Saint Theophan and Church Sculpture

Abstract

In our time, the problem of criticism in the field of art and, in particular, in the field of church art has become acute. Due to the fact that in the 20th century the continuity in this type of activity was broken, today the question has arisen: is it possible to evaluate church art at all and how to do it? The history of the Church provides answers to this question, beginning with the iconoclastic period, with the theory of the image of St. John of Damascus. Under Bishop Theophan (Govorov), who governed the diocese from June 1, 1859 to July 22, 1863, an icon painting class was opened at the Tambov Theological Seminary. The saint's special attention to the artistic quality and professionalism of church art was explained by the fact that he was not only an expert in it, but also painted icons and portraits himself. The description of the iconostasis of the St. Nicholas Church in the Diocesan Gazette of 1874 (and its publication, as is known, was initiated by St. Theophan in 1861) contains information that at one time the saint was critical of this baroque sculpture of the Mamontovo church. However, it is significant that the order to replace the decoration of the St. Nicholas Church in the village of Mamontovo, made by St. Theophan, did not affect all the sculptures. It did not extend to the carved wooden statue of St. Nicholas of Mozhaisk, revered as miraculous, which remained standing in the church. Thus, it was no accident that Saint Theophan set an example of a critical attitude towards individual sculpture when 100 years ago he ordered the removal of baroque images from the iconostasis in Mamontovo. The tradition of the classicism style that existed then was closer to Orthodoxy than baroque.