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previous: The Sarcophagus of Yaroslav and other Tombs This webpage reproduces a section of Cathedral of St. Sophia in Kiev By Olexa Powstenko published by The Ukrainian Academy of Arts and Sciences in the U. S. 1954 The text is in the public domain. This page has not been proofread. If you find a mistake though, please let me know! next: The Buildings of the St. Sophia Monastery

 p111  Mosaics and Frescoes

The most magnificent adornment of the interior of St. Sophia is the 11th and 12th century mosaics and frescoes. Parts of mosaic compositions remain in the concave of the main dome, on the walls between the window apertures of its drum, on the pendentives, on the soffits of the drum bows, on the triumphal arch in front of the sanctuary, and in the main altar apse. All of them are executed by passing small cubes of smalt into wet gypsum plaster, following a sketch of the mosaic design prepared in advance.

Only the most sumptuous churches and palaces of Byzantium (and places where Byzantine influence was paramount, such as Siciliam Rome, Venice, Ravenna, Khersonesus, Kiev) received mosaic decoration. The only place in north and central Europe to possess monuments of mosaic art is Kiev. The mosaic of St. Sophia and of the Michael (Demetrius) Monastery are the first specimens of 11th century mosaic art to exhibit local characteristics. Besides these two churches, the no longer extant 10th century Tithe Church and the 11th century Dormition Church of the Kievan Lavra are also known to have been adorned with mosaics.

The portrait of Christ, cleared of plaster by A. Prakhov in 1885, is set into a medallion in the concave of the main cupola. This composition hovers above the central part of the church at a height of approximately thirty meters. In order to produce the appropriate optical effect, the mosaicists took into account the sphericity of the surface of the cupola. Christ appears as the Apocalyptic Pantocrator holding the Gospel in His left hand while His right is lifted in blessing. The letters ΙϹ and ΧΡ are arranged on either side of the nimbus. The grandeur of the Christ is equalled by the monumental dimensions of this image, inscribed in a medallion measuring nearly five meters in diameter, as well as by the vast spherical surface of the dome itself. The majestic impression is completed by a number of concentric circles in rainbow colors which border the medallion. The color scheme used in the portrait of the Pantocrator is restrained: He wears a blue himation and a blue-violet chiton with left red claves. These colors are in perfect harmony with the stern divinity and distinctly traced features of Christ, with the color of His face and hands and the light brown of His hair. The background of the medallion is in gold.

The composition is similar in treatment to contemporary mosaics in Daphni and Monreale, where the Pantocrator is equally monumental and displays similar features and vestments. The Pantocrator of montreale differs slightly from that of St. Sophia in that this representation is adapted to the concave surface of the apsidal conch instead of the cupola. The location of the St. Sophia Pantocrator follows the model of the Nea of Constantinople where the type first made its appearance.

The central medallion of the main cupola was once surrounded by four mosaic representations of archangels, but of these only a part of  p112 one has been preserved (the lower half of the body and part of the wings are missing). Identifiable by his light colored variegated wings, the Archangel is wearing the Byzantine imperial robe: a blue chiton with a gold border, set with precious stones of green, red and other colors, with claves on the shoulders and a loros, also adorned with gems. In his hands, he carries a labarum with the words ΑΓΙΟϹ, ΑΓΙΟϹ, ΑΓΙΟϹ (Holy, Holy, Holy) and an orb. The other three archangels were similar in appearance; they were painted over with oils in the middle of the 19th century. The parts of the mosaic figure of the fourth archangel which had fallen off have also been restored in oil paints.

Below the figures of the archangels, there once ran a band of a tri‑colored crimped ornament, remnants of which remain on the northern side of the drum. The twelve wall surfaces between the widows of the drum were covered with full-size figures of the Twelve Apostles. Half of one of them, that of the Apostle Paul, can still be seen. Its lower part has been replaced with oil paints, as have the complete figures of the other eleven Apostles. Although in the mosaic of Saint Paul, as in that of the Archangel, the artist strove to express a solemn poise, this figure is not among the best specimens of the St. Sophia mosaic work. Paul is clad in a bluish white chiton adorned with blue violet claves and a white himation, this time of a brownish cast.

From the four mosaic pictures of the Evangelists on the pendentives, only one, that of that Apostle Mark (p121), has been partially preserved. The other Apostles, except for small fragments still in place, are 19th century oil restorations. Saint Mark is represented sitting on a stool, clad in a light brown chiton with a pale green chlamys thrown over it. He holds a style and a papyrus scroll. His feet rest on a pedestal with a checkered design running along its edge. A low table stands before the Evangelist and behind it a lectern with the open Gospel upon it.

The soffits of the four arches supporting the main cupola were covered with portraits of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia in medallions; only fifteen of these pictures (ten in the southern arch and five in the northern) exist today. Their arrangement is as follows: Counting from the crown of the southern arch, the eastern part of the soffit contains the medallions of Acacius ΑΚΑΚΙΟϹ, Nicolaus ΝΙΚΑΛΟϹ, John ΙΩΑΝΝΗϹ, Khudion ΧΟΥΔΙΟΝ, and Lysimachus ΛVϹΗΜΑΧΟϹ;º the western, those of Alexander ΑΛΕΞΑΝΔΡΟϹ, Valerius ΟVΑΛΕΡΙΟϹ,º Vivianus ΒΗΒΗΑΝΟϹ, Crispon ΚΡΗϹΠΟΝ and Gaius ΓΑΗΟϹ. On the soffit of the northern arch counting from the center are arranged the medallions of Leontius ΛΕΟΝΤΙΟϹ, Severianus ΣΕVΗΡΙΑΝΟϹ,º Angias ΑΓΓΙΑϹ, Ekdicius ΕΚΑΙΚΗΟϹº and Aetius ΑΕΤΙΟϹ. The martyrs are clad in chitons of various colors with tablia (broad purple stripes) and claves (signs of patrician dignity) and have khlamydes thrown over their shoulders and buttoned on their right shoulder. Each martyr is holding a cross in his right hand and a martyr's wreath in his left.  p113 The representations of the martyrs on the eastern, western and part of the northern arch have been repainted in oils after the model of the preserved mosaics.

In the lunette over the triumphal (main) arch is the mosaic of the Deesis (Supplication). It is composed of three medallions with portraits of the Saviour (in the center), the Virgin Mary (to the left) and John the Baptist (to the right). Christ faces the onlooker while the two other figures are represented in profile turned towards Him with their hands stretched in supplication. All three compositions crown the triumphal arch in an impressive manner, standing out distinctly against a golden background. A cross in bluish white color forms the background for the portrait of the Saviour. The colors of the composition are soft and pleasant. The Saviour is wearing a white himation with gold ornaments and a pink chiton. His right hand is raised in blessing and His left holds a Gospel. The Mother of God is clad in a light pink omaphorion and John the Baptist in a green himation. The inscriptions ΙΣ. ΧΣ., ΜΡ. ΘΥ. and Ο ΑΓΙΟΣ ΠΡΟΔΡΟΜΟΣ are laid in dark smalto over the heads of the three figures.

Fragments of mosaics of Christ-Emmanuel and the Virgin Mary have been preserved over the eastern and western arches. On both the piers of the triumphal arch, above the level of the present iconostasis, appear the mosaics of the Annunciation, with the Archangel Gabriel on the left (northern pier) and the Virgin Mary on the right (southern pier). The figure of the Archangel Gabriel is full of expression and is clad in a white chiton with claves, red bands on the upper sleeves and a white himation thrown over the left arm. The Archangel's wristbands are gold with red trim, matching the sleeve bands, and adorned with precious stones. The movement of the Archangel towards the Virgin is rendered very skillfully. He blesses Her with his right hand and in his left holds a red measuring rod crowned with a cross. On both sides of the nimbus runs the (restored) inscription: ΧΑΙΡΕ ΚΕΧΑΡΟΙΤΩΜΕΝΗ Ο ΚΥΡΙΟϹ ΜΕΤΑ ϹΟΥ (Hail, Thou that are highly favored, the Lord is with thee; Blessed art Thou among women). The Virgin Mary is represented life seize as is the Archangel. The mosaicist illustrates the apocryphal tradition that the Virgin Mary was spinning the thread for the curtain of the Temple of Jerusalem when the Archangel appeared to Her. On the mosaic, continue Virgin holds a spindle in Her left hand; She said is richly clad in a blue violet maphorion bordered and fringed in gold and a stole of the same color belted with a narrow red sash. On the hood and shoulders, the maphorion is worked with crosses (segmenta). Her slippers are red and set with gems. The inscriptions ΜΡ and ΙΔΟΥ Η ΔΟΥΛΗ ΚΥΡΙΟΥ ΓΕΝΟΙΤΟ ΜΟΥ ΚΑΤΑ ΤΟ ΡΗΜΑ ϹΟΥ (Behold the handmaiden of the Lord; be it unto me according to Thy Word) run along either side of the nimbus. The noble traits of the Virgin's face and the imposing figure revealed by the folds of Her free-falling garment may reflect the local ideal of feminine beauty. Both figures of the Annunciation impress the onlooker with the mastery of their design and the sensitive feeling for  p114 form and proportion. In contrast to the ascetic dryness of late Byzantine painting this composition gives an impression of softness and deep emotion. In truth, the figure of the Archangel yields in finesse to that of the Virgin.

The main sanctuary of the cathedral is covered completely with mosaic representations arranged in three bands separated by ornamental borders. The conch of the main sanctuary is occupied by an imposing figure (five meters in height) of the Virgin Mary in prayer (Virgin Orante). A sumptuous purple maphorion falls from Her shoulders, Her blue-violet stole is held by a narrow belt into which a gold embroidered handkerchief has been tucked. The maphorion is richly decorated with golden bands. Three white crosses adorn the hood and shoulders of the  p115 maphorion and each of the wristbands displays a golden cross. The Virgin's slippers are red and She is transcending on a rug with an ornamental border. The majestic appearance of the Virgin Orante is underlined by a golden background made of small cubes with gold leaf placed upon them and covered with glass. A gold nimbus slightly different in shade from the color of the background surrounds the head of the Virgin. It is separated from the background by two narrow concentric bands, the outer white, the inner red. On either side of the nimb the letters ΜΡ ΘΥ are laid in black smalt. A wide ornate polychrome border in the form of a chain of oval links with flower and cross designs in the center of each runs around the golden background. Above the border runs a golden band encompassing the whole conch and bearing the inscription: Ο ΘΕΟϹ ΕΝ ΜΕΣΩ ΑΥΤΗΣ ΚΑΙ ΟΥ ΣΑΛΕΥΘΗΣΕΤΑΙ ΒΟΗΘΗΣΕΙΑΥΤΗ Ο ΘΕΟΣ ΗΜΕΡΑ ΚΑΙ ΗΜΕΡΑ (God is in the midst of Her; She shall not be moved: God will help Her day after day. Ps. 46,51).

 p116  For almost nine centuries, the figure of the Virgin Orante remained in all its grandeur, in its gleaming gold, its freshness, and harmony of color, although the cathedral had been repeatedly plundered and ruined. This circumstance (and the words of the inscription) may have been the wellspring of the tradition which calls the figure of the Orante "The Indestructible Wall" (Nerushyma Stina).

In the manner of the execution of the Orante, init stylized elegance of the drapery of Her garments, and in the choice of color, a rid Byzantine style integrated with local threat in color is evident. The Orante of St. Sophia, although imbued with stern Byzantinism, differs, nevertheless, from similar contemporary works in its bold manner. A certain elongation of the postpones of the Virgin's body is brought about by the concave surface of the conch. As was the case with the bust of the Pantocrator on the spherical surface of the dome, the figure of the Orante, towering high above, was executed with a view toward creating the impression of natural proportion for the onlooker. In order to achieve this effect, the surface of the conch was slightly flattened, probably during the construction of the church.

 p117  Two mosaic bands, one of them consisting of silvery circles enclosing a stylized plant design on a black background, the other, a polychrome Byzantine ornament, separate the figure of the Orante from the monumental composition of the Eucharist below. Christ, represented on both sides of the altar with a ciborium, distributes the Eucharist to the Apostles arranged in groups of six on either side. The Apostles approach Christ in pious attitude, almost systematically from either side of the picture. Such was the means by which Byzantine art attempted to express the spiritual and religious content of the sacrament of Communion. The altar, occupying the center of the composition, is covered by a cherry-colored cloth with broad blue and gold stripes. A golden diskos with pieces of holy bread, a silver star cover and a knife are lying on the altar,  p120 behind which stand two angels in white sticharia and blue chitons. In their hand the angels bear flabella symmetrically inclined over the communion table. Christ is garbed in a blue himation and a gold trimmed chiton of brownish purple. The garments of the Apostles are light in tone, with distinct, symmetrically modeled draperies. In order to achieve a certain variety in the movement of the Apostles, the mosaicist has made them stand with right or left foot alternately forward. Over the left group of the Apostles, the words of the Eucharist are laid in black smalto: ΛΑΒΕΤΕ, ΦΑΓΕΤΕ, ΤΟΥΤΟ ΕΣΤΙΝ ΤΟ ΣΩΜΑ ΜΟΥ, ΤΟ ΥΠΕΡ ΥΜΩΝ ΚΛΩΜΕΝΟΝ ΕΙΣ ΑΦΕΣΙΝ ΑΜΑΡΤΙΩΝ (Take, eat, this is my body, broken for you for the remission of sins). Over the right group is the inscription: ΠΙΕΤΕ ΕΞ ΑΥΤΟΥ ΠΑΝΤΕΣ, ΤΟΥΤΟ ΕΣΤΙΝ ΤΟ ΑΙΜΑ ΜΟΥ, ΤΟ ΤΗΣ ΚΑΙΝΗΣ ΔΙΑΘΗΚΗΣ ΤΟ ΥΠΕΡ ΥΜΩΝ ΚΑΙ ΥΠΕΡ ΠΟΛΛΩΝ ΕΚΧΥΝΟΜΕΝΟΝ ΕΙΣ ΑΦΕΣΙΝ ΑΜΑΡΤΙΩΝ (Drink ye all of it; this is my blood of the new testament which is shed for you and many for the remission of sins).

Under the Eucharist is located a mosaic band representing the Fathers of the Church and separated from the Eucharist by a wide polychrome mosaic border consisting of alternate Greek crosses and swastikas. Unfortunately, the lower parts of the figures in the mosaic of the Church Fathers no longer exist; they have been reconstructed in oils. In the two spaces between the windows in the main sanctuaries, on the same level  p121 with the Fathers of the Church, once appeared the Apostles Peter and Paul, but a nimb with the inscription ὁ ἅγιος Πέτρος, is all that remains. In their place oil portraits of Peter and Alexius, Metropolitans of Kiev, were painted in the middle of the 17th century. The partly extant mosaics of the Fathers of the Church are arranged in one row in the following order (from left to right): Saints Epiphanius, Clement (the Pope), Gregory the Theologian, St. Nicholas the Thaumaturge, the Archdeacons Stephen and Laurentius, Basil the Great, John Chrysostom, Gregory of Nyssa, and Gregory the Thaumaturge. The names of the Fathers are set vertically in Greek letters. On one side of the nimbus runs the words ὁ ἅγιος (Saint) and, on the other, the name of the Father,The name of John Chrysostom is accompanied by the monogram of the word Χρυσόστομος. All the Fathers are represented without mitres, panagiae or pectoral crosses. They are clad in light colored bishop's vestments with white omophoria adorned with crosses. To avoid monotony the mosaicist varied the form of the crosses on the omophoria of the Fathers by alternately making the ends rounded on one robe, squared on the next.

All three of the mosaic compositions of the main altar — the Orante, in her static attitude, the Eucharist, with its restrained dynamism, and the severely static figures of the Fathers, stands out from the ensemble of the main altar mosaics by its perfection; it reflects most clearly the Hellenistic cultural tradition of portrait painting. Below the Fathers runs the decorative panel, the marble facings of which alternate with a checkered pattern of mosaic. Although only fragments remain, the mosaic figure of Aaron standing level with the  p122 Eucharist scene on the ir surface of the triumphal arch (northern pier) deserves particular attention. Aaron has on the vestments of an archpriest; in his right hand he holds an incensory and, in his left, the Ark of the Covenant. This mosaic supplements that of the Eucharist. On the opposite pier of the triumphal arch Melchizedek, Archpriest and King, must have been represented as a pendant to Aaron. Probably, nothing remains of this figure over which now is painted in oils Moses with his Tablets.

 p123  The most important parts of the St. Sophia Cathedral, the triumphal arch, the main altar apse, and the main cupola were decorated with mosaic compositions; the remaining walls of the church, adorned with frescoes. This same principle of decoration had been followed in the Tithe Church and in other Kievan shrines, such as the Michael (Demetrius) Monastery and the Dormition Church of the Kievan Lavra.

In their broad and monumental technique and execution, the frescoes of St. Sophia Cathedral differ from the usual, strictly two‑dimensional mosaic composition. The frescoes were executed on a wet plaster surface following the method widely applied in antique painting. As was the case with the mosaic work, the execution of frescoes was preceded by a sketch of the composition made with a metal stylus, or by a monochrome ground, followed by the painting. The colors in fresco paintings differ basically from those in mosaics by their clear, light, airy tones. The execution of frescoes on wet plaster required great skill and rapidity of execution on the part of the worker since hardened plaster, even if only a day old, absorbed the paint badly and was not suitable for working. On the other hand, fresco paint, penetrating the wet plaster to a depth of about a centimeter, is very durable, and it is to this circumstance that today we owe the possibility of restoring the foes even though they were covered by oils in the 19th century.

 p124  Among the least harmed frescoes of the cathedral, the most interesting are those of the Saints Joachim and Anna sanctuary (diaconicon) situated to the right of the main sanctuary. In the sequence of the subjects, these frescoes follow the Apocryphs relating to the life of Saints Joachim and Anna and the Virgin Mary and often transmitted in contemporary collections of ecclesiastical writings illuminated with miniatures illustrating the text. In the frescoes of this sanctuary, Byzantine motives are clearly intertwined with the representations of local life. The first scene (in the order of the Apocryphal narration) depicts St. Joachim as a shepherd in the wilderness with his flocks. Then we see St. Anna praying in a garden in front of a bird's nest, asking for an end to her barrenness. The very interesting following since shows the happy encounter between Joachim and Anna near the Golden Gate, where Anna tells her husband that God has blessed her. There follows the scene of the Virgin's birth after the model of the Nativity. Anna is half-reclining on a sumptuously decorated couch with a high headboard. Three young within present her with gifts; both them we see an entrance way with a curtain; in the foreground a midwife and female attendant prepare a bath for the newborn child. The Presentation of the Virgin in the temple combines the two scenes. To the right Joachim and Anna lead the Virgin child toward the priest, who is standing between the ciborium and the altar barrier. To the left, within the sanctuary, the Virgin is shown with an angel who is bringing her food. There follow the scenes of the Virgin's betrothal; the handing of the purple and wool to the Virgin from which she was to weave the curtain for the temple, two scenes of the Annunciation, first before the well when she was on her way to draw water and  p125 then at her home when she is spinning. Finally, the Visitation is shown as the last event in the Virgin's life before the circle of Christ.

In this series of frescoes, the striking element is the fullness of the content and the directness and immediacy in the treatment of subject. In many of the compositions one may discover reflections of the local environment. For instance, in the fresco of the Annunciation, the Virgin is shown against a background of what might be the Dnieper hills. She is coming to a well with bucket on a rope and not to a basin or a spring with an amphora as she is usually represented in Eastern Western pictures of the Annunciation. All the scenes which take place in a temple or in the interior of a house display a rich background ornamentation of ciboria, altar barriers, portals, balustrades and panels adorned with Byzantine braided ornamental motives.

The Archangel Michael sanctuary contains a number of frescoes, recently cleaned and in a relatively good state. They represent the Fathers of the Church, whose features often Arabs local types, and some interesting scenes: Michael casting out Satan (later treated in a similar manner in 17th and 18th century Ukrainian churches) and the struggle of the Archangel with Jacob. The whole breadth of the apsidal conch is filled with a monumental fresco of the Archangel with widespread wings. The artist has succeeded in providing the young, regular, heroic features of the Archangel with an expression of magnificent calm and assurance in his victory over Evil. On the ceil of the sanctuary are representations of the appearance of the Archangel Michael to Joshua, son of Nun, and to Zachariah and Barlaam. These pictures have been partly carved by oil painting. The frescoes of the St. Peter sanctuary (prothesis) have  p126 also been subjected to extensive restoration and partly painted over in coils. They represent scenes of the life of the saint, such as the baptism ceremony in the house of the Centurion Cornelius and the departure of the Apostle Peter from prison. The altar of the great martyr St. George was richly adorned with frescoes illustrating the traditions pertaining to the ascetic life of this Christian martyr, whose name was adopted by the founder of St. Sophia. Unfortunately, little remains of the fresco. After the oil paint had been removed it appeared very damaged and scarcely visible. Similar to the arrangement of the Michael sanctuary, the conch of the St. George altar contained a large bust of the murder, only a few traces of which now remain.

In the St. Volodymyr sanctuary, a polished fresco representing St. Panteleymon was cleared of later oil coats in the nineteen-thirties. Up to the present, it is the only known specimen of polished fresco in St. Sophia. In the northern lateral (Presentation) nave, in the eastern bay of the former arcade, frescoes of St. Adrian and St. Natalia have been cleared. The portrait of St. Adrian is a marvelous example of a type of fresco more related to icon painting than to monumental wall technique. These frescoes were discovered by Professor A. Prakhov in 1882. They are usually dated in the second half of the 11th century (1055‑1062), i.e.  p127 after the building of the exterior galleries. ⁠101 The two frescoes of the southern exterior gallery (later the chapel of the Twelve Apostles) belong to the same period. They are busts of saints and in a much worse state of preservation than those of St. Adrian and St. Natalia. Nevertheless, A. Grabar, who made a detailed investigation, identified them as St. Domnus (western wall) and St. Philippolus (?) (eastern wall), both local saints of Thessalonica.⁠102 The interesting frescoes of the central part and the main transverse arm of the cathedral have been partially restored or painted over in oils. They represent the scenes of the Passion Cycle and the ensuing events: Christ before Caiaphas, the Apostasy of Peter, the Crucifixion, the descent into Limbo, Christ appearing before the Three Women and before doubting Thomas, the Mission of the Apostles, and the Pentecost.

The gladiators contain frescoes with representations of the Old Testament cycle completing the symbolic treatments of liturgical subjects from  p128 the New Testament. As it was thus necessary to place these frescoes near the altars, they adorned the walls in the eastern part of the northern and southern galleries. The southern gallery displays frescoes illustrating Christ taking food with two of His disciples after His Resurrection, under which appears the representation of the Miracle in Cana. In the northern gallery we see the Last Supper above the scene of Judas' Treason, repainted over an old rendition of the same scene. To the return left respectively of these frescoes, in the direction of the western part of the gallery, are represented Old Testament scenes: The Sacrifice of Isaac, the Encounter of Abraham and the Three Travelers, Abraham's Hospitality, and the Three Children in the Furnace.

On parts of the ceilings are pieces of frescoes of Cherubim, Seraphim, and the four Evangelists, placed around a medallion enclosing an eight-armed cross, and other figures. All over the church, on the walls, on the piers supporting the galleries and cupolas, and on the pilasters, frescoes, in full figure or medallion bust, represent apostles, prophets, fathers of the church, martyrs and holy women. The compositions representing the holy men are placed nearer the altars while those of the holy women occupy the western part of the church, an arrangement long employed. It is followed for instance in the Cappella Palatina and St. Mark's Cathedral in Venice and corresponded to the habit of assigning different parts of the church to the men and women of the congregation (observed even today in Ukrainian churches). For, according to the canons of the Church, women cannot enter the altar area and must worship at a distance. Therefore  p129 representations of saintly women must also be placed in the gynaeceum. It is probable that a half of the galleries of the cathedral served as gynaeceum, where the princess, her daughters and their suite worshipped. The male members of the princely family and the prince's entourage, boyars and military commanders may have worshipped in the opposite half of the galleries. This hypothesis seems to be corroborated by the arrangement of the frescoes representing the men and women of Prince Yaroslav's family. The simple faithful, assembled on the ground floor, probably followed the order observed in Ukrainian churches, the women worshipping apart.⁠103

Frescoes of the walls, piers and vaults of both towers form a group apart. They have a value not only from the great skill displayed in their execution but for their lay subject matter which tells the story of princely life. We see here colorful hunting scenes, games, musicians and entertainers, wrestling, processions, pictures of princes, princesses and their  p130 suites or bodyguards, single riders (among these, an imposing representation of a young princess on a white thoroughbred out for a ride), horse races, and a hippodrome (or a court of law). Moreover, monograms, decorative flabella, griffins, a pigeon and an eagle (or perhaps a falcon) are represented in separate medallions. An exquisite braided Byzantine ornament (in friezes and borders which accentuate the architectural line and completely fill parts of the wall) combined with oriental and local motives, provides a worthy framework for these genre scenes. This ornamental design is uniform in the towers, as well as other parts of the cathedral, where it covers the shafts bordering the pilasters, piers, bows, door and window jambs and all other surfaces where there is no portraiture.

Attempts at explaining the contents of the frescoes of the tower staircases are numerous. The theory expounded, mostly by late 19th century scholars (D. Aynalov, E. Redin, I. Tolstoi, N. Kondakov), according to which these frescoes reflect the life of the Byzantine emperors⁠104 is  p131 no longer tenable. Nor is the view of the contemporary Ukrainian archaeologist P. Kurinny any more convincing. Professor Kurinny finds in the tower frescoes a reflection of princely life in the time of Grand Prince Volodymyr Monomakh and considers them as illustrations for the Prince's "Autobiography" (Zapovit ditjam) and for his Didactic Testament.⁠105 However appealing this interpretation may be, we can follow the writer only with respect to the frescoes of the southwestern tower built (after 1055, together with the exterior gallery) during the rule of Izyaslav Yaroslavych; it could have been covered with frescoes, as Professor Kurinny suggests, some time later, in the time of Volodymyr Monomakh (1113‑1125). But, the northwestern tower was built simultaneously with (or very shortly after) the main body of the church to provide a special princely entrance to the galleries. It is therefore difficult to believe that it would have been devoid of frescoes until the time of Volodymyr Monomakh.

In any case, the frescoes of the towers were executed on the order of the Grand Prince of Kiev, who was not necessarily interested in copying scenes of Byzantine life and portraying Byzantine emperors, but might have preferred more familiar scenes. Only future investigation can decide to which of the two princes, Yaroslav the Wise or Izyaslav Yaroslavych, we have to credit the decoration of the towers of St. Sophia. But even today, it is a matter of general knowledge that one of the towers was built later.

As stated before, all the interior of St. Sophia not covered by mosaics was adorned with fresco representations and compositions. Only a few of them still remain intact, part having been destroyed in wars; most of the rest, so clumsily repainted that, in many cases, the contents of the frescoes  p132 and the identity of the saints represented were changed. From 1935 to 1938 about five hundred square meters of frescoes were uncovered. It is believed that the total frescoed San Francisco, Cal. of the church's interior amounts to five thousand square meters. This presupposes a large number of painters who horse worked at them in Prince Yaroslav's time. No team of Byzantine artists could have succeeded in completing such an extensive task within a relatively short period without assistance from local painters. The hand and the tastes of local artisans is recognizable in some frescoes recently uncovered in the church. The local painter, while following Hellenistic and Byzantine traditions, has also introduced features of his own devising whether consciously or not. He expressed familiar features in the faces and garments of the saints, painting them with long mustaches, short beards and hair styles typical to the region; he depicted the scaled skomorokhy (entertainers) with local musical instruments (reminiscent of the long and short pipes, and the lutes of the region) and depicted scenes which could have occurred in early Ukraine‑Rus′ (wrestling, a camel driver who Mithridatic to Kiev bringing wares from the east and south, princes at the hunt, and horse races).

In the western part of the central nave appear fresco portraits of Prince Yaroslav's family. In the best preserved fresco on the southern wall of the nave stand (so it is generally believed) the Princess Irene with her daughters Anna, Anastasia and Elizabeth. (It can also be argued that the figures are those of the Princesses Anna, Anastasia and Elizabeth and one of the sons of Prince Yaroslav.) During the restorations of 1858, this fresco was painted over and its name changed; the princesses became Wisdom, Faith, Hope and Charity (Sophia, Vera, Nadezhda and Lyubov).

On the opposite side stood the men of Prince Yaroslav's family. Only two figures, of young men representing Yaroslav's younger sons, remain of the 11th century fresco. The remaining part of the fresco must have fallen. It is believed that new plaster was laid in its place in the 14th and 15th centuries and covered with new figures (probably of Lithuanian princes). This composition also was painted over in the 19th century.

 p133  The fresco of the western wall (running perpendicularly to the two mentioned above) is the central composition in which are depicted members of the princely family. Princess Irene and the Prince himself presenting to Prince Volodymyr the model of a church (probably the Tithe Church rebuilt by him after the fire of 1017). This invaluable fresco was destroyed completely together with the western wall. We know it only from a drawing Westervelt made of it in 1651.

The uncovered fresco representing the Apostle Paul is a noble specimen of the art. Both this and the St. Nicholas fresco follow the tradition of early Byzantine painting. They display the hand of a very skilled master to whom the "Ukrainicized" frescoes of the Saints Photinia, Poliaktia and Nadiya also probably belong. These figures bear the features of the great aristocratic beauty of Kievan women and particularly Nadiya, whose head and shoulders are swathed in the dignified manner traditional to the ladies of the city of Kiev. These frescoes show many traits in common with the representations of the princess and her entourage on the walls of the northwestern tower. Recent cleanings have uncovered frescoes of Saints Kirykus, Troado, Basiliscus, Agathia, Nestor, Michael, Lucia, Dorothea, Marinus and others, in the central nave. The frescoes of St. Laurentius, Zachary and another unidentifiable saint may serve as proof of the excellent state of the preservation of still uncovered frescoes.

The technique of the frescoes which have come to light is excellent. Some of them have been executed without preliminary sketches; the brush strokes are bold and show a great deal of virtuosity. The frescoes are interrelated by the warmth of their tones. Those of the Sanctuaries of Saints Joachim and Anna, Michael, and Gregory the Theologian (already  p134 familiar from the preceding descriptions) show many traits in common with those recently uncovered. It may be surmised that original frescoes, which in the future may be uncovered, will make it possible to formulate a general conception which governed the adornment of the whole church with frescoes and mosaics. Such an summon seems warranted by the treatment of known compositions and the character of their color scheme. The frescoes of a secular character arranged on the walls of the towers are also closely related to the style of the frescoes of any other parts of the church.

In the southwestern tower there appears the so‑called Constantinople Hippodrome with the Emperor and the Empress in the main loggia and the imperial entourage occupying the galleries. It may be urged that this fresco represents Grand Prince Yaroslav with Princess Irene holding court in the Hippodrome at Kiev. Of course, for the time being this is only an hypothesis.

Even now it is quite possible to assume that the frescoes and mosaics of St. Sophia, of the so‑called St. Michael Monastery with the Golden Roof, the Dormition Church of the Kievan Lavra and the frescoes of the St. Cyril Monastery have been produced by teams of local artisans. At the beginning they probably worked under the leader­ship of Byzantine teachers but quite soon the disciples (such as Olympius of the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery) became outstanding masters themselves.

An important supplementary part in the mosaic and fresco compositions is played by the ornamentation filling the free space on the piers, arches, vaults, spandrels, the staircases of the towers and the window jambs. These ornamental motives may be divided into plant (mostly braided ornaments of arnica flowers), geometrical, mixed and animal designs. The mixed compositions of stylized plant and geometric motives are in the majority. Stylized leaves or braiding are inscribed into a rectangle,  p135 square, rhombus, circle or oval. There exist many individual compositions in the form of medallions, decorated crosses and tridents. Many of these compositions reappear in modern Ukrainian embroideries. The bands of geometrical ornaments in these compositions also have their parallels in modern Ukraine. Professor H. Pavluts'ky classes the ornamental motives of St. Sophia among Byzantine types, but at the same time he acknowledges their early Ukrainian peculiarities.⁠106 The color scheme of the mosaic ornaments is either tricolored - where white or yellow borders on black and are framed in red — or polychrome, where blue, green, red, pink and white are set against a gold background. Polychrome compositions run under the Orante (second band) and under the Eucharist and adorn the triumphal arch. Yu. S. Aseev is of the opinion that the compositional motif on the ornamental frieze below the Orante may be derived from the technique, polychrome character and motives of the well-known early Ukrainian enamels.⁠107

The artist who filled the walls, the surfaces of the piers, arches and the horizontal bands with ornamentation did not insist upon absolute symmetry in his design, not even in places where it might seem necessary. Nevertheless, the firmness of a master's stroke and the creative character of his imagination shine through the compositional perfection of the design and the this approximate symmetry. His work may be paralleled to that of the today's fold artists (e.g. in Easter egg painting, the interior decorations in houses, embossing, rug weaving). Of course stylistically these works are far different from the ornaments of St. Sophia but they remain related by the character of their composition. The ornamentalist was aware of the necessity of subordinating his compositions to the architectural lines of the interior. But these lines, too, do not always display regular geometric forms. Thus, for instance, arches and vaults show soft, not always circular, curvatures and the conches of the apses and the  p138 cupolas also depart from a precisely spherical form. Nevertheless, the combination of the rhythm, scale and form of the architectural lines with the fresco ornaments and the figures of the saints creates an impressive artistic whole.

The ornamentalist worked in close collaboration with the iconographer. It is even possible that both used the same palette. In this case the ornamentalist would be the iconographer's assistant. They would decide together about the general composition of the fresco. In some cases the ornamentalist would even help the iconographer finish the figure of the saint, a procedure which may be observed on the frescoes of St. Sophia. Are frescoes most important parts (the general outline, the head and the hands) have been made by a more skilled master than the ne who executed the garments and the background. On the other hand, an opposite phenomenon may be observed on numerous frescoes in St. Sophia where a large number of artisans must have been employed. In such cases, both the figure of the saint and the ornament were executed by the same person.

The opinions of scholars concerning the painters and mosaicists of St. Sophia are no less divergent than those concerning its builders. It was Academician Kondakov who expressed the opinion that the Cathedral of St. Sophia had been built and decorated by Greek artists. Although no chronicle mentions any invitation to "Greek masters" from Prince Yaroslav, this view has since been given with varying hypotheses suggested as to the origins of these foreign artists (Constantinople, Bulgaria, Asia Minor, Khersonesus and the Caucasus). Towards the end of the last, and the beginning of this, century doubts began to arise concerning the exclusive role obese artists in the creation of the cathedral N. Pokrovski declared that local masters worked in Kiev side by side  p139 with Greeks. It is true, however, that he refers to the period of Olympius' (of the Kiev-Pechersky Monastery) activity.⁠108 A. Prakhov, who believes in the artistic superiority of the mosaics of the Michael and St. Cyril Monasteries over those of St. Sophia, (which he thinks were executed by Greeks) notes that the 11th century was for Rus′ a time of apprenticeship, while the next century witnessed the beginnings of the independent artistic creativity. Then the local disciples of Byzantine artists began to note the things about them and introduce these observation into their work.⁠109 It must be remarked, however, that the Michael (Demetrius) Monastery is now dated not in the 12th but in the 11th century.

These scholars were vigorously opposed by the representatives of Kondakov's school, such ased. Aynalov. F. Schweinfurth belongs to the same group; but he even rejects the possibility of Kievan participation in the decoration of the Michael Monastery.⁠110

In his analysis of the paintings of St. Sophia, Professor A. Nekrasov admits that the iconography of the mosaics in the main apse is related to Constantinopolitan tradition but is bound on eastern Byzantine artistic sources. He finds a similarity between the treatment of the frescoes and that of the mosaics (especially the Eucharist); in speaking of the frescos of the towers, he notes that they give us a picture of princely life and of the decoration in the princely palaces, although they also reflect  p140 the scenes of social of official life in Constantinople. Nekrasov thinks that it is not necessary to assume that the authors of these paints were of Constantinopolitan origin, since the subjects and themes of the capital were widespread on the periphery of the Byzantine cultural sphere, though absorbing particular local influences in the West or the East. These peculiarities are distinctly expressed in the style of Kievan paintings.⁠111

The chief exponent of the so‑called Caucasian hypothesis concerning the origin of the first Christian paintings of Kiev, F. Shmit, does not believe that local masters played any part in the decoration of St. Sophia. Nevertheless, he concedes that the architectural complex of the cathedral, as well as its paintings, show extraordinary originality. St. Sophia's paintings are an enigmatic phenomenon, from whatever angle we approach them. Mosaics and frescoes stand side by side, an arrangement far from usual. Mosaics are set below the cornice which runs around the church flush with the imposts of the vaults, also a plan unusual for the 11th century. Shmit provides the adjective "Byzantine," referring to the art of St. Sophia with quotation marks and stresses that the church, executed on the order of the Kievans of the 11th century, is a reflection of their history and concepts and contending that if the foreign artisans did work on the cathedral, they were the "hands" and not the "heads." The Kievans ordered and directed the construction of the building and into the framework and decoration worked the pictures of their life and concepts so that the church is a reflection of the life and concepts of the people of Kiev.⁠112 Unfortunately, Shmit did not live long enough to see the recently uncovered frescoes on which he might have distinguished the hand of Kievan artists.

It is worthwhile to mention in this lits of opinions the view of the contemporary Russian scholar V. N. Lazarev, expressed in his excellent History of Byzantine Painting. Lazarev is not very consistent in his surmises as to the nationality of the mosaicists and fresco painters of the St. Sophia. He sees the hand of Constantinopolitan and provincial Byzantine craftsmen in the mosaics (in the Church Fathers and the Eucharist, respectively). For the frescoes, he postulates the activity of local masters (whom he calls "Russian") as sits to the Byzantine artists.⁠113 A modern Ukrainian artist, S. Hordyns'ky, following the earlier interpretations, speaks of Greek artists at St. Sophia, applying "chronicle data" which, however, does not refer to this church.⁠114

 p141  The fact that some Kievan princes invited "masters from Greece" is undeniable, but the chronicles are mute as to whether Prince Yaroslav did do. This was only an hypothesis of Prince N. Kondakov and the followers of his school. The present writer must correct his own previous similar view for which he depended upon the same sources. He is now of the opinion that there exists sufficient data in support of the thesis that the Cathedral of St. Sophia was built and decorated by local artisans. They worked with their Byzantine teachers or supervisors, but these latter may have come to Kiev from not farther than the Khersonesus, as the administrator of the Tithe Church, Nastas Korsunyanyn, whose pupils (from both Kiev and Khersonesus) may have acted as builders and decorators of St. Sophia. Nastas, that accomplice of Volodymyr during the siege of the Khersonesus (if we follow the version of the Primary Chronicle), who later became the prince's trusted aide and administered a tenth of the prince's revenue for the upkeep of the Tithe Church, may have been a Byzantinized Slav. The same can also be said for other immigrants from Tauris who may have come to help their new Kievan "Bren in Christ" by building and decorating temples of the faith which they had already held for a long time. In Kiev, they would encounter no language barrier. During Yaroslav's reign, they still had active intercourse with Ukraine‑Rus′; therefore the prince did not have to invite "masters from Greece" for he could draw artists from this nearby Byzantine outpost.

---

The Author's Notes:

101 V. Myasoedov, "Freski severnago pritvora kievo-sofiiskago sobora," Zapiski otd. russkoi i slav. arkheol. imp. russkago arkheol. obshchestva XII (1918), 1‑6.

102 A. N. Grabar, "Freski Apostol'skago pridela kievo-sofiiskago sobora," Zapiski otd. russkoi i slav. arkheol. imp. russkago arkheol. obshchestva XII (1918), 98‑106.

103 In St. Sophia of Constantinople, the entire triforium (gallery) was reserved for women in the time of Justinian. By the time of Constantine Porphyrogenitus, they were restricted to the middle and western part of the northern nave (aisle). Cf. E. H. Swift, Hagia Sophia (1940), pp103, 113, 122F., with source references.

104 D. Aynalov and E. Redin, "Kievski Sofiiski sobor. Izsledovanie drevnei zhivopisi, mozaik i fresok sobora," Zapiski imp. russkago arkheol. obshchestva IV, 3‑4 (St. Petersburg, 1890); and, Drevnie pamyatniki iskusstva Kieva. Sofiiski sobor, Zlatovercho-Mikhailovski i Kirillovski monastyri (Kharkov, 1899). D. Aynalov "Kiev-Tsar'grad-Khersones," Izvestiya tavricheskoi uch., arkhivnoi komisii no. 57, (Simpferopol, 1920); N. Brunov and M. Alpatov,"Die Altrussische Kunst in der wissenschaftlichen Forschung seit 1914," Zeitschrift fuer Slavische Philologie II 1925), 474‑505; III (1926), 387‑408; M. Alpatov, Geschichte der russischen Monumentalkunst der vormoskovitischen Zeit, (Berlin-Leipzig, 1932); I. Tolstoi and N. Kondakov, Russkiya drevnosti v pamyatnikakh iskusstva, IV (St. Petersburg, 1891); P. Polevoi, Ocherki russkoi istorii v pamyatnikakh byta II (St. Petersburg, 1880); among opened scholars, A. N. Grabar establishes a connection between the Byzantine imperial imagery and the tower frescoes of St. Sophia, cf. "Les fresques des escaliers à Sainte Sophie de Kiev et l'iconographie impériale byzantine," Seminarius Kondakovianum VII (1935), 103‑117.

105 P. Kurinny, "Fresky katedry sv. Sofii," Materiyaly do referatu na konferentsiyi ukr. vil'noyi akad. nauk (Augsburg, 1948).

106 H. Pavluts'ky, Istoriya ukrayins'koho ornamentu (ed. Vseukr. Akad. nauk), Kiev, 1927.

107 Y. Aseev, Ornamenty Sofiyi kyyivs'koyi (S. Hrabovs'ky, ed. for the Akad. arkhitektury USSR), (Kiev, 1949), p9.

108 N. Pokrovski, Stennya rospisi v drevnikh khramakh grecheskich i russkikh (Moscow, 1890), pp36, 45‑49.

109 A. Prakhov, "Kievskie pamyatniki vizantiisko-russkago iskusstva," Trudy Moskovskago arkheol. obshchestva IX, 3, (Moscow, 1887), 24 f.

110 Ph. Schweinfurth, Geschichte der russischen Malerei im Mittelalter (Haag, 1930), pp38‑59.

111 A. Nekrasov, Drevnerusskoe izobrazitel'noe iskusstvo, (Moscow, 1937), pp35‑38.

112 F. Shmit, "Pro vydannya sv. Sofiyi, Zbirnyk sektsiyi mystestv ukr. naukovoho tovarystva, (Kiev, 1921), p109; cf., also, by the same author, Mystestvo staroyi Rusy-Ukrainy (Kharkov, 1919); "Zametki of pozne-vizantiiskikh khramovykh rospisyakh," Vizantiiski Vremennik, XXII (1915‑1916); Iskusstvo, ego psikhologiya, ego stilistika, ego evolutsiya (Kharkov, 1919).

113 V. Lazarev, Istoriya Vizantiiskoi zhivopisi, I‑II (Moscow, 1947), p92 f.

114 S. Hordyns'ky, "Mystets'ki skarby kyyivs'koyi Sofiyi," Kovcheh, III, 1952.

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