Dear friends!

We continue to acquaint you with the Artistic Heritage of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Today we are going to speak about the ornamental paintings on the porch of the Church of All Saints.

The interior of the Сhurch of All Saints (1906) demonstrates the unusual approach in the artistic interpretation of the Art Nouveau style. Truly unusual is the picturesque decoration of the Church porch. Its ornamental motifs range from microscopic elements to the worlds of universal scale. Giant two-colored disc bodies attract the viewer’s attention. The dark half of the sphere restrains the ominous pressure of the toothed segments. The light part is calmed by the flowing and wavy lines.

Each disk has outgrowths that end with buds at the end. The author’s message can be explained in such a way that, when the time comes, the bud will open and a new celestial body will appear. It will shine brightly in the sky, like a blue flower. This will last forever, because outer cosmic space has no borders. It endlessly repeats itself. The immensity of the universe is seen in the smallest particles that move in space.

If you visit the library of Kyiv-Pechersk Monastery, you will find a well-preserved book there. It was written by the Irish physicist John Tyndall and it is named “The Structure of the Universe”. The book explains in detail the wavy nature of the cosmic ether, driven by atoms. Fedir Konovalyuk, a student of the Lavra icon-painting school, interprets the laws of the universe in a manner, which is very close to the ideas described in the work of Irish physicist. At the same time, the painter of the church porch adds the idea of a miraculous Divine Light, admitted in the Orthodox world, to the new discoveries of the European science.

Captions to the illustrations:

1. Fedir Konovalyuk. Ornamental paintings on the porch of the Church of All Saints. 1906

2. Fedir Konovalyuk. Ornamental paintings on the porch of the Church of All Saints. 1906

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