Authors

Pichugina Olga K.
The Lombard Renaissance and the art of Leonardo da Vinci

Architecton: Proceedings of Higher Education №3 (87) September 2024

The article considers the traditions of Lombardy’s Renaissance painting and their influence on the development of Leonardo's creative method. The art of Lombardy in the late 15th century is marked by the conventionality of spatial constructions, decorative coloristic solutions, and pigmented glazing on dense undercoats of saturated color tone. Leonardo took into account the peculiarities of the glazing technique in the development of the sfumato method.
The concretization of the place of action and character individualization that were peculiar to the Lombard art of the second half of the 15th century are also echoed in Leonardo’s work.
The turn of the Lombard artists to the translation of natural optical phenomena in art had a direct impact on Leonardo’s scientific research and painting techniques.
Thus, it can be stated that the two decades that Leonardo spent in Lombardy enriched him with new professional observations and techniques.

Pichugina Olga K.
ON THE CONTENT AND PURPOSE OF «THE TEMPEST» BY GIORGIONE

Architecton: Proceedings of Higher Education №1 (77) March, 2022

This article attempts to decipher the content of Giorgione's The Tempest, painted in the first decade of the 16th century. The study suggests the presence of two thematic layers in it: external, at the mundane level of the plot; and deep-laid, based on the esoteric concepts of the era. Astrology and occult practices became widespread in Italy in the second half of the 15th century. Natural magic, which was thought to attract positive star influences, acquired a wide circle of followers. The third book of Marsilio Ficino's treatise "On Life" is devoted to its practical application. The description of one of the talismans therein corresponds closely to the iconography of the characters in The Tempest. Research carried out in this connection suggests that the painting was created as a talisman capable of endowing its owner with special gifts - a love of life, outstanding intellectual abilities, and spiritual generosity.

Pichugina Olga K.
CLARIFICATION OF THE BIOGRAPHY OF POLIDORO DA LANCIANO IN LIGHT OF TECHNICAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL INVESTIGATIONS

Architecton: Proceedings of Higher Education №4 (76) December, 2021

The article reports a study carried out to clarify some biographical information about the 16th century Italian artist Polidoro da Lanciano by examining his method of painting. He joined the Venetian guild of artists in 1530 and worked under the constant stylistic influence of Titian. Documents about Polidoro’s training have not survived and therefore it is not known from which of the masters he acquired the necessary knowledge and skills that ensured the career of a painter for the young artist. Today, experts are divided on this issue. Some believe that Polidoro studied directly in the workshop of Titian while others argue against this opinion. The purpose of the article is to establish whether the master might be referred to Titian’s direct disciples by technical analysis of the painting «Holy Conversation» from the collection of the Yekaterinburg Museum of Fine Arts attributed to Polidoro da Lanciano. Published information about the painting techniques employed by Titian and his workshop was compared with the data of the technical analysis of Polidoro da Lanciano’s painting «Holy Conversation». The results of comparison suggest, as a preliminary conclusion, that Polidoro most likely acquired the profession of a painter outside the walls of Titian’s workshop.

Pichugina Olga K.
DEVELOPMENT OF IMITATION METHODS IN THE PAINTING PRACTICE OF THE 16th-17th CENTURY ITALIAN MASTERS

Architecton: Proceedings of Higher Education №4 (72) December, 2020

The article explores the imitation methods in Italian Renaissance and Baroque painting, which were widespread in the forms of copying, replication, compilation and imitation. Italian art inherited the practice of imitation from the era of Antiquity and the Middle Ages. It was the basis of apprenticeship and organization of work in art studios. Model imitation and, at the same time, search for stylistic originality from the second half of the 15th century led to the spreading of replication, compilation, imitation and emulation techniques. The practice of imitation was continued by the 17th century Italian masters in the form of self-copying. Thus, the processes of imitation in the form of copying, replication, and compilation during the Renaissance and Baroque were a major component of everyday artistic practice and produced a significant impact on its theoretical comprehension and continuation at the subsequent stages of development.

Pichugina Olga K.
THE PAINTING «THE DEATH OF DIDO» PERTAINING TO THE CIRCLE OF CARLO FRANCESCO NUVOLONE

Architecton: Proceedings of Higher Education №3 (67)

The article considers variants of the paining «The Death of Dido» associated with the name of the 17th century Italian painter Carlo Francesco Nuvolone. All of them feature a central group of characters drawn similarly but being different in format and size of the support. These variants are represented by artworks from museum, corporate and private collections, including the collection of Yekaterinburg Fine Art Museum. Examination of the copying methods employed in the first half of the 17th century suggested the use of instrumental methods for creating variants of the painting «The Death of Dido». The abundance of the painting’s variants is explained by the popularity of this mythological story. It was placed by the contemporaries in the context of the «woman debate», the term applied to the literary controversy concerning the gender role of women that continued in Europe from the 15th to the 17th century. Its influence found reflections in painting. The stories of great or well-known women became topical. Particularly popular in early 17th century painting were the dramatic stories of death of Lucretia, Sophonisba, Cleopatra and Dido.

Pichugina Olga K.
“THE ADORATION OF THE CHILD” FROM THE COLLECTION OF THE EKATERINBURG MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS: ON THE ISSUE OF ICONOGRAPHY

Architecton: Proceedings of Higher Education №3 (59) September, 2017

The article studies the iconography of the Adoration of the Child, which became widespread in the 14th-16th century Italian painting. A new approach to the interpretation of events related to the birth of the infant God arose on the basis of the visionary experience of Birgitta of Sweden. The first compositions associated with the Birgitta iconography appeared in the late 14th - early 15th century in the works of Pietro di Miniato, Martino di Bartolomeo di Biagio and Turino Vanni. The popularity of the new interpretation of the plot was connected with the advent of the Mariological Revival, which determined the humanistic orientation of Italian culture in the second half of the 14th century. The regulatory framework that influenced the development of the theme of Worship was closely related to the liturgical drama and the lauda, a genre of ritual laudatory songs, and later to religious mysterious representations, sacre rappresentazione, separated from direct liturgical practice. Another direction that influenced the composition of the Worship was the Christmas installation of presepe introduced by Francis of Assisi in 1223.

Pichugina Olga K.
ON THE ATTRUBUTION OF THE PAINTING«STORM» FROM THE COLLECTION OF EKATERINBURG FINE ARTS MUSEUM

Architecton: Proceedings of Higher Education №4 (48) December, 2014

The article describes the outcome of technical studies and stylistic analysis of the painting "Storm" in the collection of Ekaterinburg Fine Arts Museum. Examination of the wooden support and the paint coat structure has confirmed that the painting belongs to the 17th century Dutch school. Previously, the picture was attributed to the Dutch marine painter Simon de Vlieger. Based on analogues discovered by the author of this article, the painting has been reattributed to the Dutch painter Pieter Mulier the Elder (1610 – 1670) and is dated as created in 1630-1640.