Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Annunciation Cathedral
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Annunciation Cathedral
est corner of Sobornaya pl, contains the celebrated icons of master painter Theophanes the
Greek (Feofan Grek in Russian).
Vasily I built the first wooden church on this site in 1397. Between 1484 and 1489, Ivan
the Great had the Annunciation Cathedral rebuilt to serve as the royal family's private
chapel. Originally the cathedral had just three domes and an open gallery around three sides.
Ivan the Terrible, whose tastes were more elaborate, added six more domes and chapels at
each corner, enclosed the gallery and gilded the roof.
Frescoes
Many murals in the Annunciation Cathedral's gallery date from the 1560s. Among them are
Capture of Jericho
in the northern porch,
Jonah and the Whale
in the northern arm of
the gallery, and the
Tree of Jesus
on its ceiling. Other frescoes feature ancient philosoph-
ers such as Aristotle, Plutarch, Plato and Socrates holding scrolls inscribed with their own
wise words. Socrates' scroll reads: 'No harm will ever come to a good man. Our soul is im-
mortal. After death the good shall be rewarded and the evil punished'. Plato's says: 'We
must hope God shall send us a heavenly Teacher and a Guide'.
In the small central part of the cathedral, the 16th-century frescoes include Russian
princes on the north pillar and Byzantine emperors on the south, both with Apocalypse
scenes above them.
Iconostasis
The real treasure of Annunciation Cathedral is the iconostasis, where in the 1920s restorers
uncovered early-15th-century icons by three of the greatest medieval Russian artists. It was
most likely Theophanes who painted the six icons at the right-hand end of the biggest row
of the six tiers of the iconostasis. From left to right, these are the
Virgin Mary, Christ En-
throned, St John the Baptist,
the
Archangel Gabriel,
the
Apostle Paul
and
St
John Chrysostom
. Theophanes was a master of portraying pathos in the facial expres-
sions of his subjects, setting these icons apart from most others.
The third icon from the left,
Archangel Michael,
is ascribed to Andrei Rublyov, who
may also have painted the adjacent
St Peter
. Rublyov is also reckoned to be the artist of
the first, second, sixth and seventh (and probably the third and fifth) icons from the left of
