Andrey Rublev: The Artist and his World by Robin Milner-Gulland (review)
2023; Maney Publishing; Volume: 101; Issue: 4 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/see.2023.a923988
ISSN2222-4327
Autores Tópico(s)European Cultural and National Identity
ResumoReviewed by: Andrey Rublev: The Artist and his World by Robin Milner-Gulland Louise Hardiman Milner-Gulland, Robin. Andrey Rublev: The Artist and his World. Medieval Lives. Reaktion Books, London, 2023. 152 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Bibliography. Index. £16.95. The icon painter Andrei Rublev (c.1360–c.1430) did not have an entry in the Brockhaus and Efron encyclopedia (1890–1907), yet in 1918, he was listed among sixty-six candidates for celebration in Lenin's 'Scheme for Monumental Propaganda'. This surprising fact reflects the new aesthetic appreciation of icons that emerged in the late Russian Empire and the recognition of Rublev as a master of the craft. It appears towards the end (p. 114) of Milner-Gulland's short history, but the notion of the duality of icons as both religious objects and works of art underpins the approach throughout. Due to the paucity of surviving material, the book is less a chronological biography than a synthesis of historical fragments, historiography and hypotheses. Milner-Gulland's remarks in the Introduction and chapter one that Rublev's history has an imprecise start date (he was born 'no doubt in the 1360s', p. 9) and 'in a broad sense' has no end (p. 16) were confirmed when, in 2023, Vladimir Putin authorized the return of Rublev's famous icon of the Old Testament Trinity to the Trinity Sergius Lavra. The decision flouted the wishes of curators at the State Tretyakov Gallery and was widely debated in the West. It is with this most familiar work that Milner-Gulland, seizing the freedom offered by thin pickings, decides to start. It is one of the few for which attribution is not in doubt. Over seven chapters, whose main titles are 'The Trinity', 'Russia, c.1400', 'The World of Rublev', 'Life and Works', 'Rublev as Artist', 'Afterwards', and 'Summing Up', the layering of contexts, facts (or myths) and interpretations from various angles creates an imperfect but compelling picture of a life. The helpful postscript 'Note on Icons' could usefully have been worked into the main text. The inevitable repetition of some topics is offset by the author's pedagogical clarity and demystifying tone when covering such a lot of ground, including: Kyivan Rus' culture, Byzantine art tradition and the Mongol Horde; the rise of the monastery; hesychasm; icon painting and training; iconography; scripture; icon painters and historical figures, such as Daniil Chernyi, Feofan Grek, Sergius of Radonezh and Epiphanius the Wise; and later commentators, such as Nikolai Punin, Pavel Florenskii and Viktor Lazarev. [End Page 788] The convergence of text and illustrations in the narrative is a strength of the book. In difficult times, Milner-Gulland has sourced many colour images, some new for Western readers. (A list would have been helpful.) Icons and wall paintings known mainly from monochrome Soviet monographs are given fresh meaning. There are maps and photographs to situate the geography, works in fresco and glass mosaic, panel icons, carved wood and metal icons, embroideries, jewelled oklady and illuminated manuscripts. Milner-Gulland takes time to consider open questions, such as whether Rublev painted the Andronikov monastery or the Zvenigorod Dormition Cathedral. As for the Zvenigorod deesis, he is unsure about recent assessments that such long-held Rublev treasures as the luminous Archangel Michael and Christ the Saviour icons are not his. Here and elsewhere, the biographer's difficulty is shared with the reader: can there ever be a definitive account? The book raises as many questions as it tries to answer, and several works that have been attributed to Rublev are not discussed or illustrated. Other things can be challenged, not least the 'all-Russian' version of history (starting with 'Kiev'), although the author concedes that there are many accounts. Art historians may raise an eyebrow at, among other things, the idea of figures in icons showing 'more than a hint of contrapposto' (p. 100), the notion that a secular tradition of 'palace painting' could have been lost to history (p. 38), or the remark that Igor Grabar´ was a 'Symbolist painter' (p. 118). Footnotes are scant and the short bibliography omits publications including those by Lindsey Hughes, Clemena Antonova and Martin Kemp, as well as Robert Bird's...
Referência(s)