Русский English Deutsch Le français Español Lingua italiana Suomi Svenska 中
search
Main page / Museums and sightseeing in Veliky Novgorod / Exhibition Treasury of Veliky Novgorod. Jeweler's Art of the 5th – 19th centuries
Exhibition Treasury of Veliky Novgorod. Jeweler's Art of the 5th – 19th centuries
Address:
Faceted Archbishop Chamber, Kremlin, Veliky Novgorod, 173007

Telephone:
+7 (816 2) 77 37 38

WWW:
http://novgorodmuseum.ru

Working hours:
10:00 – 18:00
Выходной: Пн, первая Ср месяца

Open: 10 a.m. – 6 p.m.
Closed: Mon. and first Wed. of the month

Entrance Fee:
По входному билету во Владычную (Грановитую) палату

400 roubles (adults)
250 roubles (students)
children under 16 - free

GPS:
58.52276300, 31.27633900

Exhibition is currently presented at the Faceted Archbishop Chamber

This is where more than 200 items of jewelry, arts and crafts of Ancient Russia are exhibited. A lot of new items of earlier centuries, which have not been available for visitors before, are now added to the exhibition. It allows visitors to look deep into the history of Veliky Novgorod, to learn the most dramatic moments of its fate by studying the complicated ornament of jewelry, to admire the Ancient Russian jewelers, who were mastering the most complex techniques…

Most of the exhibited items are related to religion, including those, which were kept in the monastery sacristies. Besides, there are jewelry items and household items of later ages, which were mostly made by Novgorodian craftsmen.

Learn more about the exhibition

The Novgorod jewelry craft bloomed in the first half of the 12th century. The craftsmen mastered all the most complicated techniques, such as soldering, casting, minting. Gold earrings, made by granulation and filigree, are good examples. There are two gold-plated silver ‘kratiers’ (cruets), made by masters Flor-Bratilo and Kosta-Konstantin, which are presented at the exhibition. The cruets are made in the Byzantine style, narrowing to the bottom and having a round pallet. Its specific feature is ears, made in the shape of a grapevine. There are figures of the saints minted on the rounded edges, and the natural ornament on the sharp ones. At the top of the cups is a lettering, which contains a quote, said by Jesus Christ at the Lord’s Supper: ‘For this is my blood of the new testament’, and at the bottom of the cups — the names of the customers who ordered these cups. Later, the craftsmen started making the communion cups for the sacramental wine, because they were more convenient for taking communions. These cups are exhibited at the ‘Golden treasury of Veliky Novgorod’ as well.

Among the church utensils, there was not any item without symbolic meaning. So, the Zion was the model of the global Christian sanctuary – the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. The sacramental bread was consecrated there. There were several Zions in the St. Sophia Cathedral. The small and oldest, was brought from the Byzantine Empire. It is heavily disrupted, but it has the reminiscences of the day, when Vsevolod, the Prince of Polotsk, invaded Novgorod and took the sacred relic away. Later, the Novgorodians returned it back. Heavily disrupted, without doors, with broken cut glass, it is still an example of the high mastery of the Byzantine craftsmen.

The Novgorodians were talented followers of the Byzantines. As a proof of that, there is the Big Zion, made by local craftsmen in the first half of the 12th century. It is made as a silver temple with the columns, carrying the sphere dome with pictures of Jesus, Holy Mother, archangels and Saint Basil the Great. Basil the Great is the Saint, lived in the 4th century, who shorted the divine service to 4 hours. The fact, that his image is engraved on the Zion, allows the scientists to make a conclusion, that the Zion was ordered by the Novgorod Archbishop Niphont, who considered the Saint Basil to be his patron. The Zion is called ‘Big’ for a reason, its size is impressive. For a better explanation, let’s make a trip to the past and imagine ourselves as Novgorodians at the divine service. An iconostasis was invented only in the 15th century, and there was no visual ‘barrier’ between parishioners and the sacred alter, and everyone, who was taking part in the service, no matter how far he or she was standing, was able to see the Zion, emotionally anticipating the moment of reunion with Jesus Christ – the Holy Communion.

Let’s take a more attentive look at this masterpiece of silversmith. There are 12 apostles, depicted in pairs, at the doors of the Zion. The plastics of their clothing and fabulous knowledge of anatomy are amazing! The masterpiece is elegant and ascetic, it has a rightful place in the arts of those times and, according to the scientists, its level of treatment is comparable with monumental works of pictorial art and iconography, masterpieces of goldwork and the book-miniature.

The exhibition presents some works by European masters. We don’t know, how they got into Novgorod, but no doubt they are yet another reminder of the importance of a large Medieval port, by which new ideas and influences came to Russia. So, there is a Byzantine bone chest, which was for s long time in the sacristy of St. Sophia Cathedral, plates with the Limoges enamel, which were previously used as covers of the New Testaments, but in St. Anthony's Monastery, where they got into, they became independent items, memorials of the international affairs of the monastery.

And how did a pectoral Holy picture with Spanish Saint James the Great (the pilgrimage to his hallows still continues nowadays) of the 15th century get into Novgorod? By the way, the Russian word ‘palomnik’ was used only regarding people who made a trip to Jerusalem. They usually brought a branch of a palm tree with them, so the word derived from this fact.

The Novgorod craftsmen had greatly succeeded in cloisonné enamel technique. On a tiny gold Holy picture (2,5 cm length) Saint George is depicted. It is hard to imagine, but the artist was able to make such a detailed picture, so that you can see the enamel of 3 different colors at the Saint's boots.

One of the best items of the exhibition is the panagiarion of 1435. The panagiarion was designed to carry the communion bread over for the cathedral to the Archbishop chamber. It was created mostly at the same time as the construction of the Faceted Chamber by the Germans. Its design was influenced by the Western Europe: the plates for bread at the top of the panagirion are carried by the angles, looking similarly with the Atlantes. There are a lot of other details, which came from the Western Europe, but the most important part of the panagiarion, the plates for bread, were created according to the examples of the traditional Russian Orthodox iconography, among them we can mention famous Rublev’s ‘The Trinity’, and the Novgorodian icon ‘Our Lady of the Sign’, which is now in the St. Sophia Cathedral.

One of the staffs, presented on the exhibition, belonged to Pimen, Archbishop of Novgorod. The parts of the staff are connected by the cut-glass apples. The staff is ornamented with fine carving, shallow light-and-shade of it is followed by light dark ornament. A transparent stone and slipping metal ornament create an impression of magic light beams, emanating from the hands of Archbishop. This staff is a reminiscence of the oprichny slaughter by the order of Ivan the Terrible, which happened during the notorious feast in the honor of the Tsar, who made a visit to Novgorod. The staff fell off Pimen's hands of during the slaughter, and one of its cut-glass apples broke. Later it was replaced, but the faceted apple, unlike the other rounded ones, refracts the light in a different way, as it is trying to remind us of those horrible events.

So, here’s a small review of a tiny part of the exhibition. It seems that the reminiscences of the most important historical events have concentrated in these creations. They reflect the connection between Novgorod and Europe, they help to learn how times and lifestyles have been changing.

↑ Up