University of Oklahoma Press | 1967 | Pdf | Eng | 616 p | 97.3 MB

The founding of St. Petersburg in 1703 is commonly accepted as the date marking the passing of Old Russia (Rus') and the birth of Modem Russia (RosHya.) For most of the people, however, the pre-Petrine period did not come to an abrupt end in 1703. The cultural and artistic traditions of ancient and medieval Russia left their indelible mark upon successive generations and continued to influence the creative strivings of the Russian artist. In the second half of the nineteenth century the ideas and traditions of Old Russia became the center of the Slavophile nationalist movement leading to the repudiation of Western classicism which had dominated Russia since the end of the eighteenth century. It was this turning away from the West and the rediscoveiy of the national artistic heritage that led directly to the practical revival of Russian medieval art and architecture, and exerted an influence which is difiicult to overestimate in the development of modem art in Russia