"Midnight Savior" - this is the name of the genre of wooden religious sculpture, co. Features of Perm wooden sculpture

Perm wooden sculpture is a unique phenomenon, but little known outside the region. Wooden saints, angels and Christ, gathered all over the Perm region, are very different, but they all seem to be alive and surprisingly emotional: somewhere tragic, somewhere pensive, somewhere even funny. Naivety and realism, the alignment of lines and the roughness of proportions - everything has found its place in this cultural phenomenon Prikamye.

2. When Christianity gradually began to come to the Permian land to the local residents, hitherto pagans, it was generally understood and accepted by them, but with a correction. Accustomed to living and realistic images of the former gods, not everyone seemed right to pray to flat icons. This is how the first Christian wooden sculptures appeared, made in the likeness of pagan statues.

3. Most big collection Perm wooden sculpture is located in art museum in Perm, which is located in the former Transfiguration Cathedral, the largest church in the city (alas, it is now in scaffolding, so I didn’t even take a picture of it). On the one hand, not the most the best place for a museum, on the other hand, for works of Christian art, probably, a temple is somehow logical.

4. There are more than 400 sculptures from all over Perm Territory. The most popular subjects are Christ in prison and on the cross, as well as St. Nicholas in various variations, including his Mozhaisk image. By the way, this particular one in the photo is one of the oldest in the collection (late 17th-early 18th century), brought here from the village of Pokcha.

5. Later sculpture, 19th century. Nicholas the Wonderworker in general has always been very revered in Russia as a protector saint and patron saint on difficult journeys. And in these places it was far from easy to move at that time, especially in the direction to the north. Saint Nicholas was always called for help at the most difficult moments of the journey.

6. How alive the eyes and spiritualized face is, simply amazing.

7. The second important image is Christ in prison. An image of humility and non-resistance to evil.

8. Unfortunately, the museum is a little dark, and many of the photos did not turn out very well. :(

9. The first examples of Perm sculpture appeared in the middle of the 17th century, in the vicinity of modern Cherdyn. By the way, the variant with origin from wooden idols is not the only one. Some researchers believe that by that time the Great Perm principality had already been Christianized for two centuries, and sculpture was an original phenomenon, and not a relic of paganism. One way or another, but when the Holy Synod in 1722 announced a ban on three-dimensional icons and images, it may have worked somewhere, but not in Perm. Local priests and bishops turned a blind eye to this, because. the people were absolutely sure of their adherence to the "living", and not to the saints depicted on the board.

10. Since ancient times, on the lands of the Perm Territory lived different nations, and the special coloring of the sculptures is given by the fact that the faces of Christ and the saints are often repeated national traits the master who made them. Here, for example, Christ with a strange Mongolian face.

12. Lord of hosts. Here I don’t know ... what nationality was the sculptor, what do you think? :)) Am I the only one who thinks that something African blows?

13. The Lord of Hosts with a beard, but without a mustache - also specific, Scandinavian associations arise.

14. The beheaded head of John the Baptist on a platter. One of the most memorable images of the museum.

15. A special place is occupied by the only almost completely preserved composition of Christ in the dungeon. Pay attention to the angels holding the instruments of execution of the Savior.

16. Christ himself again reveals Mongolian features. And again, the image of extreme humility and sacrifice is felt.

18. Well, in order to dilute the tragic stories a little, let me return to the angels who were on cover photo. Although, again, according to the idea of ​​the author Nikon Maksimovich Kiryanov (and far from all the sculptures, history brought us the names of their authors), these angels should hold the instruments of the passions of Christ, but if you don’t know this, they look somewhat comical. These two, for example, reminded me of the fans at the stadium. :)

In total, Nikon Maksimovich, who lived only 46 years (1860 - 1906), managed to make about 500 sculptures, all of which decorated the chapel in his native village of Gabovo, which this master also built. I think that in the end there were even more angels in this village than residents.

19. And, finally, the upper fragment of a wonderful ancient iconostasis. The entire museum occupies three floors, and the iconostasis is essentially a "through" exhibit through all these floors. It is completely made of wood, and was once brought to Perm from the Pyskor Monastery, which was abolished in the 18th century not far from Solikamsk. Interestingly, the Transfiguration Cathedral in Perm itself (that is, this very current museum) was built taking into account the size of the iconostasis transported here, and not vice versa.

In general, the exposition is extremely interesting, and, of course, worth a visit. A real treasure of the Permian land.

… One of the earliest impressions is connected with this place.
At the age of four, for the first time, by the hand with her mother, she climbed a high staircase that seemed endless, under the very vault of the Transfiguration Cathedral in Perm. We went, of course, not to the temple, but to the Perm Art Gallery. In the years after the revolution, the majestic, beautiful building, reminiscent of the lancet bell tower of the Peter and Paul Cathedral in St. Petersburg, was handed over by the authorities to museum workers to arrange an exhibition of paintings and art objects within its walls. Thanks to this, the cathedral was not destroyed, like dozens of other city churches, and from that time on, the ancient iconostasis, high in several floors, served as a “background” for the wooden collection located on the top floor of the gallery.
sculptures.

It was there that I first heard about Christ and saw His appearance. The history of the earthly life of the Savior was not like a fairy tale. Even then, it was clear to the children's consciousness that it was impossible to come up with a "legend" about the crucifixion and torment on the cross, details about the crown of thorns and scourging. Question-statement: “Is this true? It was…” received no response. Mother did not say anything, but by the way she took my hand, how she led me from one sculpture to another, barely audibly, explaining something in a whisper, there was a feeling that everything was exactly the same. And in subsequent years, we often passed the exposition at a quick pace, knowing that the main thing was ahead, and sometimes with one nod
agreed: "Immediately - in the" wooden sculpture "".

Non-canonical works

The Perm collection of wooden sculpture is unique. Its unusualness is not so much in the "genre" - sculpture is found in early Christian art - but in the integrity, exceptional expressiveness of the images and the richness of this museum collection. In other cities of Russia - Pskov, Novgorod, Pereslavl-Zalessky, Vologda and Arkhangelsk - it was possible to find up to several dozen samples of wooden sculpture, in the Perm province there were more than two hundred of them. Not everything is included in the modern exposition.

Different in style, high as human height and miniature three-dimensional images represent images of Christ, the Virgin, Archangels and saints. There are also traditional temple crucifixes in this collection. But still most of works of Perm masters, is non-canonical. It is worth recalling that in the 16th century the Stoglavy Cathedral banned the three-dimensional depiction of Christ as carnal, embarrassing, and two centuries later the Holy Synod (in 1722 and 1767) confirmed this decision: “Icons carved or hewn and sculpted are prohibited.”

However, in the Stroganov lands, especially in the north, sculptural images were still preserved for a long time. And this was by no means connected with the aesthetic preferences of the parish clergy and not with the veneration of the images themselves on a par with icons, but with the conditions in which the gospel sermon was conducted. The population of the Kama region was extremely diverse in composition. Russian settlements coexisted with Tatar, Komi-Perm, Zyryan, Mari and Udmurt. Real missionary activity here it became possible only in the process of colonization after the inclusion of the conquered territories into the Russian state. Pagan cults were rooted and were widespread. That is why three-dimensional images, despite the overwhelming illiteracy of the peasants, turned out to be more understandable, more accessible for the perception of new members of the Church who were converted from pagans.

On the part of the clergy, this kind of "indulgence" was part of the battle for souls. How was the parish priest to behave when the local carver, shocked by the story of Christ, carved from wood not the pillar image of the pagan “deity”, as before, but the earthly image of the Savior he saw on the icon, trying to convey with the help of plasticity the unbearability of His suffering? Even the most rigorous viewer will hardly find something sensual in these sculptures: the plot “Christ in the dungeon” turned out to be the most common. Scolded, humiliated, beaten, wearing a crown of thorns, bleeding. Reject, ban?
The work of carvers served as an expression of belonging, and at the same time was a kind of sermon. To unenlightened, and sometimes hardly speaking Russian, “half-drowsy” fellow villagers, the master could simply show how it was.

XVIII century. (From the chapel in the village of Pashiya, Gornozavodsky district)

18th century (And the Church of the Resurrection of Christ in Solikamsk)

And the tradition of sculptural decoration of temples took root, unofficially, semi-legally. Over time, in some places, three-dimensional images were abandoned, and works folk craftsmen(in order to avoid reproach) moved from the temples to the back rooms.

Wooden sculpture was of interest not only from an artistic point of view, but also from a historical one. It reflected how the “assimilation”, “appropriation” of Christ by recent pagans took place. The most impressive in the Perm collection are those images in which the features of local peoples can be traced. There are among them "Christ with the face of a Tatar", "Christ" in the form of a Permian Komi peasant in a blue shabur with a belt. The creators of the sculpture, voluntarily or involuntarily, managed to convey the main thing: the sacrifice of the Savior was a sacrifice for the world ...

Early 19th century

(From the Church of the Transfiguration in the village of Ust-Kosva, Ilyinsky District)

"In the light of the decree"

The history of the formation of the collection is also interesting. Its collector was a purely secular person, sincerely passionate about museum work and the history of art. His name is Nikolai Nikolaevich Serebrennikov. However, his interest in temple wooden sculpture arose not by chance: his father was a priest from the village of Upper Mulli, located not far from Perm. The revolution "mixed up" a lot. in a whirlwind civil war Serebrennikov was in the ranks of the White Army, and then evacuated to Siberia, somewhere in the Achinsk region, went over to the side of the "Reds".

In the early 1920s, together with the head of the museum business in the Kama region, A.K. Syropyatov N.N. Serebrennikov took the first steps towards the realization of his dream
– to create a collection of church art, which would also include Perm wooden sculpture.

Perhaps there would be no collection if it were not for the "case". One day in 1922, returning home in the evening, Serebrennikov turned towards the old cemetery chapel in the village of Ilyinskoye, the doors of which were left wide open. In a dark room, his attention was attracted by five sculptural images, which were immediately transferred to the Ilyinsky Museum with the permission of the local executive committee.

There was no information about the sculpture in the church archives. But in pre-revolutionary publications, it was possible to find many references to the artistic and historical
importance of wooden sculpture. Serebrennikov no longer doubted that Permian wooden sculpture must be carefully studied. Pre-revolutionary reference books and guidebooks made it possible to think over the routes of future expeditions. Between 1923 and 1926 six of them were undertaken: Cherdynsky and Solikamsky districts, villages and villages of Perm, Komi-Permyatsky and Verkhnekamsky districts.

The memories of the participants themselves testify to the atmosphere in which these expeditions took place. Researchers were usually "guarded" by rural Komsomol members, policemen and local authorities Soviet power. The chairmen of the village councils and volost executive committees were also present during the inspection of the temples.

The fact is that the "scientific interest" of the expedition members was not limited to wooden sculpture. Ancient valuable icons, crosses, phelonions, covers,
church vessels… The source succinctly states: “the clergy were reluctant to part with them.”

Simon Khromy. "The Nativity of John the Baptist" Late 16th century (From the church of the village of Orla, Usolsky district)

Istoma Savin Late 16th – early 17th century (From the church of the village of Orla, Usolsky district)

Folding fold: Our Lady of Vladimir, with holidays in
18 hallmarks and 10 faces of saints on the wings. 1603 (From the Church of Praise
Holy Mother of God with. Orla, Usolsky district)

These expeditions, in fact, became the practical embodiment of the decree of 1918. In the literature of the 70s, mention is made of "unfriendly reception of expeditions by the local population", of cases of resistance to requisitions and of attempts to "conceal" the most valuable shrines. Among other things, it is innocently said that A.K. Syropyatov had to "pacify" his "temperamental assistants", "explaining to the peasants and members of the church council the essence of the decree on the separation of church and state."

The success of expeditions in these cases was not determined by the achievement of mutual understanding: valuables, among which were those of liturgical significance, were confiscated
formally as "property belonging to the state". Participated in one of the expeditions famous artist I.E. Grabar wrote to his wife:
“Serebrennikov is carrying out the operation of “withdrawal” to the Perm Museum, which may fail, despite our “decrees and instructions” taken with him.
and papers from the Verkhnekamsk region. executive committee." The letter ended with a notice: “It ended well; twelve first-class things, including icons,
taken out."

Only from Cherdyn to Perm was delivered 100 pounds of monuments of church art. Among the "trophies" of the expedition in Solikamsk district were icons from
Church of the Annunciation in the village of Orel - "Our Lady of Vladimir", "The Nativity of John the Baptist", the sculpture "Nikolai Mozhaisky". A volume was brought from Nyrob
carved icon "Paraskeva Pyatnitsa".

"Nikola Mozhaisky" "Paraskeva Pyatnitsa" Ser. 18th century 17th century (From the Church of the Annunciation in the village of Pokcha, Cherdyn region) (From the church in Nyrob)

For expedition organizers artistic value wooden sculpture and icons were indisputable, but it was necessary to think over how to present the collection within the framework of the official ideology? And a way out was found: the hall where it was located became part of the exposition of ... "anti-religious art." In the 1920s and 1930s, under the arches of the museum premises, stretched posters were full of five-pointed stars: “The new communist way of life is against religious illiteracy!”,
“The fight against religion is the fight for a brighter future!”…

Part of the work of the employees was "explanatory conversations" with visitors. The main argument against the “remnants of the past” is simple: every nation “invents a god for itself in its own image and likeness”: this is how the Komi-Permyaks see it, but how the Tatars ... “The suffering of the oppressed masses of the Kama region is easily read.” Perverse logic: as if not the same Christ attracted Tatar and Komi-Permyak masters to Himself with love; as if the nearness of the Savior to all who mourn and His truth could be replaced by justice in the spirit of class theory...

18th century (From the chapel at the cemetery church of St. Myrrh-Bearing Women in Solikamsk)

"Organs" could be satisfied. The exhibition served as "ideological reinforcement" of the furious policy towards the Orthodox Church. In the 1920s and 1930s, the Perm diocese suffered impressive losses, which were almost unmatched in Russia. Archbishop Andronik (Nikolsky) and Vicar Bishop Feofan (Ilmensky) of Solikamsk accepted martyrdom*. Open gospel preaching was practically impossible in those years.

However, “human means” are not omnipotent: the work of the exposition also had results that were opposite to the goals of the organizers: the section of church art
for years attracted people for whom a visit to the "gallery" was the only opportunity, without fear of consequences for themselves and their loved ones, to pray near
blessed icons, bring your experiences and sorrows to the foot of the Cross of the Lord.

... And one day for the whole of Russia, it was time for change. However, the “conquests of the revolution” paradigm proved to be surprisingly persistent. For several years now
The Perm diocese is trying to return the Transfiguration Cathedral. The arguments of the secular authorities are unchanged: “there is no room in the city worthy of
unique art collection. Indeed, some of the "exhibits" from the "Christian art" section - icons, crucifixes and the iconostasis itself - are hard to imagine outside these walls. However, there is no talk yet about the transfer of shrines to the Church. The ancient city cemetery remains a "prisoner of the past"
adjacent to the bishop's house - the resting place of priests, honorary citizens **. In order to eradicate the very memory of respected people who inspire a sense of gratitude, after the revolution, a zoo was built on this site, which still operates today.

But no matter what happened over these decades, no matter how crazy the world would have reached, at the highest point of Komsomolsky Prospekt, under the vaults of the Transfiguration Cathedral, “Christ in the Crown of Thorns” sat on the dungeon stone, as on the Throne of Glory. Even in the midst of silence, Truth reminded of Itself by means of non-canonical art.

Twenty-two-meter gilded iconostasis
from the cedar of the Perm Spaso-Preobrazhensky Cathedral, was brought from the Pyskorsky Monastery, and made in the 17th century in Moscow.

* Archbishop Andronik (Nikolsky) in June 1918 was buried alive by Chekists not far from Perm. And the vicar bishop Feofan in December of the same year, a few days before the city was occupied by the troops of Admiral A.V. Kolchak, was subjected to sophisticated torment: in a thirty-degree frost, the Chekists repeatedly immersed him in an ice hole until Vladyka's body was covered with a two-centimeter layer of ice, and then drowned. Together with Bishop Theophan, two priests and five laity were martyred.

** At this place, for example, the well-known and revered once in the city doctor F. Gral (1770-1835), who treated the poor for free, is buried.

** At this place, for example, the famous and revered once in the city doctor F. Gral (1770-1835), who treated the poor for free, is buried

Perm wooden sculpture, or “Perm gods” is a truly unique collection that has no analogues in the world. The first monuments that have survived to this day date back to the 14th-15th centuries. The most vivid and complete wooden sculpture was widespread in churches in the north of the Perm province in the 17th-19th centuries. Along with icons and works of arts and crafts, it was part of artistic ensembles churches and chapels...

Local pagans, even having converted to Orthodoxy, could not worship flat icons. Therefore, they carved figures of Jesus and saints from wood, essentially continuing to worship wooden idols. Despite the prohibitions of wooden religious sculptures by the church authorities, “wooden gods” for several centuries multiplied in the churches of the Urals, where the Komi-Permyaks lived.

Contrary to orders from above, local priests, fearing to lose their flock, did not burn wooden sculptures and did not crack down on the skilled craftsmen who made them, as was often the case in the fight against the Old Believers.

Christ in prison, 18th century 120x42x55 Wood (pine), gesso, tempera. Round sculpture.

jesus christ in prison

The main features of the Permian wooden sculpture are the monumentality of artistic solutions, outstanding figurativeness, high skill with which carvings are made, and great emotionality. However, most of the original folk carvers remained anonymous.

Figures of Jesus Christ

However, in history, for example, the name of a peasant from the village of Gabova (now Karagai district) Nikon Kiryanov remained. For the village chapel, he carved about 500 wooden sculptures, creating an ensemble naive in form, but high in spiritual content. The “Shaksher school” (the end of the 18th - the first half of the 19th century), characteristic of the Cherdyn settlements, also stands out. Its samples differ as if corrugated surfaces.

In the collection of the Perm State art gallery there are more than 330 exhibits, consisting of more than 600 figures, mainly from the 18th - early 20th centuries. The collection was formed in the 1920s and 1940s during expeditions to the north of the Perm Territory. Alexander Syropyatov (1882-1954) began this work, and Nikolay Serebrennikov (1900-1966), the founder of the Perm Gallery, continued.

The "discoverer" of Perm sculpture is called N.N. Serebrennikov, who from 1923 to 1926 organized six expeditions to collect monuments of art and antiquity. Most of the collection consists of sculptures found in rural churches in the north of the Perm region. In 1925, I. E. Grabar participated in the expedition, the first of major artists and art critics who appreciated the significance and cultural value of the finds. After the exhibition in 1924, these unique works were called "Perm gods". The collection of the Perm Art Gallery contains about 370 carved images of the 17th-20th centuries.

Everything in these figures is unique: the technique of execution, poses, plots, and the main face of Christ. The faces of the sculptures speak of a deep "inner" understanding of the ideas of Christianity by unknown artists. The faces of the Spas express meekness, humility, sacrifice, martyrdom - those qualities that were hardly inherent in pagan idols. Ural craftsmen have invested their whole soul and professional skill into Perm wooden sculpture. Therefore, the masterpieces of Perm wood carving are distinguished by their humanity, spirituality and charm.

Figure of the Savior

The well-known Russian artist Igor Grabar, People's Commissar of Education A.V. took an active part in the fate of the collection. Lunacharsky came to Perm more than once and enthusiastically spoke about what he saw in the museum: “I will dedicate a special sketch to this collection, since it made a deep impression on me both in terms of its cultural and artistic and historical value, and in the direct beauty and impressiveness of the works no one led peasant carvers of the 17th-18th centuries. Now I can only say that this Permian collection is a pearl in the full sense of the word.”

Fragments of the crucifixion. Mother of God, Mary Magdalene, John the Evangelist, Centurion Longinus

Sculpture from Solikamsk, XVIII century

When you climb the stairs to the third floor of the gallery and enter a small hall, your heart shrinks - six wooden figures of Christ are sitting on low pedestals in the center of the hall - completely alive, in humble poses and with mournful faces. Perm suffering Saviors evoke a feeling of extraordinary self-pity. The "living" Christ was almost always depicted at the same moment of his life - sitting in a dungeon before his execution. In the Gospel of Matthew, an episode was described when a crown of thorns was placed on the bound Christ, they put on a purple robe, gave a cane in his hand and, taking it, they beat him on the head. This touching gesture right hand(in the picture - a sculpture from Solikamsk, XVIII century) means that Jesus is closed from the so-called. persecution - a humiliating punishment. Left hand sometimes covers a wound on the chest.

This Savior from the village of Ust-Kosva (XVIII century) sitting in a dungeon is dressed instead of purple in the national Permian clothes - a blue shabur. The nameless carver subtly conveyed the typical Permyak features and clothing, moving, in fact, from the image of God to a man “created in his own image and likeness”.

This 17th-century crucifix from the village of Vilgort, despite the plot, cannot but cause a smile - Christ on the cross looks like a character from children's cartoon or comics.

In any case, I think appear now such a crucifix on modern art exhibition- it would immediately be considered blasphemy or something like that.

An absolutely amazing relief image of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa with the upcoming - the holy great martyrs Catherine and Barbara. Nyrob village, XVII century!

The holy ascetic look of the people's favorite, the healer of the most severe ailments, is combined, as Serebrennikov wrote, "with a lush, playful pattern of light relief" in clothes. The cult of Holy Friday dates back to pre-Christian times, so the scientist writes in his book about the struggle that the guardians of Orthodoxy waged with faith in Paraskeva. It is this struggle that Serebrennikov explains the uniqueness of this relief icon in the Permian churches - most likely, others were destroyed. An absolutely amazing relief image of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa with the upcoming - the holy great martyrs Catherine and Barbara. Nyrob village, XVII century! The holy ascetic look of the people's favorite, the healer of the most severe ailments, is combined, as Serebrennikov wrote, "with a lush, playful pattern of light relief" in clothes. The cult of Holy Friday dates back to pre-Christian times, so the scientist writes in his book about the struggle that the guardians of Orthodoxy waged with faith in Paraskeva.

It is this struggle that Serebrennikov explains the uniqueness of this relief icon in Permian churches - apparently others were destroyed. "Descent from the Cross", p. Shaksher, 18th century On the stairs on the left is Nicodemus, holding the body of Christ by a piece of cloth, part of which has not been preserved. Just as the figure on the stairs to the right has not been preserved - only a hand remains of it. At the bottom left is Mary Magdalene with her hands folded on her stomach. Next to her is the Mother of God and one of the myrrh-bearing women, Maria Kleopova, who knelt down. On the right is John the Evangelist.

The Savior sitting in the dungeon from the Kanabekovskaya chapel in the Pashiysky factory differs sharply from the others with his calmly crossed arms. 1840s

This figure of the crucified Christ (the cross has not been preserved) of the 17th century, from the chapel at the cemetery of the Myrrhbearing Women church in the city of Solikamsk, is especially distinguished.

These faces make a stunning impression. They attract the eye, make you stop nearby, feel the suffering of the person sitting in front of you and marvel at the faith that fills his eyes. Perhaps, during those one and a half to two hours spent in this hall, I received such an emotional impression from what I saw that I had not received for many years. It is difficult to express these feelings in words. To understand me, you have to experience them yourself, of course.

This figure of the Savior from Usolye (XVIII century) is carved from pine. In the inventory of the collection it is written that “the carver made Christ look like a rural father, perhaps an old priest, who, with his quiet and calm life, seemed to the sculptor the ideal of a Christian life in this world.”

According to the legend this is the famous crucifixion of “Christ the Tartar” from the Church of the Frontier sailed in 1755 from above the Kama to Usolye and stopped in front of the church.

Prior to this, the crucifix was in the Pyskorsky monastery.

St. Nicholas the Wonderworker The image of St. Nicholas the Wonderworker differs from St. Nicholas of Mozhaisky - he does not have a sword and a temple in his hands.

Figures of Nikola Mozhai (as the Permians called St. Nicholas of Mozhai)

One of the most common characters in the history of Permian wooden sculpture. Defender of the Russian land

Nikola Mozhay (XVII century) from the village of. Pokcha, Cherdynsky district

An absolutely amazing relief image of Paraskeva Pyatnitsa with the upcoming - the holy great martyrs Catherine and Barbara. Nyrob village, XVII century! The holy ascetic appearance of the people's favorite, the healer of the most severe ailments, is combined, as Serebrennikov wrote, "with a lush playful pattern of light relief" in clothes

Apostles Thomas and Paul. 18th century.

Angel, 18th century Wood (pine), gesso, tempera, gilding.

Cherubim, 19th century 36x44x18, Wood (birch), gesso, tempera. round sculpture

Descent from the Cross 1st floor XIX century, 82x71x4, Wood (pine), gesso, tempera, gilding.

Royal Doors, 18th century, 211x119x10, Wood (pine), gesso, tempera, gilding. Bas-relief of Sabaoth

1685. Icon "The Last Supper" Simon Ushakov

Nevyansk icon

Alexander Nevsky, Nevyansk icon of the 19th century

Ancient Permian alphabet of Stephen of Perm

May 24th, 2016

As you remember, I recently returned from beautiful city Perm, where there is not only "Real boys", but also a lot of interesting and even unique things. In addition to walking around the city, I had the opportunity to visit the Perm Art Gallery, where I saw the famous wooden sculptures of the Perm region. After all, Perm is a place where there was an ancient very powerful universal culture, where an amazing Permian style arose, where a completely unexpected intersection of Orthodoxy, Buddhism, paganism, and as a result - Permian wooden sculpture, is a completely unique phenomenon.

Let's take a look and learn more about it...

“More than forty years have passed, but I distinctly remember that incident. It happened in the village of Ilyinsky, Perm province, in 1922. I was walking tired then to my house. not only the shutters, but also the doors, rattle against custom.

Reluctantly I turned to see what was the matter and suddenly saw something that amazed me greatly. The main wall in the chapel was occupied by five wooden sculptures. But they were not supposed to be here - sculptural images are not accepted in Orthodoxy. I was especially surprised by the figure of Christ with the face of a Tatar. I went to the local executive committee, quickly received permission to transfer the sculptures to the regional museum, and, as the head of the museum, did it without delay.

This is how Nikolai Nikolaevich Serebrennikov, one of the founders and collectors of the unique collection of Permian wooden sculpture of the 17th - early 20th centuries, an ascetic and educator, a man of great talent and difficult fate. The son of a priest, who served on conscription in the Kolchak army, managed not only to survive in the era of revolutionary hard times, but also to find the strength and ability to do what he loved, organize scientific expeditions, find and preserve masterpieces of Russian art, Russian culture.

Photo 2.


A grandiose work of baroque carving - the iconostasis of the first half of the 18th century from the Pyskorsky Monastery

The history of religions in the Perm Territory is interesting and amazing. Before the arrival of the Russians, the Zyryans, the ancestors of modern people Komi. They were idolaters. Their idols were wooden. "Cut out with a cutout," as a Russian monk said about it.

But then the Russians came to this region. Moreover, they first came to the North of the Perm Territory. Why north is understandable. To the south were lands occupied by Tatars and Bashkirs. overcome these warlike peoples The Russians were not yet capable of it. And along with military people and merchants, Christian missionaries came to the Perm region. The first of them was Stephen of Perm, a contemporary and associate Reverend Sergius. True Perm, he was only in name. He did not reach the lands where the current Perm Territory is now located. The pulpit of St. Stephen was on the territory of the modern Komi Republic.

At a certain time, the religion of the peoples of the ancient Perm region can be called triverity. When Christianity began to spread across the territory of the Russian state, many Komi-Permyaks were in no hurry to accept it. They were very tolerant of the new religion, its gods and objects of worship. And they themselves were adherents at first of ancient paganism, worshiping animals, birds and natural phenomena. People created totem figurines of animals: it was believed that each person has a connection with some animal, turned to him, asked for help and successful hunting. Especially popular were figurines of elk, bear, birds.

Many of them have survived to this day. Archaeologists identify them as a special cultural layer - the Permian animal style. The fact is that canonically the church strictly forbade a three-dimensional (three-dimensional) image of Christ. In 1722 and 1767, the Holy Synod strictly prohibited the three-dimensional image of Jesus - only the iconic "flat" was allowed. In the history of Russia there were two facts of three-dimensional depiction of the figure and face of Jesus Christ. Those. in two cases, exceptions were made: the first - on the sarcophagus with holy relics in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and the second in the Northern Urals!

Photo 3.

It must be noted that the clergy allowed not Christ himself to be carved from wood, but only saints, but Christ's sculptures have survived to this day. Everything in these figures is unique: the technique of execution, poses, plots, and the main face of Christ. The fact is that the indigenous population of the Northern Urals were Komi-Permyaks and Khanty-Mansi (Voguls), and they belong to the Asian type with characteristic facial features.

Probably, the craftsmen were also representatives of the local population, because. Jesus' facial features are clearly Asian. Until now, in the city of Cherdyn, in the Museum of the History of Religion and Faith, you can see Christ with pronounced Asian cheekbones and eyes!

Photo 4.

However, the Permians still retained their commitment to paganism. Then the Orthodox Church was forced to allow the population to depict Christian saints in the form of statues carved from wood. Thus, Permian wooden sculpture appeared.

The collection of the Perm State Art Gallery, numbering 350 inventory numbers, has been completed by the gallery staff for 60 years. The collection of monuments was most active in the pre-war period. Only from 1923 to 1926 N.N. Serebrennikov and A.K. Syropyatov (the first director of the gallery) carried out six expeditions along the most difficult routes. 412 individual figures were purchased. In subsequent years, the collection was replenished by another third.

Photo 5.

Merit N.N. Serebrennikov, a collector and researcher of Permian wooden sculpture, are invaluable.

Most of the sculptures were found on the territory of Verkhnekamye. Only a few samples were brought from the south of the Perm region. The circumstance is obviously connected with the earlier development of the north by Russian settlers, with the earlier rooting of Russian culture here. The oldest surviving works date from the late 17th - early XVIII century. This is the heyday of Kama architecture, the beginning of intensive stone construction. At the end of the 17th century, urban ensembles of Cherdyn, Solikamsk, Kungur were created, church buildings of remarkable beauty and decoration were built.

Photo 6.

The evolution of Perm sculpture styles sensitively reflects the historical development of the region. Artworks early XVIII centuries - "Paraskeva Pyatnitsa" from the village of Nyrob, "Nikola Mozhaisky" from the village of Pokcha, "Crucifixion" from the city of Solikamsk - both in form and in plots are connected with the traditions of ancient Russian carving. The compositions of these sculptures are frontal and symmetrical, the volumes are extremely generalized, the multi-layered painting has an icon-painting structure. The manufacturing technology of the sculpture also resembles the icon one. Of the tree species, the craftsmen preferred pine and linden. They worked wood with an ax and a knife. In the 18th century, adzes, chisels, chisels, saws, drills, plows and road builders were also used. For painting, gesso (chalk primer) was applied to the surface of the wood. The painting was done in egg tempera, often complemented by gilding (sheet or "created" gold) and silvering. In the 19th century, sculptures began to be painted with oil paint.

Photo 8.

Perm the Great or Parma in ancient times was called this whole wooded region. And its center was the city of Cherdyn. In ancient times, it was called the Great Perm - Cherdyn. The very same town with the name Perm was built much later than Cherdyn. It was founded by the same Vasily Tatishchev at about the same time as Yekaterinburg.

Alexei Ivanov has such an episode in "Heart of Parma". Bishop Jonah arrived in Cherdyn. And I saw that Christianity here, on the edge of the world, was strongly mixed with paganism. And he ordered to burn all "Christian idols" as not meeting the canons. These very "idols" were Permian sculptures. The novel takes place in the 15th century. So according to Ivanov, they already existed then.

Photo 9.

The real, unimagined first Permian bishops were wiser. And they didn't burn anything. If the people of Parma believe in Christ, even if "cut out" means so be it. The tradition of carving sacred images from wood became stronger and took root in the northern Perm region for a long time. For centuries. Although later, already in the nineteenth century, the church authorities tried to fight the remnants of paganism in the form of non-canonical sculpture. But this was not successful.

All sculptures from the exposition of the Perm Art Gallery were made between the 17th and 19th centuries.

Photo 10.

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And this figure of Christ crowned the iconostasis in the Lysva Cathedral. The iconostasis itself was huge and richly decorated with carvings, although not as large as here in Perm. A few figures - that's all that's left of him.

Photo 12.

People had a belief that Nicholas the Wonderworker walks the streets and guards the peace of the Orthodox. Shoes were put on Nikola's feet and taken back, already worn down. After all, he walks, and he tramples. Up to ten thousand worshipers gathered for this sculpture at St. Nicholas of the Summer and St. Nicholas of the Winter in a small village. Even unbaptized Udmurts revered the Miracle Worker, considering him the master of the forest.

Photo 13.


The face of the Savior, carved by an unknown artist, expresses sorrow and suffering. The faces of the Permian sculptures resemble the high cheekbones of the Zyrians themselves.

Photo 14.

As I have already said, the statues were brought to Perm from different villages and towns in the north of the Perm Territory. In the museums of the North itself - in Solikamsk, Berezniki, Usolye, Cherdyn, there are not so many wooden sculptures, literally a few. Most of them settled here, in the art gallery of Perm. In the twenties, a team of specialists was formed here who understood the value of a unique sculpture. And who had sufficient authority to save this sculpture. This was not easy to do. Scientists had to take out sculptures from remote northern towns and villages where there was no railway. Drive through the forests on carts, sledges or boats to the nearest pier.

Photo 15.

The statues came to the museum from the devastated northern temples. Not everything made it to the museum. It's scary to think how many unique works of art were smashed and burned by the zealous Komsomol members of those years. Most likely, scientists had to literally snatch them from the hands of the zealots of atheistic propaganda. They took only what experts considered the most valuable. Everything "less valuable" was destroyed.

Photo 16.

Statue of Nikola Mozhaisky from the village of Zelenyata. Previously, this sculpture belonged to the Pyskorsky Monastery, one of the largest monasteries in the Perm North. The stern face of the Wonderworker is a bit like the high-cheeked face of Christ in a blue robe. Maybe both statues were made with the same hand.

The veneration of Nikola Mozhaisk in this form with a sword in one hand and hail or a temple in the other began after the Tatars had a vision during the siege of the city of Mozhaisk. Appeared in the sky huge Nicholas a saint with a sword in one hand and the city of Mozhaisk in the other. Seeing the miracle, the Tatars retreated. Since then, Nicholas the Wonderworker has been portrayed in this form as a symbol of heavenly protection and protection from enemies. The inhabitants of the northern Permian towns subject to the attacks of the Tatars and Voguls needed just such a stern and decisive heavenly patron.

Photo 17.

Let's take a look at how it all came together. The first expedition, in which N.N. Serebrennikov went with his teacher A.K. Syropyatov, took place in 1923 and its route ran through the villages of the Perm Territory - Vasilyevskoye, Sretenskoye, Kudymkar, Bolshaya Kocha. The researchers examined and registered architectural monuments, searched the church cellars for long-abandoned wooden sculptures that had been removed from the temples as early as the 18th century. Then Serebrennikov began to keep his diaries about the wooden gods. These notes later became the basis for the book. By September 1923, the expedition went to Cherdyn and Solikamsk districts, which are especially rich in ancient monuments.

On October 21, 1923, a note appeared in the local newspaper Zvezda that "the Perm Museum delivered to Perm up to 100 pounds of valuable monuments of ancient Russian art. The Presidium of the Gubernia Executive Committee assigned 15 chervonets to the Gubernia Museum for the delivery of these monuments." Behind these phrases was a huge human work, life-threatening and a phenomenal result: 195 found and rescued wooden sculptures.

Collected during the year was so interesting and unusual that the museum began to prepare an exhibition, which opened in the building of the "Kolibri" cinema. The history of the Perm exposition of wooden sculpture began with it, which quickly gained fame and aroused great interest among historians and art historians.

The well-known Russian artist Igor Grabar, People's Commissar of Education A.V. took an active part in the fate of the collection. Lunacharsky came to Perm more than once and enthusiastically spoke about what he saw in the museum: “I will dedicate a special sketch to this collection, since it made a deep impression on me both in terms of its cultural and artistic and historical value, and in the direct beauty and impressiveness of the works no one led peasant carvers of the 17th-18th centuries. Now I can only say that this Perm collection is a pearl in the full sense of the word."

With the help of Lunacharsky, Serebrennikov was able to publish his book Perm Wooden Sculpture, which has now become a bibliographic rarity, which includes his diary entries, materials of a historical nature and a complete detailed catalog of all exhibits in the collection. In 1928, the book was published with a circulation of 1000 copies, becoming a significant event in the scientific and cultural life Soviet Russia. Lunacharsky not only wrote an introductory article to this book, but immediately after its publication he awarded the prize of the People's Commissariat for Education of the RSFSR.

Serebrennikov's book could never have been published if he had been late with it by only six months. At the end of 1929, a struggle began throughout the country against members of local history societies and circles, which was associated with a change in the political situation in the country. The director of the Perm Museum, A. Lebedev, was fired on charges that he "turned the museum into a foster home for the 'former'." Lebedev was able to move to Sverdlovsk, but in 1937 he was arrested and shot. The same fate befell Professor P.S. Bogoslovsky, who formed a local history school in Perm and was the director of the scientific museum. The artist I. Vrochensky was arrested.

All these people worked together with N.N. Serebrennikov and himself with such a "non-proletarian" origin could easily suffer the same fate. A heavy blow for Nikolai Nikolaevich was the news that his book was going to be published in France - in those years this could have been a verdict in a case of "political treason". The scientist was forced to urgently send a letter to the Uralsky Rabochiy newspaper, to make a statement that he was hearing about a reprint in France for the first time, and "as a self-criticism" to write that "in his book he discovered an error in a number of basic provisions." The planned re-edition of the book in the Moscow publishing house "Academia" did not take place.

The most difficult year was 1938, when slander and denunciations began to be written against the director of the Perm Art Gallery, which led to the appearance of a personal file, which was usually followed by an arrest. Serebrennikov decided to desperate move, calling on Glavlit in writing to withdraw his book from public libraries, in connection with the "irregularities" found in it. In a word, the pressure on the scientist was serious, but he somehow avoided serious trouble and continued his scientific activities.

The last "case of N.N. Serebrennikov on ideological work" was filed against the scientist in 1959, a few years before his death. It's amazing how much this man could do in such conditions. The collection and study of Permian wooden sculpture became the work of his whole life, a real human feat.

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Photo 29.

Look here. All Perm statues of Christ have similar poses. This is because the statues were the centers of similar compositions "Christ in the dungeon". Christ was surrounded by the dungeon itself - a cramped, dark room. This "dungeon", in spite of the fact that the prison was not supposed to decorate, was nevertheless decorated. Beautiful carved reliefs, chiseled columns, statues of angels with the instruments of the Passion of Christ. Each of the seated statues of Christ had a similar setting. The statues of Christ have survived, but all their rich carvings have been lost.

The words “fund” or “storage” involuntarily bring up images of either a dark basement or a crowded warehouse. But in the case of a collection of wooden sculpture  -   this notion is incorrect. She lives above the earth. As befits the gods.

The storage of the collection, which we managed to visit, is located in the bell tower of the Transfiguration Cathedral. A steep and difficult ascent leads to a cramped room, divided into two rooms, lined from top to bottom with the works of Kama carvers. There hang, stand, lie, sit images of Christ, the apostles, saints, angels and cherubim embodied in the tree. Such a dense concentration in such a small space is impressive and mesmerizing. Especially in comparison with the well-known, light and airy exposition of wooden sculpture.

In total, this collection of the gallery contains more than four hundred items. The exposition itself presents 67 of the most iconic and demonstrative exhibits. According to Ksenia Zubakina, Senior Researcher at the Storage Department, this is approximately 15% of the entire collection.

Although Orthodox church sculpture is not a unique phenomenon and is found not only in the Perm region, the collection of the Perm Art Gallery is known as the largest museum collection of Orthodox church sculpture originating from one region.

The collection itself is more or less unified in terms of the time of creation of works: this is the period from the end of the 17th to the beginning of the 20th century. Exact time, as well as the names of the authors, it is difficult, and sometimes impossible, to establish due to the fact that documents, such as church books, have been lost. On the other hand, the geography is vast - the entire Perm Territory. Wooden sculptures have been found in more than a hundred settlements.

“You see, there on the mountain, the cross rises”

There are several different subjects in Permian wooden sculpture, but the most frequent is the crucifixion of Christ. There are more than a hundred crucifixes in the collection, and there are several reasons for the prevalence of this particular plot, and one follows from the other.

The first lies in the history and traditions of church wooden sculpture itself in Russia:

“The question of the origin of the typology of these sculptures remains not fully explored,” says the UGSF Deputy Director for scientific work Olga Startseva,  -  after all, planar images are more characteristic of Orthodoxy  -  icon, fresco. Of course, carved plastic art is known in ancient Russian art from ancient times. These were carved images and icons, crosses, encolpions, icon-case sculptures of greater or lesser relief. The heyday of Orthodox sculpture in Russia is considered to be XV - 16th century. That is, there was a movement along the path of development of a three-dimensional image, and there is nothing contrary to the Orthodox canon in this. The attitude of the official Orthodox Church to the statues in the temple was extremely controversial. In Russian history, there were periods of the rise of Orthodox sculpture, its popularity and veneration, but official bans periodically appeared. The Decree of the Church Council of 1666-1667 banned three-dimensional sculpture in churches, making an exception only for the composition "The Crucifixion with the Coming Ones". In the XVIII-XIX centuries, in many regions of Russia, carved images of Christ, Hosts, angels and saints not only continued to remain in churches, but new ones were created. First of all, this concerns territories remote from the center, located in the north, in the region of Arkhangelsk, Vologda, Solvychegodsk, and in the east, in the region of Irkutsk and Krasnoyarsk. This phenomenon was so widespread that in 1722 and in 1832 the Holy Synod again adopted resolutions on the inadmissibility of sculptures in Orthodox church. The repetition of bans most likely indicates that locally, especially in a remote province, the decrees were perceived as a temporary disciplinary measure.”

But such prohibitions still had their exceptions, which included crucifixions:

“Orthodox sculpture in churches was periodically banned by the Holy Synod. But it was the crucifixes that were allowed to be placed in the temple,  -  explains Ksenia Zubakina. -  The crucifix was placed on the top of the iconostasis  -  pommels. It was with the crucifixions that the saturation of churches with Orthodox sculpture began. Almost in any such collections there are always a lot of crucifixes. Often they were with the upcoming  -  these are separate figures of biblical heroes. Closest to the cross are the Mother of God on the left and John the Theologian on the right. Therefore, we also have a lot of sculptures of the Mother of God and John the Theologian in our collection. Sometimes the crucifix itself from the whole complex is lost, while the figures of the Mother of God and the Theologian are preserved.

The exposition presents mainly large-sized exhibits, and the fund contains many other crucifixes - altarpieces, portable for the procession. There is even a whole composition of the crucifixion with ten upcoming ones: the Mother of God, John the Theologian, Mary Magdalene, the centurion Longinus and six angels. In such compositions, only angels hold the Instruments of the Passion  -  what Christ was tortured with (rods, tongs, spears), but here only the nail and pillar of the pillory have been preserved.

But, perhaps, the brightest and most unusual crucifix is ​​one of the works of the carver Nikon Kiryanov, which was given a code name: “Crucifix surrounded by thirty-four heads of cherubs”. It is useless to describe in words what this amazing and amazing sculpture looks like, it must be seen. According to Ksenia Zubakina, Russian and foreign experts were asked if there were similar monuments in other museum collections, and found out that they were not. So this crucifix can be considered truly unique.

And the very fact that the name and exact years of life (1860 - 1906) of the author of the wooden temple sculpture is known is also unique in its own way. Nikon Kiryanov, a self-taught carver, lived in the village of Gabovo, Karagai district. He carved the statues specifically for one of the two chapels that the villagers built for themselves. According to the memoirs of the old-timers of the village, there were about five hundred sculptures of Kiryanov in this chapel, and now there are eighteen of his works in the gallery's collection. All of them are very recognizable thanks to bright style the author, who is now considered to be naive art.

“... And a six-winged seraph. At the crossroads appeared to me ... "

The gallery's collection also contains many sculptures of seraphim, cherubs and angels. There are more than a hundred of them, and most of them are in storage. There are so many images of Heavenly forces in the museum collection because they were one of the typical and most common elements of the decor of the iconostasis in the XVIII - XIX centuries. In addition, there was no rigid canon in the depiction of angels, which gave the carvers a certain freedom of creativity and fantasy. The collection includes flying and kneeling angels holding a scroll or ripida, as well as trumpeting angels -  -   harbingers of the Apocalypse. Until recently, one of these angels with a trumpet was the symbol of the Perm Art Gallery. Angels with the Instruments of the Passion of Christ stand out separately - such compositions are called the Passionate angelic rank, which was located in a separate row on the iconostasis. In the exposition of the gallery of angels with the Instruments of the Passion, you can see at the top of the composition "Christ in the dungeon" from the village of Pashia.

Order for the apostles

A mysterious story is connected with the works stored in the fund for one of the iconostasis ranks:

“A whole complex of sculptures was found here, in the basement of the Transfiguration Cathedral, in the 1920s. But it is not clear for which temple they were intended,  -  says her Ksenia Zubakina. -  These sculptures are iconostasis. The iconostasis in the church consists of several rows of  -  ranks. Each of them is dedicated to certain events or holidays. In the iconostasis there is a deesis, or, as it is also called, the apostolic rank. We are accustomed to when the rank consists of a row of icons, but apparently here it was assumed that the apostolic rank would consist of twelve separately carved sculptures of the apostles, and Jesus should have been in the center. There are only nine in the collection of twelve sculptures. It is not known whether three more were lost, or simply were not made. The last statement is supported by the fact that some of the sculptures are not painted. The Apostles Peter and Paul from this composition are on display. And seven figures are kept here, in the fund.”

Xie Man

A little apart from all the plots of church sculpture is the “Seated Savior”. The image of a seated Savior with a hand raised to his face is probably one of the most recognizable in Permian wooden sculpture. The "Seated Savior" was not an iconostasis sculpture, unlike most of the rest of the collection. In the Kama temples, it was most often placed in the northern part, in darkened niches. Usually these statues were made almost to their full height, and in churches they were located low, in the field of view of a person, but in the fund there are also chamber things, and even one very small Savior, nestled on a shelf. Sometimes the figures of the Savior were placed in "dungeons" specially made for this purpose. The only "dungeon" in the collection - "the same one from the village of Pashia" - is exhibited in the gallery's exposition, and this unique monument, which has no analogues in other museums in Russia. In the “dungeon” itself there is a sculpture of the Seated Savior, which represents a variant of the pose, rare for the Permian collection - “Christ is depicted with his hands crossed on his knees. On the rest of the sculptures, the Savior defends himself with his right palm from a slap in the face.

In total, the gallery's collection contains seventeen sculptures of "Seated Spasov", a special place is reserved for them in the fund. Thanks to this, you can see their differences, how different carvers created sculptures in different ways, which different level skill and detail in depicting anatomy. But everyone notices that the faces of these sculptures have ethnic features of the peoples of the Perm Territory: Tatars, Bashkirs, Komi-Permyaks. And this is natural, because the artist always focuses on what he sees around. As Olga Startseva notes, Renaissance artists used to paint Madonnas from their acquaintances in the same way.

And although the figures of the Savior differ in style, details, elements of clothing, they have the same plot. In the iconography of the “Seated Savior”, several sources from the biblical story about the Passion of Christ are intertwined at once: ridicule, crowning with a crown of thorns, “esse homo” - “Behold the Man, or the man of sorrows. In sculptures, this is manifested in the depiction of wounds on the body, the crown of thorns, and the position of the hands.

Such a detailed expression of the earthly sufferings of the Savior has its own special task of introducing even recent pagans to Christianity:

“The need to rebuild consciousness on the complex, abstract and lofty concepts that the Christian idea carries in itself required spiritual growth, a person’s inner reflection,” explains Olga Startseva. - Experiencing the theme of the Passion of Christ in the mind of the carver becomes a very important process. Because one can understand suffering as a retribution for something, as a punishment and a consequence. And here is a sacrifice to atone for someone else's sin. It's all very abstract for yesterday's pagan who has to absorb this new faith. In the works of Permian wooden sculpture, we see a sincere desire to understand this, to feel it, to carry it through ourselves. Therefore, the images of the “Seated Savior”, with all the detachment of the faces, are very close to those for whom they were originally intended, to those who look at them. Even with anatomical details: enlarged joints, strained hands, those details that correlate with everyday life and with what is close and understandable to a person. On pity and complicity, a naive and at the same time high feeling is born - "to protect the suffering and humiliated god."

Divine mysteries

Despite many studies and articles about the collection of Perm wooden sculpture, there is still a lot of unknown and unexplored in it. For example, gaps remain in the study of the issue of the influence of Catholicism and the ways in which the features of Catholic temple sculpture penetrate into the Orthodox temple plasticity of the Kama region.

Olga Startseva:

“This influence is obvious, it cannot be denied. For example, in some monuments we can trace the obvious influence of the Baroque style. At the same time, we do not yet have any documentary evidence that Russian carvers were trained by European masters. It is always said that there is a Western European influence in these images, especially in Spas, but what paths it followed and how it was assimilated by the master carver is not known for certain. We know that most of the priests were graduates of the Kiev-Mohyla Academy. This is the Russian West, and there, in Christian culture, volumetric images quite naturally exist. In addition, many captured Swedes, Poles, and Lithuanians settled on our lands after the Northern War. Many of them lived in temples. This fact cannot be discounted either. Perhaps these were different people, motley in social composition. We do not know how literate they were, what they had with them - - what literary sources and so on. Of course, such connections existed, but we do not have direct evidence that any of the Russian masters studied with them.”

Surely, in such an extensive and diverse collection of Permian wooden sculpture, there are many more such mysteries. While the Permian gods keep secrets in their abode. But surely, sooner or later, some of them will be revealed, and we will learn even more about these amazing works of art.

• Photo report by Ivan Kozlov from the storerooms of the Perm Art Gallery with unique shots of Perm gods  -   on the Zvezda.