Lavrentyeva Elena V. — PhD in Art History, the State Research Institute for Restoration, Research fellow of the Tempera Painting Restoration Department
E-mail: Lavrentyeva_Elena@mail.ru

The article presents the main results of a technical and technological analysis of the early Nevyansk icon, The Mother of God of Vladimir, from the collection of the Chelyabinsk State Museum of Fine Arts, which we carried out in 2020. These results proved the icon’s dating to the first half of the 18th century that had been previously proposed by the historian E. Roizman. When studying the art work under a stereoscopic microscope at 28˟ magnification, we managed to learn the stylistic mode of so-called lichnόe (painting of exposed body parts) and dolíchnoe (painting of clothing), as well as the painting stratigraphy. The article gives a detailed description of the state of preservation of the original painting, and presents the results of modern museum restoration. Also, the traces of the Old Believers renovation are revealed. In the result of our research we confirmed that The Mother of God of Vladimir was painted at the same time and in the same Old Believers workshop as another Nevyansk icon, The Mother of God of Egypt, (1734), which is hold in the Nevyansk Icon Museum in Ekaterinburg. We also made the expertise on that icon earlier, and our conclusion is based on the fact that both icons have almost identical lichnόe. The first modeling, executed with white lead, was put directly on the sankir. Then, it was completely covered with yellow ochre layer. The “construction” of the face shape was completed with white modeling. Thus, we observe alternating layers of pure white and ochre. Due to densely-applied white layers, the lichnoe modeling of the both icons gets relief, almost sculptural and tactile. Besides, other features are indisputable and confirm the simultaneous creation of the both icons in the same workshop: the set of pigments (synthetic azurite, cinnabar, white lead, red organic, red lead, ochres); the preparation of the same paint mixtures for dolichnoe; one prime composition (anhydrite); and identical processing of the wooden panels.

Attribution of icons, fine arts of the Urals, Icon-painting of Old-Believers, pigments of icon-painting, technical and technological analysis of tempera paintings.