Kiev Ukraine Church of St Cyril

overview

Built about 1146 by the Chernigov princes Olgovich, who waged an unremitting struggle for the throne of the Great Princes of Kiev. They founded their family's monastery and a church on the territory of Dorogozhichi, which was a key point for the control of the main trading routes.

St Cyril's Church of Kiev for a long time served as the burial place of the members of this dynasty. Here in 1194 was interred Sviatoslav Vsevolodovich, one of the heroes of the ancient Russian epic, The Lay of Igor's Host.

St Cyril's Church of Kiev is three-aisled with three apses. Its curious and individual system of proportions has remained unnoticed by researchers: all the articulations along the central east-west axis are not square but rectangular in plan, with the long side perpendicular to the longitudinal axis of the building.

Kiev Ukraine Church of St Cyril view

The apses too are shortened, so that the interior is extremely compressed towards the central area under the cupola, which gives it an unusually monumental and integral appearance. St Cyril's Church is known to have suffered considerably during the Mongol-Tartar invasion.

The first records of restoration work relate to 1605-1612, and the last significant alterations were made in the eighteenth century by Ivan Grigorovich-Barsky. During repairs to the temple in 1860 twelfth-century frescoes were discovered beneath the subsequent whitewashing. When they were restored in 1881-1884 the layer of paint was removed together with the whitewash, in places going down as far as the priming so that here and there only the preliminary sketches can now be traced; the frescoes were then repainted in oils.

The scenes of the life of St Cyril of Alexandria, to whom the church is consecrated, in the diaconicon (south apse) have suffered less than the others. The frescoes are distinguished for their vivid and monumental quality. This is enhanced by their scale, an idea of which can be gained from the following comparison: in St Sophia's Cathedral the height of the tier of saints is 2.3 meters; in St Cyril's Church, 3.5 meters.

Kiev Ukraine Church of St Cyril view

Highlights, energetic outlines, and the expressive folds of the heavy drapery reaching down to the ground, play an important role in the modeling. The figures, depicted frontally or in unhurried movement, in light clothing on a dark blue background, are superbly linked with the architecture of the interior and underscore its majesty and grandeur.

The frescoes' iconography too has its peculiarities: to the canonical scenes are added the Adoration of the Sacrifice (below the Last Supper) and lower still a register of selected saints in round medallions; on the triumphal arch are the Presentation of Christ in the Temple and The Apostles Peter and Paul.

In the north apse are saints particularly honored in Macedonia and Serbia. In the scenes of the life of St Cyril of Alexandria the artist has introduced numerous details of everyday life. In the Teaching of the Emperor the monarch is clad in old-Russian dress with a special shoulder-garment or barma; on his head is a stemtna with precious stones and miniatures, and beneath a short caftan he wears an embroidered tunic.

Kiev Ukraine Church of St Cyril inner paintings

His wide sharovary are tucked into red boots embroidered with pearls. This suggests that the emperor may have been given the features of the church's warden, Prince Vsevolod-Kirill Olgovich. In the centre of the south wall of the transept is shown a traditional version of the Nativity with numerous episodes, and facing it on the north wall is an apocryphal version of the Assumption.

On the anta of the south-west crossing pier is a quite well-preserved fresco showing the face of a saint, possibly St Boris. In the gallery, in the Father Superior's chapel, is one of the St Cyril's Church of Kiev city best frescoes: The Angel Leading the Young John the Baptist into the Wilderness. In the surviving frescoes it is possible to identify the styles of at least six painters.

The system of decoration of St Cyril's Church is characterized by a wealth of individual figures of saints in the nave and the internal narthex, and of holy warriors in the apses. During the restoration of St Cyril's Church in 1884 a number of compositions were repainted by the eminent Russian artist Mikhail Vrubel: The Descent of the Holy Spirit, The Lamentation, and the figures of the Virgin and St Cyril in the iconostasis, which was made to a design by Adrian Prakhov.