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Another novelty was the coming into fashion
of small icons painted on both sides of a panel. They are known as
"Tablets' or "Sviatsi" and they primarily served as religious
calendars. Usually each tablet represented a holiday or an important occurrence
in the life of the Church. They were painted not on wood panels, as was the
case with most Novgorod icons, but on panels made of canvas on which, on both
sides, were laid several consecutive coats of "Levkas" to make them
stiff. "Levkas" is a sort of gesso made of chalk mixed with fish
glue. Of exceptional beauty and interest are the tablets painted by unknown
artists in the 15th century for the Cathedral of Saint Sophia, now exhibited in
Novgorod Museum.
The iconography of the end of the 15th century witnessed further departure
from the naive, and rather primitive approach that was so characteristic of
Novgorod painters in the beginning of the century. They found increasing
pleasure in small details, basically ornamental, or in softening their palette.
The faces of their figures became more delicate and their bodies more slim.
They are already far from Byzantine mosaic stiffness. Of course the degree of
ingenuity varies with each artist, but the tendency to depart from the
"Democratic" outlook was quite marked. Russian iconography of the
15th century by far outdistanced the literature of the age as an instrument of
mental exercise or a medium to convey spiritual concepts. Actually, literature
began to awaken in the beginning of the 15th century, after it experienced
considerable direct Serbian influence and turned towards exploring deep human
feelings, a subject that icon artists had considered for almost a century. Some
of the icons they painted are of great beauty and richness. Framed in gilded
iconostasis and illuminated with hundreds of candles, they offered a lavishly
decorated and splendid spectacle.
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