Dear friends!

We continue to acquaint you with the Artistic Heritage of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Today, we present to your attention two goldsmith works from the Preserve collection that are wonderful examples of Ukrainian jewelry art of the 18th century. These are silver plates of the main altar of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra Dormition Cathedral (KPL-M-10796, KPL-M-1147).

The great holy altar of the Dormition Cathedral had quite significant parameters. It was almost 2 m in length, 1.74 m in width and 1 m in height. In comparison to the much more restrained decoration of the other altars of the Cathedral, all its surfaces were completely covered with numerous gilded silver plates with embossed images. The total weight of the silver mounting was 112,3 kg.

Unfortunately, the current state of this amazing work of goldsmith art of the Baroque period does not allow us to get a full picture of the original beauty of the main altar in the Great Lavra Church. Like many other magnificent works of sacred art that were kept in the church at the time of its explosion in 1941, the silver mounting of the main altar of the Cathedral was damaged.

The Ecclesiastical Council commissioned the production of the precious mounting for the main altar of the Dormition Cathedral to the well-known craftsman of silver affairs, Mykhailo Yurevych, a "burgher of Kyiv-Podilsky district". The layout for the mounting was created by Lavra artists. The work on decorating the altar with silver plates began in 1751 and was completed in 1755.

The decorations of each side of the altar consisted of several parts. On the east side, there were four plates, two of which covered the door leaves that closed a niche in the stone wall of the altar. On the right leaf, there was a plate with the composition "Noah's Sacrifice", on the left - "Abraham's Sacrifice". It should be noted that these plots are rare ones in the sacred goldsmithing works, especially the composition "Noah's Sacrifice after leaving the ark". The engravings of the Piscator’s Bible (1650) became the iconographic source for them.

The skills of the craftsman are impressive. He managed to convey the expressiveness of the painting in silver, making the most out of the plastic properties of the metal.

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

of the Research Division for the Study of Artistic Heritage

Picture captions

1. Main altar of the Dormition Cathedral. East side. Photo from the 1920s.
2. Noah's sacrifice after leaving the ark. Fragment of the main altar mounting of the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Preserve collection. KPL-M-10796
3. Noah's Sacrifice. Engraving of the Piscator’s Bible. 1650
4. Abraham’s sacrifice. Fragment of the main altar mounting of the Dormition Cathedral of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra National Preserve collection. KPL-M-1147.
5. Abraham’s sacrifice. Engraving of the Piscator’s Bible. 1650

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