Dear Friends!

We continue to acquaint you with the Preserve’s collections, and today we present to your attention the edition of the unique altar Gospel, which was published in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra in 1707 during the hetmanship of Ivan Mazepa.

The Altar Gospels from the collection of early printed books are sacred and highly artistic works that combine the best achievements of the typographic, jewellery and graphic arts of the day. In terms of volume and representativeness of well-known publications, the Preserve collection of Gospels is one of the most complete and interesting in Ukraine. The publications of the printing house of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, printed since the 17th century, attract special attention.

The presented Gospel has a large-format “in folio” and is the most luxurious edition of the Lavra printing house in all 300 years of its activity. The rarity of the book is that it was the first and exclusive ancient Cyrillic edition of the Gospel of Aprakos. Translated from Greek, “aprakos” means hebdomadary. In this book, the sacred texts are placed not traditionally, as in the Four Gospels or Tetraevangelion according to Sts. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John the Evangelists, but sequentially on each day of the church year from Easter to Easter, in the order of their reading daily, weekly or every Sunday.

The preface to the reader states that the book was published on behalf of “…noble leader of Zaporizhian Host and Hetman of both sides of the Dnieper River Ivan Mazepa…”. Having received the ancient manuscript Gospel from Mount Athos as a gift from the Greek Archimandrite, Ivan Mazepa, realizing its importance and great value, handed over the book for printing and further distribution to the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra.

Published in 1707, the Gospel became a real masterpiece of Ukrainian book-printing. Danylo Halyakhovsky, one of the best Ukrainian engravers of European training, performed the title page and copper plate engraving.

Highly professional masters of printing worked on the publication, as evidenced by each page of the book with printing in two colors with exquisite illuminations, sophisticated initials, ornamental frames and a specially selected font.

The gilded copper cover with a silver embossed pattern and enamelled medallions was made in the 1770s by the outstanding silversmith Oleksiy Ishchenko. It was recently restored by the Preserve's fine art restorer Vitaliy Kurlov, and last year it was presented at the exhibition dedicated to Hetman Ivan Mazepa.

Let’s discover the beauties of the Preserve’s collection together!

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