Description
Book SynopsisThe Romantic search for a national past was a European preoccupation in the first half of the nineteenth century. In Russia, this process led to the formation of the Russian style that has to today so captivated the world's imagination. While the manifestations of this style are easily recognizable in gleaming gilt, vibrant colors, onion domes, peasant costume, and tsarist regalia, hardly anyone has realized the pioneering and defining role that Fedor Solntsev (1801-1892) played in the development of a Russian national aesthetic. This book rescues Solntsev from obscurity and celebrates his major contributions to the arts, archaeology, architecture, ethnography, icon painting, restoration work, and Russian nationalist ideology as well as place his work in a general European context. Contributors include: Marc Raeff, Wendy Salmond, Richard Wortman, Anne Odom, Irina Bogatskaia, Marina Evtushenko, Olenka Pevny, Irina Reyfman, Nathaniel Knight, Lauren M. O'Connell, and J. Robert Wright.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements List Of Illustrations Romanov Rulers Of Russia: A Chart Contributors Preface The Need to Craft a National Past Marc Raeff Introduction Fedor Solntsev and Crafting the Image of a Russian National Past: The Context Wendy Salmond and Cynthia Hyla Whittaker Chapter One Solntsev, Olenin, and the Development of a Russian National Aesthetic Richard Wortman Chapter Two A Revolution in Russian Design: Solntsev and the Decorative Arts Anne Odom Chapter Three Solntsev’s Role in Preserving the Treasures of the Moscow Kremlin Irina Bogatskaia Chapter Four Solntsev and the Reform of Icon Painting Marina Evtushenko Chapter Five In Solntsev’s Footsteps: Adrian Prakhov and the Representation of Kievan Rus’ Olenka Pevny Chapter Six The Material World of Kievan Rus’ in the Historical Novels of the Nicholaevan Era Irina Reyfman Bibliography Index
