Unique wood paintings - the cultural heritage of Russia

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

The art of painting on wood can be attributed to the original Russian heritage. This is one of the most ancient branches of folk craft, widespread throughout Russia, especially in its northern latitudes. Russian painting on wood is mentioned in epics.

In ancient huts, painting was located on absolutely all household items (dishes, utensils, toys and decorations), the hut itself (platbands, porch) was decorated with it. There could be no special communication between the villages located at a great distance from each other, and, accordingly, imitation in the painting was also avoided. Therefore, this type of folk art was divided into peculiar schools, which received their name from the place of origin. They differed not only in their names, but also in the style of writing, the qualitative composition of paints, ornaments and characteristic details, by which the address of the manufacture of the product was immediately, unmistakably recognized.

So, Khokhloma painting on wood, or "Khokhloma", originated, like many others, in the Nizhny Novgorod region, in the same namevillage. This style of painting on wood is very famous, it is mentioned in many folklore works, and not only. It differs by an obligatory golden background, on which an ornament is applied in black and red (less often green) paints. Caskets, boxes, small household items were mainly painted like this.

Often there are samples of Gorodets painting on wood, which originated in the above area, naturally, in the city of Gorodets. Its characteristic feature is the white outline of the pattern, which makes the pattern convex. The main figure against the general background is depicted with local paint, which also makes it catch the eye.

Less common is Polkhov-Maidanskaya (mainly whistles and toys) and pyrography painting, or Sergiev Posadskaya. Most often, the latter was used when painting caskets with an obligatory image on the lid of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra.

Palekh, although it emerged as a school under the Soviet regime, can also be attributed to traditional wood painting. He absorbed a we alth of knowledge and skills of the ancient masters.

Mezen painting on wood deserves special mention, the oldest of all, which arose at the dawn of time, during the formation of the Slavic tribes. No one knows for sure what was its forerunner - the ancient crafts of the Komi Republic or ancient Greek art. The symbolism of the Mezen painting has a clear interpretation, it has such a well-known sign as a swastika, personifying the living sun. There are also such symbols: “swan”, “berdo”, “duck”, wavy and obliquelines symbolizing water and rain. Thanks to these signs, you can decipher the meaning contained in the ancient panels.

This painting originated in the village of Palashchelye (hence its second name - "Palashchelskaya") of the Arkhangelsk Territory, on the Mezen River, which flows into the Mezen Bay of the White Sea. Since ancient times, everything was painted in these parts, but the main subject of artistic processing by local craftsmen was a spinning wheel. The Mezen spinning wheel was not made from three traditional parts, but was cut entirely from specially selected trees, the rhizome of which could serve as its basis. All this was done in order to make the ornament more capacious and be able to tell the descendants of some testament or story.