The Moscow school of icon painting took shape rather late. It flourished in the late 14th - early 15th centuries - a period of strengthening of the Moscow principality. The largest representatives of the Moscow school were practically all the outstanding icon painters of Ancient Rus - Theophanes the Greek, Andrei Rublev, Daniil Cherny and Dionisy.
The leading master of the Novgorod icon-painting school, Theophan the Greek, appeared in Moscow at the end of his life and career. The frescoes of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, on which he worked together with Andrei Rublev and Prokhor from Gorodets, have not survived. Therefore, for today's connoisseurs of Old Russian icon painting, the Moscow school is associated, first of all, with the work of Andrei Rublev and artists of his direction.
Andrey Rublev and his followers
Andrey Rublev's creativity is based on the philosophy of goodness and beauty, a harmonious combination of spiritual and material principles. Therefore, his Savior does not at all look like a merciless judge and formidable almighty. He is a loving, compassionate and all-forgiving God. The pinnacle of Rublev's creativity, like all ancient Russian painting, was the famous "Trinity", whose three angels are a kind of symbol of Good, Sacrifice and Love.
Followers of the Rublev trend in icon painting focused not so much on the spiritual content of the images, but on the external features: the lightness of the figures, the use of smooth lines in writing faces, the creation of a contrasting color scheme. One of the examples of this approach is the icon of the unknown Moscow master "The Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem."
Another characteristic feature of the Moscow school of icon painting was the introduction of real canonized secular and clergymen into a number of icon-painting images and plots.
The work of Dionysius
At the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, Dionysius, who worked with his sons Theodosius and Vladimir, became the leading representative of Moscow religious painting. Dionysius was an unusually productive craftsman, in the Volokolamsk monastery alone there were 87 icons of his work.
Most often, Dionysius painted festive pictures of crowded celebrations. The life-affirming nature of his work was especially vividly manifested in the murals of the Cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin in the Ferapontov Monastery.
One of the main features of Dionysius's works is the refined proportions of elongated figures. Having become practically incorporeal and having lost their volume, they seem to soar in the sky, obeying the inner rhythm of the compositions. Dionysius preferred gentle, light tones and shades: blue, turquoise, crimson, pink, lilac, etc. Researchers have counted about 40 tones in the artist's works.
Thanks to Dionysius, ceremonial, festive, harmonious and vibrant art of Moscow took a leading place in the culture of Russia.
