Treasures of the Vladimir-Suzdal land were shown in temple silence

More than 600 exhibits were presented at the exhibition in the Tretyakov Gallery: the Tsar Lantern, treasures, the Rublev icon

At the exhibition of the treasures of the Vladimir-Suzdal land, there is a temple soothing silence. This is the first exposition in the history of the national museum business, which brought together such a large array of items from various cathedrals and monasteries of the Vladimir-Suzdal land – about 600 exhibits. And the very architecture of the exhibition presented in the West Wing of the Tretyakov Gallery reflects its spirit. The viewer gets acquainted with unique exhibits, including the “golden gates” of the Mother of God-Nativity Cathedral of Suzdal (1230s) or the first illustrated “Primer Book” (1694), as if traveling through a sacred space, in the center of which is a snow-white model of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, woven by a contemporary plastic lace artist.

The exposition begins with a large hall, in the center of which the Kamenka River “flows”, on the banks of which Suzdal once grew. Actually, the reason for the project was the millennium of the city, which will be celebrated in 2024. However, strictly speaking, 1000 years are counted not from the moment of the founding of Suzdal, but from the first mention of it in the Tale of Bygone Years. The city, which today has become a living open-air museum (and such a number of monuments, unique churches and objects of wooden architecture, is nowhere else), is ancient. The installation of real earth and shiny black stones that lined the riverbed is surrounded by several large screens with the faces of the main characters of the history of Rus’ (here Andrey Bogolyubsky, Andrey Rublev, and Alexander Nevsky), the history of the land and the museum-reserve that stores its artifacts, and sketches of sights made in charcoal and chalk on the Vladimir-Suzdal land by the chief architect of Moscow, Sergei Kuznetsov. Here, in a calm atmosphere, sitting on soft couches, you can immerse yourself in a thousand-year history and get ready to get acquainted with real witnesses of the history of Rus’.

At the entrance to the main exposition, we are greeted by one of the most valuable and ancient exhibits – the three-meter “golden gates” of the Mother of God-Nativity Cathedral of Suzdal. They were created around the 1230s. In front of us is the western gate made of gilded copper, decorated with 28 hallmarks with gospel scenes with the help of a “golden tip”. This technique was also known in Western Europe, but there it was usually used to decorate church utensils. In Rus’, it was used to decorate the gates.

The secret is that the image was applied over a complex varnish. On this basis, a drawing was scratched with a stylus, then the copper sheets were heated to 600-700 degrees, after which an amalgam of gold dissolved in mercury was rubbed into them. Thanks to this technology, the plots were obtained with exceptional accuracy and have been preserved for centuries. In the entire history of their existence, they were restored only once, when in the 18th century they were transferred from a wooden base to an iron one.

Next to the “golden gates” there is a huge five-domed “Tsar Lantern” of the 17th century, which was taken out during church holidays, and it seemed to float before the procession. The lantern weighs about 160 kilograms: it took 12 people to carry it before the procession. Candles were burning inside, and in the semi-darkness of the church action it seemed as if it was a temple, glowing from within and flying above the ground. Russian architects knew how to surprise.

You can learn the history of the exhibits directly from the curators and restorers – videos with their stories are built into the walls, and in order not to disturb the atmosphere, they are invited to listen to them with headphones. This way you can find out details about icons (among them there is an image of the Mother of God, presumably made by Andrei Rublev), liturgical books, carved wooden sculptures, archaeological finds, many of which were made recently and presented for the first time.

One of the halls is filled with prayer chants. Before the audience there are illuminated mysterious records: at the end of the 11th – beginning of the 12th centuries they were called “cranberries”. These are the oldest singing books, where the notes and words are fixed by “banners” – special signs to designate the melody and chanted syllables. Chants are heard in space performed by a modern choir.

And in the central, snow-white part of the exhibition (the rest of the exhibits are presented in rooms with gray or dark blue walls), the viewer meets artifacts made of white stone. White-stone Rus’ began there – in Vladimir-Suzdal Rus’, where fortresses and temples were built using a unique technology – from limestone, or white stone, which was rich in local lands. From malleable material, it was also convenient to create carved decorations that decorated buildings.

In this largest hall of the exhibition, you can find a 12th-century cross covered with prayers, or a tombstone of Princess Agrippina Olgerdovna, the wife of Grand Duke Boris Konstantinovich, during whose reign complex historical events unfolded, the participants of which were Sergei Radonezhsky and Dmitry Donskoy.

In the center of the hall is a temple-symbol, which to this day amazes with its beauty. Before us is a reduced copy of the Church of the Intercession on the Nerl, created by a young artist Ivan Repkin (b. 1993) from white plastic and metal. The Fragile / Eternal installation emphasizes the importance of white-stone architecture, which, despite its monumentality, is vulnerable to nature and man. The Church of the Intercession on the Nerl is a rare monument that has survived from those times immemorial. And that is not completely. Before it was bigger and more majestic. Excavations showed that the temple was surrounded by white-stone galleries on three sides, and in the southwestern corner there was a secret thickening in the wall with a staircase leading to the choir stalls. On it, Andrei Bogolyubsky climbed to the balcony – he appeared as if from nowhere, thereby emphasizing his special status.

In a word, the Vladimir-Suzdal land keeps many secrets, which you can try to cover with a glance in the final hall of the exhibition, where the entire wall is occupied by shooting the surroundings from a bird’s eye view.