“Sermon on the Mount” composition by Hryhoriy Popov

 (in commemoration of the 970th anniversary of the first Chronicle of Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra)

Dear friends!

Today “Artistic Heritage” section would like to present to your attention “Sermon on the Mount” composition created by Hryhoriy Popov. The artwork beautifies the interior of the   Church of Sts. Antony and Theodosius of Pechersk (Refectory) and has (together with the paired painting “Saturation of Five Thousand People with Five Loaves of Bread”) the most advantageous central location. It quite fills up with the picturesque and decorative ensemble of the Church created by architect Oleksiy Shchusev, who was true supporter of the idea of synthesis of arts.

“Sermon on the Mount” composition has 29 characters. It was not easy to assemble them together. To solve the problem, Hryhoriy Popov used a kind of selective approach, combining his diverse impressions and taking different figures from different artworks. One came from the engraving made by Yu. Shnorr, another - kneeling apostle situated in the foreground of the painting, was taken from his own artwork “Elevation of Panagia” (located on the ceiling of the Refectory), as a variation. The group of three people on the left the artist “borrowed” from the well-known composition “Appearance of Christ Before the People” painted by Oleksandr Ivanov.

In comparison with other artworks created by GI Popov in Lavra, the gestures of the characters on this painting are minimal. Those who climbed the mount to listen to the Christ keep silence, look concentrated and attentive, fear to miss even one word said by the teacher. This state and feelings are reflected not only in people’s faces, but also in their concentraed poses and extreme restraint of hand movements. Even nature, presented by bushes and trees growing in the distance, seems to tune in to His speech. The rounded contours of their crowns look harmonious with the contours of human figures. Thus, the semantic meaning of the picture is enriched by a barely perceptible, intonational shade of the symbolist idea of the spiritualization of nature.

The road plays a significant role in the landscape. It seems to symbolize the moral choice that everyone, who has learned the Beatitudes proclaimed by Jesus Christ on the Mount, has to make in life.

The text was prepared by Olena Pitateleva, the senior research worker

Research Division for the study of the artistic heritage of the National Kyiv-Pechersk Historical and Cultural Preserve

Caption to the illustration:

1. Hryhoriy Popov, “Sermon on the Mount”. Paintings of the Church of Sts. Anthony and Theodosius of Pechersk. Early 20th century.