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Strangely enough, it was the Oruzheinaya
Palata in the Kremlin that became the center of the new trend in the arts.
Here, where the Tsar, the Patriarch and most of the top officials lived and
worked, foreign artists painted their canvases, often in the presence of their
Russian colleagues and art students, demonstrating the new
"Friazhskii" style. The Armory Chamber was re-established soon after
Mikhail Romanov became Tsar and the first foreign artists arrived in Moscow
during his reign to paint pictures and portraits but not icons. His son
Aleksei, himself an art enthusiast, did much to enlarge the workshops, helped
the influx of foreign artists and offered better salaries and working
conditions to Russian masters. Of course, Alexei did not hesitate to mobilize
the latter and force them to come to Moscow whenever he needed them for a major
project, as was the case when the Kremlin Cathedrals were redecorated. Aleksei
showed sympathetic understanding for the new trend in art almost from the
beginning of his reign. In 1654 he appointed as director of the Armory Chamber
the boyar Bogdan Matveyevich Hitrovo, a very good organizer and a versatile man
who shared Aleksei's artistic ideas. With the new approach to painting as both
a secular and a religious art came several other changes in attitudes toward
it. Even the attitudes of the painters, unless they were monks, began to
change. The rules and regulations of the Stoglav Council were quickly
forgotten; the interest of the painters in western art and their eagerness to
copy it grew rapidly. The pious and very modest men, who kept themselves in the
background and never thought of signing their names to the masterpieces they
created grew rarer and rarer. Ambition and prestige, combined with better
living conditions, began to appear in the minds of the new generation of
painters, who already considered it quite normal to be guided by a
"Friaz," (foreigner).The second half of the 17th century saw the
appearance of the first "Tsar's painters" - "Tsarshie
izpgrafi," which soon became a prestigious title. They painted everything
that needed to be decorated; at that time this included furniture, toys,
dishes, stoves, and almost nay household item. The painters were divided into
two categories; appointed or salaried "Zhalovanikh" and hired
"Kormovikh." One could become an appointed painter only after passing
an examination, which consisted of painting an icon, and signing a statement
that he will "Not drink or revel, always be ready to paint, not leave
Moscow without permission,.....," and including several other obligations
on his part. In return for this he received 12-15 Rubles a year, about ten
bushels of wheat and when he was working , 6-9 koeks; all this was considered a
good income for that time. Hired painters were housed free and received about
ten kopeks a day. On holidays and special occasions painters received gifts
from the tsar's household. Documents show that in 1666 they were each given a
total of three gallons of wine, several gallons of beer, several pounds of ham,
five smoked tongues, sweets etc. (It is hard to see how they could escape
violating their oath not to drink, at least occasionally).
We have many photos taken inside the Kremlin Armory museum in the Moscow
directories.
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