Khokhloma painting got its name from the large trading village of Khokhloma, located in the Nizhny Novgorod province. Wooden dishes from nearby villages were brought here for sale. A distinctive feature of the Khokhloma craft products is the use of technology for obtaining a gold color without the use of precious metal.
The origin of the Khokhloma craft is covered with legends. A beautiful and sad legend has long been told in the villages of Nizhny Novgorod. In ancient times, the talented master icon painter Andrei Loskut lived in Moscow. The tsar greatly appreciated the skill of the artist and generously rewarded him for his work. But the master loved freedom more than anything else. One night he left the royal court and went to live in the impenetrable Kerzhen forests. There he cut down a hut for himself, where he continued to do what he loved.
But Andrey wanted to paint not only icons. He dreamed of creating art that was simple and beautiful, like a Russian song, so that one could see in it all the poetic beauty of his native land. It was then that the first Khokhloma dishes appeared, decorated with flowers, berries and twigs. The fame of the wonderful master reached the surrounding lands. People began to come from everywhere to see his amazing skills. Many remained to live in those places, wanting to learn how to create the same wonderful products.
Soon rumors about the great master reached the king himself. He immediately understood who he was talking about, and ordered a detachment of archers to find the fugitive and bring him to the palace. But there were people who warned Patch of the impending disaster. Then he gathered his fellow villagers in his hut and revealed to them the secrets of an amazing craft. The next morning, the archers appeared in the village and saw how the artist's hut was burning with a bright flame. No matter how they looked for Andrei Loskut, they could not find him. His paints remained on the ground - red, like flame, and black, like ashes. The master has died, but his magic skill has survived, which still pleases the eyes and souls of people.
There are also more prosaic versions of the origin of the Khokhloma painting, two of them are most widespread. The first one says that Old Believers who were hiding from persecution in the remote forests of the Volga began to paint wooden dishes "in gold". The fact is that many of them were masters of icon painting or book miniatures. They brought with them ancient icons, handwritten books with beautiful illustrations and magnificent samples of floral ornamentation. At the same time, local craftsmen were fluent in the art of making dishes on a lathe. When their skill was combined with the talent of icon painters and their ability to create "golden" dishes, the famous Khokhloma craft appeared.
According to another version, imitation of gold, close to Khokhloma art, arose long before the appearance of the Old Believers, in the 40s of the 17th century. Even then, artisans who lived in the villages of Murashkino, Lyskovo and Semenovskoye (now the city of Semenov, which has turned into one of the main centers of the Khokhloma craft), made wooden dishes painted gold with tin powder. This craft became the predecessor of the Khokhloma painting.
