Reflection of Significant Theological Issues in the Lavra School Paintings of the First Third of the Eighteenth Century

Abstract

The article discusses the most significant monumental paintings of the Dormition Cathedral and Trinity Gate Church of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra created in the first third of the 18th century. They are сonsidered in the context of the most important trends of spiritual and cultural life of the Hetmanate. The author concentrates attention on the important details that characterize the system of painting in those temples and underlines the close connection between fresco images marked by the inscriptions with the church literature of that time. Besides, among the results of the research there is the point that the Holy Liturgy is the most significant theme in the theological program of paintings of both Lavra temples.It is noted that the topic of the Holy Liturgy became one of the central themes in Ukrainian theology of the second half of the 17th century. Sharp disputes between Kyiv and Moscow theological circles were concentrated on the very moment of the Holy Liturgy associated with Eucharistic Transubstantiation. The author mentions publications of the Ukrainian Orthodox printing houses of that time, which covered that issue, and underlines a number of discrepancies in other dogmatic moments found in Kyiv and Moscow publications.Lavra school monumental ensembles of the first third of the 18th century are presented as a reflection of this topic. We believe that the idea of a figurative display of the liturgical ceremony on the walls of the altar first appeared in the paintings of the Dormition Cathedral of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Thus, the way was paved for the topic that has become traditional and lasted like that over the century. The analysis of the preserved project of baroque paintings of the Great Church, available images of the Trinity Gate Church, and inscriptions makes it possible to say that the ideological and artistic content of Lavra school monumental paintings of the first third of the 18th century reflected the most relevant ideas of that time. Among them one could mention sharp theological disputes over the moment of Eucharistic Transubstantiation that typified the second half of the 17th century.