| |
The Cathedral of the Archangel Michael was
built by the Italian architect Alevis' Novi in 1505-1508. It stands on the
southern side of the cathedral square, where there had stood a church which was
erected by Ivan Kalita in 1333. Here is a view of the
Cathedral. From early
times the Archangel was considered the protector of Moscow's princes, and a
church dedicated to him had to exist in the Kremlin. It was chosen to serve as
the burial place for Moscow grand dukes and tsars. Almost all (before Peter the
Great) of them were buried there in addition to other princes. When Ivan III
decided to replace the old church, it already contained 24 tombs. He found it
small and not representative of his dynasty. With its six pillars and five
cupolas the Cathedral of the Archangel greatly resembles the Cathedral of the
Assumption, though smaller in size. It is not really a copy, and is different,
because Novi embellished its exterior and put slimmer and taller drums beneath
the cupolas, which accentuated the vertical lines and changed the entire
silhouette of the edifice. He divided the cathedral horizontally into two parts
with a double string-course. The lower part is decorated with archatures and
the upper with rectangular profile panels; both have small windows. The
pilasters are crowned with Corinthian capitals. Above them are cornices and
then, just under the roof a row of purely decorative "kokoshniki" in
the form of radially ribbed shells. In all the cathedral was a considerable
departure from existing forms, and the first introduction in Moscow of some
Italian decorative details. The interior walls of the cathedral were covered
with frescoes depicting the Last Judgement, Saints and martyrs and portraits of
those buried there. Though there are no indications who painted the first
frescoes, some Soviet historians think they were executed by Dionisii (?) Or
his followers. The frescoes all perished in flames that swept through the
cathedral, or were seriously damaged by dampness, and had to be renovated. The
Cathedral of the Archangel Michael was decorated with frescoes for the second
time in 1652 by the Kremlin's artists Ya. Kazanets and S. Riazanets and later
renewed by Dorofey Yermolayev; in 1680-1681 and again on two more occasions. Of
modest artistic value, the frescoes that we see today are of interest because
of their content. Besides saints they include and actually represent a portrait
gallery of Russian princes and tsars beginning with Kalita. The last who was
buried in the cathedral was Peter II. Boris Godunov was also buried here, but
his remains were thrown out by Dimitrii the False, who ordered that a special
hole be made in the wall to take them out without religious rites, of course,
and later taken to Saint Sergius' Lavra. Soon after the first church was built
a new custom came into existence, according to which anybody could bring a
complaint to the church and lay it down on the tombs of the tsars, and be sure
that the reigning tsar would read it. This custom was abolished by Peter the
great. On the western wall of the cathedral is the Last Judgement. The
cathedral's iconostasis was executed in 1680-1681 by unknown masters in the
so-called "Moscow baroque" style that was to be used often for
interior decorating.
The cathedral was erected on the same spot where the stone church of Saint
Michael had existed before, which was built in 1333 by Ivan Kalita. Russian
painters originally frescoed the church in 1344-1346. Theophan Grek redecorated
it with new frescoes in 1399. They perished in flames in 1475. The church was
repainted, and it remained until 1505 when Ivan III decided to replace it with
a new, more dignified, and larger cathedral. By that time 24 royal persons were
already buried there and space was running short. The Milanese architect
Alevis' Novi was commissioned to do the work. The new edifice was consecrated
in 1509 in the presence of the new Grand Prince of Moscow, Vasilii Ivanovich.
First in 1652 two tsar's iconographers, Yakov Kazanets and Stepan Riazanets,
repainted several frescoes; then, in 1660 and 1666, Ivan Filatiev, Fyodor
Kozlov and Fyodor Zubov continued the work. In 1680 and 1681 the iconographer
Dorofeey Yermolaev worked in the cathedral for almost two years. More painters
came later ( in 1772, 1826, 1853 and as late as 1893) to repaint or restore
this unique gallery of portraits of Russian grand dukes and tsars. Soviet
artists cleaned them for the last time in 1953-1955. The most valuable icon in
the iconostasis is that of Saint Michael, allegedly painted by Rublev or one of
this pupils. There were more old icons in the cathedral. Several of those that
we see now were painted by A. Zolotarev, and a few by Yermolaev and Mikhail
Maliutin. In all there are now 46 sarcophaguses, quite modest indeed. Before
the revolution the sarcophaguses were covered with tapis, with the exception of
the one that contains the body of Ivan the Terrible, which was a simple black
cloth to indicate that he died as an ordinary monk (brother Jonas).
|
|
