Scholarly record

PALLADIAN TRADITION OF STUDYING CHRISTIAN ARCHITECTURE IN THE ART HISTORY HERITAGE OF NIKOLAY LVOV

Andrei Bogatyrev, E. Milyugina

Abstract

The overall theoretical problem of the study is systematization of art history methods and approaches involved in description and analytics of ancient Christian architecture within the frame of the European XVI–XVIII centuries aesthetic thought. The specific challenging issue the article addresses is the role of Palladian art history and art criticism tradition played in formation of national school of Christian architecture studies and architectural art criticism in Russia. The object of the study is the heritage of art history investigations, performed by Russian architect, polymath and art-lover Nikolay Lvov, the author of the album “Moscow Antiquities” (1797), based largely on the example, principles and patterns found in the famous “L’Antichita di Roma” by Andrea Palladio (1554). The hypothesis of the study is that Nikolay Lvov used creatively Andrea Palladio’s art history and art criticism methods for conducting personal original research and implementation of his own enlightenment program for Russia. The confirmation of this hypothesis would provide evidence of the impactful influence of Palladio’s book in the context of development of studies of Christian sanctuaries as well as attraction of public interest to local Christian sanctuaries. The main objective of the study is to define the role of Palladian art history and art criticism tradition in Nikolay Lvov’s attempt to reconstruct medieval Moscow architecture as well as to assess consequently the influence of Nikolay Lvov’s heritage on developing scientific studies of architecture history and public awareness of Christian sanctuaries in Russia. The research design is based on a complex approach to the net of phenomena under study. The methods involved in the study include multimodal analysis and interpretation of historic data as well as historical reconstruction. The results of the investigation reveal the decisive role of “L’Antichita di Roma” by Andrea Palladio in establishing the public interest in the archeological, historic, aesthetic and culturological study of local sanctuaries both in Western Europe and Russia. The Palladian art history tradition stipulated a suite of various enlightenment projects and popular educational editions, dedicated to Christian and national architectural and cultural heritage, a valuable part of which was represented in “Moscow Antiquities” by Nikolay Lvov.

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