Vyatka painting: history of origin, symbols, photo

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Painting on wood appeared in Russia a very long time ago, and still this kind of art is of interest to many artists and culturologists. Even children are familiar with bright Khokhloma and gentle Gzhel. But despite the fact that the Vyatka painting is not so widespread, it is one of the most mysterious and beautiful in Russia. Of course, this craft has existed for a very long time, but many masters use it to this day.

Vyatka painting

Painting on wood is an art that has come to the modern world from time immemorial. At first glance, absolutely chaotic elements actually have a semantic load. In ancient times, every object decorated with Vyatka painting was created in order to protect the house, the owner and his entire family. Due to the fact that in the past people rarely described their daily lives, the meaning of all the symbols is almost impossible to recover. Despite the fact that in the modern world there are masters who still useVyatka painting in his work, the meaning of the written elements became purely decorative.

In Moscow and other large cities, such as Smolensk and Kazan, they sell a lot of decorated dishes for tourists. Masters do not invest any sense in such products, and all the painting is done only in order to decorate the plates. Tourists from other countries like the Vyatka painting, and they are happy to buy household utensils made in this style.

History of Creation

From the name of art it is clear that it originated in the Vyatka land. And this is true, in ancient times in this province, many household items were painted the same way. So, spinning wheels, chests, cabinets, chests of drawers, chairs and even entire houses could be decorated in the style of Vyatka painting.

The problem of the masters for a long time was the stove, or rather, the way to heat the hut. When chimneys had not yet been invented, all the soot fell into the hut, thus it did not make sense to paint any thing. After a couple of months, it turned black anyway. But with the invention of "white" heating, Vyatka wood painting became in demand. The stove itself, the red corner, mats and even the front doors - everything began to be decorated.

Historians still do not know the exact date when the Vyatka culture appeared, but the first mentions found by archaeologists date back to the 9th-10th centuries. In those days, despite the fact that the Baptism of Russia was taking place, many still believe in polytheism and pagan rites.

Of course, decorative wood painting appeareda very long time, but still it flourished at the end of the 19th century. At these times, the lion becomes the main element as a home amulet.

Vyatka chest

Ancestors painted almost all household items. Since there were no wardrobes and chests of drawers, the housewives kept all the things of the family in a chest. To give the item a decorative look, it was painted with traditional ornaments.

However, painting and ornaments performed not only an aesthetic function. This was also done in order to protect the house and family from evil spirits. Of course, in the 19th century Christianity flourished with might and main, but still the Russian people continued to believe in pagan gods.

Folk craft: wood painting

It has long been customary in the Vyatka province to depict flowers, animals and geometric shapes on household items. For example, rhombuses, circles and squares were very popular, and triangles and stars are almost never found on any dishes. At the same time, people were painted very rarely, this is due to the fact that a person does not see the other world, which means that he cannot protect his family and home from him. Flowers were not depicted separately, but combined into beautiful garlands or even bouquets.

The following are the elements that the masters used in painting.

Circle and rhombus

Of all the geometric shapes, this one is most often found on decor items. And all because the circle in ancient times had a sacred meaning - it symbolized the sun. And the strokes around it represent the rays. Then if you look atancient chests, a reasonable question arises: “Why are several suns depicted on one object at once?” It turns out that the circles represent the movement of a star across the sky. That is, the change of night and day.

A frequent symbol in culture was the geometric figure of a rhombus, it personified fertility and prosperity. Despite the fact that each symbol on the product has its own role, the craftsmen sometimes added rare figures. So, it was not customary to draw stars, but archaeologists find dishes with the image of luminaries. Most likely, such symbols appeared when Christianity had already taken root in Russia.

Vyatka duck

Most often, the ancient Slavs depicted only what they saw with their own eyes, this is due to the fact that there were no books, let alone televisions. Nevertheless, such a creature as a duck-horse appeared in Vyatka culture. This beast has mythological roots, and it personified such qualities as we alth, fertility and prosperity.

Duck and horse are exactly the animals that were in every household. Most likely, this is why people combined them to create a divine image. Artiodactyls characterize willpower and perseverance. A duck has always personified motherhood and care. Thus, a fictional character is mom and dad rolled into one, that is, a family.

Real animals

Along with the fictional animal, ancient artists loved to depict lions. But here the question arises: in the Vyatka province there were no such animals as they could thensee master? Most likely, lions appeared at the time when trade routes were opened. And they were depicted in order to protect the house from evil spirits.

Birds in Vyatka painting also acted as defenders. Most often they were depicted schematically, in the form of checkmarks. But skilled craftsmen drew all the details, so they depicted birds such as chickens, ducks, crows and owls. The latter also personified calmness and wisdom. According to the belief of the ancestors, owls have always been considered the messengers of good news.

Wood painting technology

The main colors in Vyatka art are red - as a symbol of life - and white, which denotes the purity of the primary world. Colors such as yellow, orange, green and black are also available as complements.

In ancient times, there were no brushes, so rabbit feet were used to paint chests. And to create finer details, the tool was cut or patterned with sticks.

Also, if we consider archaeological finds, you can see that the drawing is completely identical. This was achieved with the help of special stamps. The ancient masters chose even sticks with a large diameter and created a pattern on them.

Before painting the chest, a special glue was applied to it. In the meantime, it was not frozen, it was necessary to cover the product with background paint. Then another layer of glue was applied. And only after completing these steps, it was possible to proceed directly to the painting of the product.

Now technologychanged, instead of glue they use a special base, and instead of hare's feet - brushes of different sizes. But it turns out that this is not the only difference. Ancient masters used only oil paint in their arsenal. This was due to the fact that at that time the remedy was the only one that was not afraid of water. To date, to create a Vyatka painting, paints for painting on wood use any, including gouache. And so that the liquid does not spoil the drawing, the final product is varnished.