VELIKIY NOVGOROD
CloseStylistically different unique monuments made by the masters of Velikiy Novgorod in the 16th century are evidence of the rich and many-sided artistic life in the old town.
A carved icon of Sts Florus and Laurus, the Archangel Michael and Elijah the Prophet illustrates the most esteemed saints in Novgorod. It is made of a costly cypress.
One of the most expressive works in the collection of wooden carvings of the Moscow Kremlin is The Descent from the Cross. The iconography traces to similar Early Byzantine works, where the images of the myrrh-bearing women are made to the left from the Cross, while the image of St John the Evangelist—to the right, standing in the pose reminding the one in the Crucifixion scene.
An icon of St George and the Dragon with the Deisis and Selected Saints is one of the most widespread subjects in Old Russian plastics.
Such folding icons like a miniature carved iconostasis called Portable Church was usually taken to trips by warriors and merchants. It was to protect the travellers on their way. It represents a four-tier many figures iconostasis made of hard cypress—a material allowing to make even the smallest details.
