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The City of Moscow

Sergey Simakov

Creation period

1987

Dimensions

121x204 cm

Technique

Oil on canvas

Collection

The Uglich Museum

Exhibition

Under the Gracious Protection

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Град Москва.jpg

Simakov S.B.

The City of Moscow

In 1991 painter Sergey Simakov left Moscow and settled in the village of Zagainovo near Uglich, however many important events of his life took place in the capital. There he received higher education as an architect, got married, overcame the influence of avant-garde art movements, and in 1977, he became a member of nonconformist union Twenty Moscow Artists. Later on, the painter turned towards the Orthodox faith — in 1983, he was baptized in Moscow and had a marriage ceremony in church with his wife Elena.

In The City of Moscow painting, Simakov depicted the capital as the centre of the Russian Orthodox faith, where all the greatest Russian saints got all together. In the right corner, he placed figures of two horsemen, i.e. Moscow Duke Ivan Kalita and Metropolitan of Kiev and All Rus Peter. It was Ivan Kalita, who managed to make an alliance with the top church hierocracy, after which, approximately since 1322, Metropolitan Peter chose Moscow as his permanent residence. Since that time, Moscow started to gain the status of the spiritual centre of Rus.

Ivan Kalita points to the centre of the painting, where the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God is painted. According to the tradition, the Mother of God was depicted in that manner for the first time by Luke the Evangelist. He painted that image on a plank from the table, at which Christ himself used to dine. The Vladimir Icon was brought from Byzantium in the 12th century. It was presented to Kiev’s Duke Mstislav Vladimirovich, and later placed in the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin. This is one of the most revered wonderworking icons of the Russian Orthodox Church.

Vladimirskaja_ikona_Božiej_Materi.jpg

The Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God, the 12th century

Source: wikipedia.org

Above the icon, Simonov painted the Deesis tier: Christ is sitting in the centre in the image of the Heavenly King (The Pantocrator) while St. John the Baptist and the Holy Mother are addressing him in their prayer. Also he depicted here Archangels Michael and Gabriel, Saint Peter and Saint Paul the Apostles, saint martyrs Tryphon and George the Victorious. Groups of Russian saints are located to the left and to the right of the central composition.

Their images are levitating over the conciliated Moscow panorama. Behind the red walls of the Kremlin, architectural masterpieces of various epochs are recognized, i.e. the Assumption Cathedral of the 15th century, the Bell Tower of Ivan the Great of the 16th century, the Terem Palace of the 17th century. In his works, created in 1980s, Simakov often placed images of saints into realistic landscapes, and he used this approach in paintings Leontius of Rostov, Boris and Gleb, Saint Anthony and Saint Theodosius of the Kiev Caves, Saint Martyr Tryphon. In this way, the painter underscored the timeless basis of the Orthodox plots.