Галицької України XV-XVII віків (Львів: Національний Музей, 1929), 109; Maprn Гелитович, Ікони Старосамбірщини XIV-XVI століть зі збірки Національного музею у Львові імені Андрея Шептицького (Львів: Свічадо, 2010), no. 46. (fig.3) and the Iwanowice Annunciation by Fedusko of Sambir Kharkiv Art Museum, inventory no.zrhu-8; Milyaeva, The Ukrainian Icon, nos. 136, 144-145, 235., the Renaissance spangled ornament in the St. Nicholas icon kept in the Historical Museum in Sanok MHS/S/3716; Winnicka, Ikony, 34-35, 108-109. as well as its arcade balustrades, but also those with two-vase balusters in works by the «Master of the Yabluniv Transfiguration» The term was coined by Vira Svientsitska: Свєнціцька, Сидор, Спадщина віків, 19; Віра Свєнціцька, Володимир Откович,Українське народне маляр-ство XIII-XX століть (Київ: Митецтво, 1991), 13, fig. 33-36; Agnieszka Gronek, «Prace kr^gu “Mistrza Deesis z Bartnego”. Charakterystyka stylu,» w Drogi i bezdroza ochrony zabytkow w Polsce poludniowo-wschodniejpo 1945 roku. Ksigga poswigcona pamigci Barbary Tondos i Jerzego Tura, red. Agnieszka Gronek, Joanna Daranowska- Tukaszewska (Krakow, Stowarzyszenie Historykow Sztuki, 2019), 457-474. (fig.4). The hitherto smooth frames and backgrounds began to be decorated with geometric and plant ornaments, with engraved or high relief patterns usually varnished golden The most complete analysis of the carved decorations of Ruthenian icons so far has been provided by Michal Drahan: Михайло Драган, Українська деко-ративна різьба (Київ: Наукова думка, 1970)..

It is worth stressing that analogous changes in the finishing of painting backgrounds occurred in church painting in Lesser Poland in the fifteenth century and were characteristic of Gothic art all over Western Europe. This is precisely the stylistic provenance of patterns in sixteenth-century Western Ruthenian icons: square or rhomboid mesh, dry acanthus leaves and ribbons wrapped around а rod or dry branch Драган, Українська декоративна, 14-15, 26; Piotr Krasny, Miroslaw Piotr Kruk, «Kilka uwag o okcydentalizacji sztuki cerkiewnej w monarchii ja- giellonskiej,» w Przywrocona pamigci. Ikona Matki Boskiej Chelmskiej: iko- nografia -- kult -- kontekst spoleczny, red. Andrzej Gil, Miroslaw Kalinowski, Ihor Skoczylas (Lublin-Lwow: Wydawnictwo KUL 2016), 144.. All these isolated elements did not change the style of icons. However, at that time there also emerged works which took over entire compositional patterns from Western art. Examples include two icons of the Passion from Trushevici and Mikhova NML, Кв-15813/І-1601 (from Trushevici), NML, no. Кв-42407, І-2983 (from Mikhova); Agnieszka Gronek, Ikony Mgki Panskiej. O przemianach w malarstwie cerkiewnym ukrainsko-polskiego pogranicza (Krakow: Collegium Columbinum 2007), no. 4, 5, with detailed bibliography; Гелитович, Ікони Старосамбірщини, nos. 8, 9; Maрія Гелитович, Українські ікони XIII -- початку XVI століть зі збірки Національного музею у Львові імені Андрея ШептицькоЫ (Київ: Май-стер книг, 2014), no. 81, 82. (fig.5), which, in addition to traditional scenes, include representations inspired by Martin Schongauer's prints Gronek, «On the Dependence,» 159-178; Eadem, Wokot Ukrzyzowanego. Studia nad tematem Pasji w ukrainskim malarstwie ikonowym (Warszawa: Neriton, 2009), 50-75.. The creators of the icons copied the general compositional pattern, poses of the figures and even considerably simplified architectural motifs in the background, preserving traditional stylistic features in the draping of robes, presentation of space as well as landscape and architectural background. This preserved the stylistic uniformity of their works despite the introduction of many new features in the iconographic layer. Thus, the motifs borrowed from the German artist's prints did not make the icons Renaissance in their style. The German master's successful attempts to create an illusion of space by means of architectural motifs presented in accordance with linear perspective and to convey the three- dimensionality of objects and figures by means of colour hues were ignored by the painter of the icons, as if he had failed to notice them or to appreciate them. But even if he had attempted to render space on a flat surface, would such an attempt been enough for his work to be considered a Renaissance work, bearing in mind that this is a feature of not just the Italian Quattrocento, but also of the international Gothic style? A wonderful analysis of main artistic topics in fifteenth-century painting was created by Jan Bialostocki: Jan Balostocki, Il Quattrocento nell'Europa settentrionale (Torino: UTET, 1989) (1. ed; fr. ed. 1993, esp. ed. 1998, pol. ed. 2010).

In the second half of the sixteenth century some workshops active in Ruthenia made attempts to render three-dimensionality on a flat surface using early modern methods. These included realistic depictions of individual motifs, for example some books in the hands of saints in the Deesis from Rivne The Saris Museum in Bardej ov, inventory no. H 1011; Vladislav Greslik. Ikony Sarisskeho muzea v Bardejove (Bratislava: Ars Monument, 1994), no. 3. (fig.6) and Chrewt Museum of the Przemysl Region in Przemysl, inventory no. 1392; Bronislawa Kiwala, Janina Burzynska. Ikony ze zbiorow Muzeum Okrggowego w Przemyslu (Krakow: Krajowa Agencja Wydawnicza, 1981), no. 11; Димитрій (Ярема), Іко-нопис Західної України XVI -- поч. XVII ст. (Львів: Друкарські куншти, 2017), fig. 32, 34., trees in the Anna and Joachim icon by an unknown author from the National Museum in Lviv Lev Skop attributed this icon to Fedusko of Sambir, and linked it to the Ortho-dox Church of SS. Anna and Joachim in Stanila; cf. Лев Скоп, Майстер мініатюр

Пересопницького Евангелія Федуско, маляр зі Самбора (Дрогобич: Коло, 2011), 22; Димитрій (Ярема), Іконопис, no. 45. (fig.7) or the vessels and weapons in the Passion icon from Bahnuvate NML, Кв 36508/I-2176; Віра Свєнціцька, «Живопис XIV-XVI століть,» In Історія українського мистецтва: у 6-х томах, т. 2: Мистецтво XIV -- першої половини XVII століття, відп. ред. Юрій Нельговський, Лука Ка- лениченко, Михайло Марченко (Київ, 1967), 254-257; Sviatoslav Hordynsky, The Ukrainian Icon of the XII^th to XVIII^th Centuries, transl. Walter Dushnyck (Philadelphia, Providence Association, 1973), 157, fig. 139; Sviatoslav Hordynsky, Die Ukrainische Ikone 12. bis 18. Jahrhundert (Mdnchen: Ukrainische Freie Universitat 1980), no. 139; Maрія Гелитович, «Ікони “Страсті Христові” XV -- 1-ї половини XVI століття,» Літопис 2(7) (2001): 109-110. (fig. 8). In addition, there were also attempts to convey the depth of landscape or architecture in the various representations. For example, in some sections of the Passion icon from Bahnuvate, dated to the mid-sixteenth century, we can see attempts to abandon the custom of placing human figures on а narrow strip of greenery at the bottom of the composition, а feature characteristic of medieval icons. Although most figures are still to be found in the foreground, the strip of land marking it has been extended. In the Terror of the Guards section the greenery in the background is brighter than in the foreground. In addition, architectural motifs in the background are only sketched with no chromatic colours, which could suggest that the painter was familiar with the principles of aerial perspective. The light brown elevations do not have steplike tops and the gently sloping ridges seem to resemble the surrounding hills. An even more novel composition is to be found in the central scene, of the Crucifixion, which completely does away with а shallow foreground where all figures are placed (fig.9) . Here the strip of ground is much broader and varied in terms of colour and shape, and on it we find the protagonists of separate episodes unfolding on several planes. In addition, most figures in the background are smaller than those in the foreground. These principles, characteristic of early modern painting, are not observed consistently -- they are followed only in the case of less important individuals: Longinus, the thieves and soldiers. Christ and the saints (with the exception of the Good Thief) are larger than the others and their size does not change the deeper they are in the composition. The author of the icon did not know the rules of creating а perspective grid -- no edges of three-dimensional objects and architectural details match it. The whole scene is enclosed by а wall of Jerusalem buildings -- although they are not flat, they were not made by means of geometric perspective either. Thus, the works do not seek, in line with the rules of early modern painting, to create а faithful illusion of real space on а flat surface.

The second half of the sixteenth century was the period in which а painter known as the «Master of the Bartne Deesis» or «Master of the Yabluniv Transfiguration» Свєнціцька, Сидор, Спадщина віків, 19, fig. 54; Свєнціцька, Откович, Українське народне, 13, fig. 33-36. was active in the Przemysl region. The appelations describing him come from three panels making up the Deesis row from the iconostasis in the Orthodox Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian from Bartne kept in two museums in Sanok: the Historical Museum and the Folk Architecture Museum MHS, inventory no. 929, 930, Museum of Folk Architecture in Sanok (later as MBL), inventory no. 622; currently MHS/S/4461; Romuald Biskupski, «Wybrane warsztaty malarstwa ikonowego szkoly halickiej XV i XVI wieku,» Folia Historia Artium 18 (1982): 30-31, fig. 5-5c; Janina Klosinska, Icons from Poland (Warsaw: Arkady, 1989), no. 11-12; Michal Janocha, Ikony w Polsce od sredniowiecza do wspotczesnosci (Warszawa: Arkady, 2008), no. 201; Winnicka, Ikony, no. 22. Biskupski formulated a hypothesis that despite all the close stylistic similarities, the works may have been created by two painters collaborating with each other (Biskupski, «Wybrane,» 30-42. Today all three panels are displayed in the Historical Museum in Sanok (the MBL icon as a deposit). as well as the Transfiguration icon from the Orthodox Church of Archangel Michael in Yabluniv near Vysotsko and Turka National Museum in Lviv, inventory no. Кв-3598/І-1281; often reproduced: cf. Свєнціцький, Ікони, fig. 83; Свєнціцька, Сидор, Спадщина віків, fig. 54; Дмитро. Степовик, Історія української ікони X-XX століть (Київ: Либідь, 1996), 235, fig. 93; Milyaeva, The Ukrainian Icon, fig. 134; Janocha, Ukrainskie, fig. 13. (fig. 10). The oeuvre of this outstanding painter marked the beginning of a characteristic style discernible in many surviving works by other painters. The biggest novelty in comparison with works of the period is to be found in the way of depicting landscape. Mountains are no longer presented as elongated cones built of rock slates rising stepwise, but as hills with gentle, undulating outlines. What makes them more realistic is not just the slopes covered by grass and trees, but also colour variety. It seems that in this way artists from this circle tried -- as if using the rules of aerial perspective -- to create an illusion of depth, although not very convincingly yet. These novel solutions, probably borrowed from Western paintings, are usually combined with traditional means, like the iconographic model, the gilded and engraved background, and the graphic and schematic shape of robes.

One thing is certain: in the sixteenth century no icon created in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth could be classified as а Renaissance work.

Western European artistic influences could also be discerned in the oeuvres of manuscript illuminators, who gradually expanded their repertoire of decorative patterns that were part of the Byzantine, teratological and Balkan styles to include Gothic and Renaissance motifs. Already in the fifteenth-century Borszowice Gospels (in the collection of the National Library in Warsaw) headpieces are filled with acanthus leaves (fig.11). A similar motif was placed in the margins of pages beginning successive parts of the book Biblioteka Narodowa, Akc 2527; Rgkopisy cerkiewnostowianskie w Polsce. Katalog, opr. Aleksander Naumow, Andrzej Kaszlej (Krakow: Scriptum, 2007), no. 196; Inwentarz rgkopisow Biblioteki Kapituty Greckokatolickiej w Przemyslu, red. Andrzej Kaszlej (Warszawa: Biblioteka Narodowa, 2011), 41, no. 11802 III, fig. 4-5.. Such а combination of traditional and western motifs in one codex or even on one page is characteristic of the illuminations of sixteenth-century Ruthenian books from the entire territory of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. An analogous co-existence of late Gothic and Renaissance motifs can also be observed in miniatures from Lesser Poland from the previous century Barbara Miodonska, Matopolskie malarstwo ksiqzkowe (Warszawa: PWN, 1993), passim. as well as in miniatures from across Europe Jonathan J. G. Alexander, The Painted book in Renaissance Italy 1450-1600 (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2016), passim.. The difference is, however, that in Cyrillic books the pioneering and novel motifs were both those in the Gothic style and those in the Renaissance style. Among the latter the most popular was the arabesque, often in the form of а candelabrum, and the columned arcade, as in the Hyshevychi or Peresopnytsia Evangeliaries, in the Andrychyna's miniatures in the sixteenth-century Sluzhebnyk from Volhynia and in the Chelmno Evangeliary Яким Запаско, Пам'ятки книжкового мистецтва. Українська рукописна книга (Львів: Світ, 1995), nos. 82, 94, 85, 88; with rich bibliography collected there.. The whole composition is surrounded on three sides by a border with a plant ornament Ibidem, no. 102, fig. on page 392.. A whole range of late Gothic and Renaissance ornaments was used by the illustrator of the Peresopnytsia Evangeliary around the representations of the Evangelists V. I. Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, Institute of Manuscripts, in-ventory no. 15512; Запаско, Пам'ятки, no. 88, 354-360; Скоп, fig. on pages 10-12, 14, 16. (fig.12). Figural scenes in sixteenth- century manuscripts were presented in accordance with the Byzantine iconography and painting style characteristic of the domestic Orthodox artistic milieu.

Very interesting conclusions can be drawn from an analysis of the decorations of sixteenth-century printed books Drukarze dawnej Polski od XV do XVIII wieku, z. 5: Wielkie Ksigstwo Litewskie, z. 6: Matopolska -- Ziemie Ruskie; red. Aldona Kawecka-Gryczowa, et al. (Wrodaw- Krakow: Ossolineum, 1959-1960).. It is no secret that the first print shops in Poland were set up by printers arriving from the West. They brought with them not only а new craft, but also an entire set of formal models, mainly German. The stylistic values of the layout of sixteenth-century Cyrillic books are determined mostly by ornamental motifs, as there are few figural representations.

Western was also the provenance of а majority of ornaments in sixteenth-century Cyrillic books. Only the world's oldest Cyrillic books, printed in Schweipolt Fiol's shop, feature motifs in the Balkan and Byzantine styles of Orthodox manuscripts A rich literature on the printing work of Schwaipolt Fiol has been collected by Евгений Немировский, Славянские издания кирилловского (церковнос-лавянского) шрифта. Инвентарь сохранившихся экземпляров и указатель литературы (Москва: Знак, 2009), 1: 191-214. (fig. 13). Embellishments from Cyrillic manuscripts were still used in Vilnius by the Mamonicz, who in their Sluzhebnyk (1583, 1617) copied the plaited vignettes from Bozidar Vukovic's Sluzhebnyk (Venice, 1518, 1554) Немировский, Славянские (Москва: Знак, 2011), 2: 90; Zoja Jaroszewicz- Piereslawcew, Druki cyrylickie z oficyn Wielkiego Ksigstwa Litewskiego w XVI- XVIII wieku (Olsztyn: Wydawnictwo Naukowe Uniwersytetu Warminsko-Mazur- skiego, 2003), 68, 213., repeated also in other books printed in Venice, for example the 1538 Psalter Accessed online on 13 March 2016 on the website of the Digital National Library of Serbia: http://digitalna.nb.rs/wb/NBS/Stara_stampana_knjiga/I_028#page/0/ mode/1up. or the 1570 Sluzhebnyk Немировский, Славянские, 2: 262, no. 135.. However, these were isolated and unique examples; in most cases sixteenth-century Cyrillic books printed in the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth contained motifs of Western provenance with Gothic and Renaissance stylistic features, like in the books printed by Francysk Skaryna and Ivan Fyodorov. In early books by Skaryna the former ornaments included fragments of frames with а thistle branch meandering up, the latter -- narrow rectangular headpieces filled with flowery and leafy sprigs held together in the axis and twisting symmetrically sideways Немировский, Славянские, 1: 90-97; Waldemar Deluga, «Zrodla i inspiracje ilustracji drzeworytniczych do wydan Franciszka Skoryny,» v 480 let Beloruskeho knihtisku. Materialy z konference v prazkem Klementinu 5. 9. 1997, ed. Frantiska Sokolova (Praha: Narodnl knihovna 1997), 15-19; Сусветная спадчына Фран-циска Скарыны = Всемирное наследие Франциска Скорини = World Heritage of Francysk Skaryna, ред. А. А. Суша и др. (Мінск: Энциклопедия имени Пе-труся Бровки, 2017), passim.. His Vilnius editions testify to а greater knowledge of Renaissance ornaments and ways of using them in printing. In his earlier books, from Prague, we can find, for example, candelabra ornaments or bellflowers placed horizontally, which reveals а lack of knowledge of their origin and of the way they were used in ornamenting practice. In his books printed in Vilnius Skaryna no longer made such errors and used ornaments in better ways.

Ivan Fyodorov owed his fame and respect to the fact that he printed beautiful books with а layout that was rich and neat for its day Ivan Fyodorov's printing activities have already been discussed in detail in the literature on the subject; for the most complete analysis, see Немировский, Славянские, т. 2.. He had at least 80 different woodcut patterns of headpieces in the en fete type, the so-called zastavka, from which he made 271 prints in his books Запаско, Пам'ятки, 46. (fig. 14). The biggest number of them were composed in the staropechati style, although it is possible to find among them also those with Renaissance or Mannerist features. The Lviv Apostle contained, for example, а vignette with а palmette and antithetically placed cornucopias from which extended spiralling sprigs with acanthus leaves. The vignette was inspired by Hans Sebald Beham's print Ibidem, 47-48..

In the vignettes of the Ostroh books the main motif, in addition to a delicate sprig, is made up of ferrule and scroll ornaments Ibidem, 197, 199, fig. 125-127, 141.. In his books Fyodorov also began to use embellishments at the end of the text, the so-called tailpieces, either in the form of rectangular vignettes or small graphic, geometric or plant designs. The tailpieces in both Apostles (Moscow 1564, Lviv 1574) repeated the motif of а geometric plaited ornament inside а rectangle or polygon, which embellished many books printed in the sixteenth century by Western European print shops, also those from Krakow Ibidem, 47, 200, fig. 147-152. (fig. 15).

In his Ostroh books Fyodorov introduced for the first time a title page framed by an arcade. In his first printed books Fyodorov left out the title page, including it only in the New Testament with the Psalter printed in Ostroh in 1580. This rich decoration made up of Renaissance architectural motifs repeated a motif from the Book of Sirach published inWittenberg in 1533 Ibidem, 177, 69, 43.. Another frame of German provenance is the frame placed on the title page of the 1581 Ostroh Bible (fig. 16), of the 1564 Moscow Apostle, based on a print by Erhard Schoen (Schon), published in Das Alte Testament mit fleyss verteutscht in Nuremberg in 1524, and also in the Czech Bible (Linhart Milchtaler 1540) Ibidem, 68, including further literature on the subject. Reprinted in: The Il-lustrated Bartsch, ed. Walter L. Strauss (New York: Abaris Books, 1981), 13: 138, no. 33 (480) and The Illustrated Bartsch. Commentary, ed. Walter L. Strauss (New York: Abaris Books, 1984), 13: 124, no. 1301.034(i).. Thus the graphic layout of the books printed by Fyodorov can be regarded as fully in the Renaissance style and of Western European (German) provenance.

An analysis of decorative motifs of Cyrillic books printed in the Po- lish-Lithuanian Commonwealth makes it possible to say that nearly all those used in the sixteenth century have Renaissance stylistic features. Figural representations, title pages, founders' coats of arms and printers' marks, frames, initials, headpieces and tailpieces were copied from compositions known from German codices Agnieszka Gronek, «Szata graficzna wczesnych ruskich drukow cyrylickich. Zrodla i inspiracje,» w Starodruki cyrylickie w zasobach parafialnych pogranicza polsko-slowackiego, red. Jaroslaw Grycz (Gorlice: Elpis, 2014), 50-71; Eadem, «Finalik w starodrukach cyrylickich. Manifestacja nowozytnej estetyki,» Akademia Supraska 7 (2016): 137-148.. What may have acted as intermediaries in their dissemination were books printed in the Polish- Lithuanian Commonwealth, especially in Krakow.

Thus, while sixteenth-century paintings were dominated by medieval solutions and only gradually absorbed early modern motifs, which did not destroy the overall nature of the style, the art of the Renaissance at the time was the main influence on the graphic layout of Cyrillic books printed in Ruthenia. In the sixteenth century the «black art» of Ruthenian printing shops was dominated by German models, to which in the seventeenth century were added models originating in the Netherlands Eadem, «Grafika jako zrodlo nowych przedstawien w sztuce Kosciola wschodniego pierwszej Rzeczypospolitej,» w Metodologia, metoda i terminologia grafiki i rysunku. Teoria i praktyka, red. Joanna Talbierska (Warszawa: Semper, 2014), 309-314.. Over the following decades the layout of Cyrillic books evolved, following the changes occurring in Western European art and acquiring first Baroque and then Classical stylistic features.

Seventeenth century