Moscow baroque, elegance of style

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

The main rule for the emergence of new architectural forms is the reflection of social processes. Of course, the wording is approximate, non-specific, but the Moscow Baroque style appeared precisely against the backdrop of the events of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. In Russia at that time, society gravitated toward everything progressive. The spirit of Peter's undertakings also touched architecture. Temples, large and small, were erected throughout Russia. The builders of churches and cathedrals were mostly we althy merchants, everyone wanted to leave a memory behind.

However, noble nobles tried to keep up. For example, the ancient family of the Naryshkins, maternal relatives of Peter the Great, also took up the construction of churches after the long-term confrontation between the Naryshkins and the Miloslavskys ended. In this struggle for influence at the royal court, the Naryshkin family won, however, without any special consequences for the Miloslavsky family. Nevertheless, there was a reason for the victorious construction of churches and cathedrals in all the estates belonging to the Naryshkin family.

Several templeswere built in the style of the Western European main architectural order, but significant decorative additions were made to the external design, which laid the foundation for a new style, called "Naryshkin baroque" or "Moscow baroque". The most remarkable example of this style is the Intercession Church in Fili. It does not look like any temple of that time. The principle of construction is tiered: an octagon on a quadrangle with a vaulted ceiling for eight trays.

Above is the bell tower in the form of an octagonal drum. The belfry is crowned with a faceted dome - gilded, with a cross. The lower tier, the quadrangle, is surrounded on all sides by four semicircular apses. Each is crowned with a gilded dome. Along the entire circumference of the church there is a gallery-promenade. This temple alone deserves a separate description of the style, the architects used such an unusual architectural solution. The Naryshkin baroque in Moscow is also represented by the Church of St. John the Martial on Yakimanka and the Church of the Resurrection in Kadashi.

Unlike other architectural trends, the Baroque style, due to the concentration of rich external design, attracts attention, or rather, attracts. It is impossible to take your eyes off, you want to examine each line, to understand the play of light and shadows in the deep relief elements of the decor. The Moscow baroque does not contain a single repetitive small architectural form. And although some signs of the Renaissance sometimes slip in the horizontal divisions of the church orcathedral, yet there is an impression of complete exclusivity of the building.

Moscow baroque has a rare property: it conquers space. In some incomprehensible way, the visual perception of the church expands to infinity. There can be any number of buildings around it, we look at them, but we see nothing but the Naryshkin church itself. Particularly impressive is the Church of the Deposition of the Robe on the Don. Fairly simple architectural forms - a quadrangle with five domes closely planted, a large refectory and, finally, a bell tower as part of the church. The architecture is no frills, even modest for the Baroque style, but the church breathes sacredness, and this is an integral feature of the Moscow Baroque.