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The art historian P. Muratov says that the
Moscow school of painting began its existence in the middle of the 16th century
and that the man who did the most to inaugurate it was the Metropolitan Makarii
(Macarius, 1542-1563), himself a good painter, whom M.N. Shchepkin rightfully
called "The codifier of Russian national culture." Makarii was
particularly prominent as a literary man, though he himself wrote very little.
As Archbishop of Novgorod he had the idea to unit in several volumes the huge
collection of all church books that existed in Russia. He invited the best
writers to do the writing and sometimes rewriting when Makarii found that the
original lacked adequate splendor, as was the case with the works of Pakhomii
Logofet, and some other authors. After twenty years of work there appeared the
so-called "Cheti-Minei," containing the lives of the saints arranged
by month and day, descriptions of holy days and precepts to be taught to the
faithful. During Makarii"s time as a head of the Russian Church twice as
many Russians were canonized than during the entire period since their
conversion to Christianity, and these books gave the reader additional
information regarding Church history and the lives of its saints. Makarii is
also credited with preparing the so-called "Stepennaya Kniga," (the
Book of Steps), written in the form of a genealogical ladder, with Vladimir I
at the bottom as the first "Step' and then going up the "Steps,"
one for each grand duke, ending with Ivan (the terrible) IV as the top step.
However, Makarii's major importance to the arts, besides his direct interest
and patronage, was the role he played at the "Stoglav" council of the
Orthodox Church, convened in the beginning of 1551 by the tsar.
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