Rublëv before Rublëv: Andrei Rublëv's image in Russian culture before the discovery of his authentic works

Andrei Rublëv belongs to the few medieval Russian artists who enjoyed popularity and authority from the start. His name appears in hagiographical sources and the chronicles, and both Russian religious writers and church documents between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries refer to him. The numb...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Cahiers du monde russe 2012-04, Vol.53 (2-3), p.441-452
Main Author: Nersesjan, Levon V
Format: Article
Language:fre
Subjects:
Artists
Hagiography
Historiography
Iconography
Icons
National culture
Religious art
Rublë, Andrei
Russia
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Summary:Andrei Rublëv belongs to the few medieval Russian artists who enjoyed popularity and authority from the start. His name appears in hagiographical sources and the chronicles, and both Russian religious writers and church documents between the fifteenth and seventeenth centuries refer to him. The number of references to the artist sharply rose in the nineteenth century, when interest for medieval culture and its prominent artistic achievements intensified. However, before the discovery of Andrei Rublëv's and Daniil's frescos in the Dormition Cathedral in Vladimir (1882) and, above all, of his celebrated HolyTrinity icon in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (1904), none of these works, which are now closely connected with the artist's name, were accessible to scholars or the general public. Analysis of accounts of Rublëv's life and work written before the discovery of his works allows us to observe how in the eyes of the enlightened Russian public, the character of a late medieval short hagiography turned into a mystic and visionary whose work was inspired by revelations and became revelation to others. This image of the artist turned out to be enduring - it even survived the long decades of Soviet historiographical methods - and in many ways determines our present relationship to Rublëv. //ABSTRACT IN FRENCH: Andrej Rublev fait partie de ces rares artistes russes du Moyen âge qui jouirent de renommée et d'autorité déjà dans des temps anciens, son nom figure dans les manuscrits et les sources hagiographiques, et tant les écrivains russes que les documents d'église du xve au xviie siècles y font référence. Les mentions de l'artiste s'accroissent singulièrement en nombre au xixe siècle, quand apparaît un intérêt marqué pour la culture russe médiévale et ses remarquables uvres d'art. Pourtant, avant la découverte des fresques d'Andrej Rublev et de Daniil dans la cathédrale de la Dormition à Vladimir (1882) et, le plus important, avant celle de son illustre icône de la Trinité de la Laure de la Trinité-Saint-Serge (1904), aucune des uvres, qui sont aujourd'hui le plus attachées au nom de l'artiste, n'était accessible aux chercheurs ou à un public plus large. L'analyse des propos conservés sur la vie et l'uvre de Rublev, tenus avant la découverte de ces créations, permet d'observer comment dans les yeux d'un public russe éclairé, le personnage à la courte légende hagiographique de l'époque du Moyen âge tardif se transforme en mystique et visionnaire dont l'uvre s'i
ISSN:1252-6576