The centenary restoration of the Bogolyubsky icon of the Mother of God is completed

October 13 at the TV channel "History" will premiere a new documentary project "Saved Masterpieces of Russia". A unique multi-part film is dedicated to the restoration of famous monuments of national culture in the Center named after academician Grabar.

The first series of a documentary project tells the story of the salvation of an immortal masterpiece icon painting - Bogolyubsky icon of Our Lady of the XII century. Now it is one of the oldest images of the Mother of God, which has survived to this day. According to legend, in 1155, during the transfer of the Vladimir icon from Vyshgorod to Zalesye, the Mother of God appeared to Prince Andrei Bogolyubsky in a camping tent. She ordered him to put an icon in Vladimir. At the site of the miraculous appearance, the prince erected the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin and founded his residence - the village of Bogolyubovo. In honor of this event, he commanded to write a new icon depicting his vision. For centuries, local residents went to the procession with this image, because of which the icon often had to be renewed with a layer of varnish. All these changes adversely affected the preservation of the image.

In 1918, terrible destruction of the icon was revealed: the paint layer partially crumbled, and somewhere a tree was exposed. The board of the icon was eaten away by a wood-boring bug, and even a living larva was found. By the standards of that time, it was impossible to save a masterpiece. At the Grabar Center, five generations of restorers worked on the icon, and step by step it was possible to identify a 12th-century painting, which was hidden under a layer of 23 revelations.

“To some extent we are compared to doctors. And it’s not just like a doctor: do no harm. I think that at the moment, restoration should increasingly be intellectual. That is, it was originally an art history and historical study, ”said Alexander Gormatiuk, the last restorer of the Bogolyubsky icon of the Mother of God at the Academician Grabar Center.

Thanks to the “Saved Masterpieces of Russia” project, viewers of the “History” TV channel will be able to see the scale of the transformations that have been done in a hundred years. The Bogolyubsky icon returned from nonexistence and became yet another confirmation of the amazing beauty and richness of the ancient Russian culture of the pre-Mongol period.

Watch the documentary project “Saved Masterpieces of Russia” on the TV channel “History” starting October 13 every Saturday at 19:30.

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The documentary project “Saved Masterpieces of Russia” will tell about the restoration of the most famous monuments of Russian culture. The film will show the history of restoration workshops, restoration methods and technologies, and restorers will share the secrets of their craft and memories of the past of the Grabar Center. Special attention in the film is given to the largest museums in Russia, whose funds were saved by restorers. Among them - the estate of PI Tchaikovsky in Klin, the Zaraisk Kremlin Museum Reserve, the Tula Museum of Arms, Vladimir Museum Reserve, the New Jerusalem Monastery and many others. The Saved Masterpieces of Russia project includes 12 episodes, each of which is dedicated to a separate restoration workshop of the Academician Grabar Center.