Літописні “майстри із Греків” і Десятинна церква у Києві. Litopysni “majstry iz Hrekiv” i Desjatynna cerkva u Kyjewi

English Title: The Desiatynna church in Kyiv and the "Greek artists" mentioned in the Rus’ Chronicle

In: Вісник Львівського університету. Серія мистецтвознавство. Visnyk L’vivs’koho universytetu. Serija mystectvoznavstvo, 2 (2002), pp. 115-122

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Translation of abstract (English)

The author argues that the "Greek artists" mentioned in the Rus’ Chronicle as having been invited to work on the Desiatynna Church in Kyiv in the year 6499 [991] came from Chersonese. These artists built the church and started (but did not finish) to paint the murals. The year 6547 [1039] given in the Rus’ Chronicle as the date of the second consecration of the Desiatynna Church implies that its murals had been very likely completed only in the 1030s. The technological and stylistic similarities between the murals of Desiatynna Church and Saint Sophia Church in Kyiv (dated to the 1030s) suggest that the same group of artists may have worked in both churches. Having examined the foremost examples of 11th-century Byzantine monumental painting, the author questions the origin of the artists who worked on the Kyivan churches in the 1030s.