The smallest details of the picture, painted with the utmost care and archaeological reliability - the clothes of the heroes, their weapons, the decoration of the horses - are subordinated to the general idea of the work and, without diverting attention towards "archeology", only strengthen the general impression of the fullest life and historical truthfulness of this truly folk painting.
Wonderful canvases. L., 1966. S. 298
Art and history. A few words for those who read articles in "VO" in a hurry, through a line, or read in them what was never there. This article is by no means an attempt to offend, belittle or belittle the significance of the painting “Heroes” for the culture of Russia (yes, this is the name of this famous painting, and not “Three Heroes” at all, as it was later called in common parlance!), written by Viktor Mikhailovich Vasnetsov. But it is at the same time an answer to the eulogy contained in the epigraph to this picture. It is obvious that a talented artist has the right to depict samples of material culture on his canvases that are very far from reality, as Leonardo da Vinci did, for example, in the painting "Battle of Anghiara", and that his art may well be conditional if this art is real … Now, if the artist is not too talented and does not put any special ideas into the picture, then he should depict everything photographically accurately. It's another matter if he knows how to convey the spirit of the phenomenon with his brush, to fill his canvas with some otherworldly force, then any liberties will be forgiven for him. Not everyday life is his goal, that's all!
However, knowing this, we should also know how reliably he depicts certain objects from the same "archeology" on this canvas! And can they be trusted from a historical point of view. Moreover, the picture "Heroes", like, perhaps, no other, allows you to do this.
First, a little history. Vasnetsov nurtured the idea of / u200b / u200bthe heroes for more than twenty years. And he spoke about her like this: “Maybe I did not always work on“Heroes”with due diligence and intensity, but they were relentlessly in front of me, only my heart was drawn to them and my hand was reaching out! This is my creative duty. The time was then such that artists of the rank of Vasnetsov drew even insignificant details from nature, and even several times. They used artifacts from the Kremlin Armory, and it was considered an honor, and considerable, to pose for them.
Here and Ilya Muromets for his "Heroes" V. M. Vasnetsov wrote from the Abramtsevo peasant cabman Ivan Petrov. The role of the prototype of the young Alyosha Popovich was played by the son of the patron of the arts, Savva Mamontov, Andrei, in whose estate in Abramtsevo Vasnetsov was staying with his family. As for Dobrynya, art critic Nikolai Prakhov believed that his face was a collective image of the Vasnetsovs - the artist's father, his uncle and, in part, the painter himself. Although there is a version that Dobrynya was painted from the artist V. D. Polenov. As for the horses, everything is simple: they all belonged to Savva Mamontov, so the artist was always at hand.
When the canvas was presented for public viewing in 1898, it was appreciated by both the public and critics. And the famous collector P. M. Tretyakov was so amazed by her that he stood in front of her for a long time and immediately offered to buy it. At the personal exhibition of Vasnetsov in March-April 1899it also attracted the attention of the public, and this is not surprising. Such power and originality emanates from her that you just feel them physically, you just need to stand a little near this canvas.
Previously, the heroes of epics were considered exclusively fictional characters, but historians have found that the "real" Ilya Muromets, for example, was born in the city of Murom in the 12th century. Under the name Elijah, he was buried in the Kiev-Pechersk Lavra, and in 1643 he was canonized. His relics have survived, which even revealed that he had problems, and his height was about 182 cm. At the same time, the heroes could meet together only in the artist's painting. When Ilya was young, Dobrynya was already an old man, and Alyosha Popovich was still a boy. By the way, in reality the knight Alexander Popovich was by no means a priest - a "priest's son", but a Rostov boyar, fought in the squads of Vsevolod the Big Nest, Konstantin Vsevolodovich and Mstislav the Old, and died in the battle on Kalka in 1223.
Well, now let's take a closer look at this picture from the point of view of weapons science, that is, those samples of weapons and armor that are depicted on it. Let's start with the figure on the far left - Dobrynya Nikitich. On his head is the so-called "helmet with the Deisus" or "Greek cap". And he is known for the only sample, which is in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin, and it is obvious that it was from him that he was drawn. The helmet dates back to the XIII-XIV centuries, but in Byzantium it could have been used earlier. In the inventory of 1687 it is said about him as follows: “The hat with the Deisus is made of iron, the grasses are small, drawn with gold and silver. Old, unarmed. According to the current census of 1687 and by inspection, that cap has come together against the previous census books. The price is sixty rubles, and the fifth one was written in the previous descriptive book. " Along the crown of the helmets, images were made with notching and gilding, together with inscriptions in Greek. You can see the figures of the Almighty, the Virgin, John the Baptist, two Guardian Angels, two Cherubim and two Evangelists, one of which is St. Nicholas the Wonderworker.
Such a helmet could be used with a chain mail aventail, and Vasnetsov drew it. Well, the choice of the type of helmet is obvious. Most likely, this is how the artist wanted to show the cultural connection between Russia and Byzantium, as well as the religiosity of the hero, whose helmet is not without reason adorned with images of saints. Dobrynya's appearance is amazing. If we look at the drawings and engravings in such a magazine as "Niva", we will see that this is how the Scandinavians and Germans, the heroes of the "Song of the Nibelungs", were portrayed in our country at that time, and by no means the Slavs. Put on a helmet with wings, and in front of us will be well, definitely Thor or Odin.
Armor on Dobryna is very interesting. First of all, this is plate armor made of metal rectangles sewn onto blue fabric. Then he wears a chain mail with short wide sleeves. But his forearms are also covered with chain mail, and with metal bracelets at the wrist.
The size of the plates and their shape do not allow this armor to be identified either as a columnar or as anything else. And even more so for the XII - XIII centuries. "Heroic era" is completely "irrelevant" chain mail with sleeves to the wrist, and even tight. In a word, here we are dealing with the author's imagination, although it is practically not striking. For some reason, he did not dress Dobrynya in this column, although he could well.
Dobrynya's shield is more striking, since it is red, and even strewn with plaques. Their very abundance is questionable. Finds of this kind are unknown. But the umbon is especially atypical. It had to have a hemispherical or cylindro-conical shape, and its size should be such that a hand bent into a fist was hidden under it.
Dobrynya has a very interesting sword. This is a typical Scandinavian sword, with a three-part pommel and a crosshair slightly curved towards the point. The pattern both on it and on the crosshair is typically Norman. There are many similar swords, as well as umbons, in the “Petersen typology” - the encyclopedic edition “Norwegian swords of the Viking age” (Jan Petersen “Norwegian swords of the Viking age. Typical study of weapons of the Viking age.” St. Petersburg. Alpharet, 2005). It seems that Vasnetsov did not see anything wrong with the "Norman theory", or at least did not think that for some reason it might be shameful for our hero to use a sword of "Scandinavian origin." True, it is difficult to determine the exact type of sword "according to Petersen" according to the picture, but the fact that it is a Scandinavian sword is undoubtedly.
In general, in my opinion, Dobrynya in the picture (if you do not take into account the shield without the umbon) looks like … a Scandinavian king who served in Byzantium. There he acquired plate armor characteristic of the Greeks and two chain mail, worn one under the other, a rich Greek helmet, and he kept his own sword with a "native" gilded handle.
The figure of this hero is dressed by the artist more simply: chain mail, though with a beautiful brooch on his left shoulder, a very simple helmet. It can be seen that he has a quiver with arrows behind him, which means there is a bow, but he is not visible. The main thing that the viewer pays attention to is a spear and an impressive mace with small and completely fearless spikes. The spear is also very impressive, but there are questions for him. Ilya is a horseman, a knight, which means that he must also have a horseman's spear. That is, to have a tip … "wings" so that after a spear blow the spear would not pierce the "target of attack" through, and its owner would have a chance (albeit small!) To extract it and reuse it. Of course, spearheads without wings are also known. However, already in the Carolingian cavalry, they were used without fail. That is, ideally, the spearhead itself should be narrower and must have a crosshair. And Vasnetsov could well have drawn it. But for some reason he didn't …
In the same way, the mace, which hangs from Muromets on the wrist, has an absolutely fantastic look. And, apparently, it is the image of this mace that should be considered Vasnetsov's trademark "trick" - once he has drawn it, he repeats it over and over again. We see this mace in his painting "The Battle of the Scythians with the Slavs", written by him in 1881; she is also armed (albeit without thorns) "The Knight at the Crossroads" of 1882. Although on his earlier painting "After the Battle of Igor Svyatoslavich with the Polovtsy" in 1880, we see very impressive thorns at the mace depicted there.
It turns out that the artist deliberately strove to give the appearance of Muromets the appearance of the maximum possible peacefulness. That is, although there are “thorns” on his mace, they are so small that they do not play any special role. But the most interesting thing is that this mace of his is purely fabulous, or rather "epic", because such a weapon does not exist in reality. That is, pear-topped clubs are known, but they have completely different proportions. Vasnetsov could see Turkish ceremonial maces of similar outlines in the Armory Chamber of the Moscow Kremlin. Their appearance clearly sunk into his soul, and he developed it into something that did not really exist, but it makes a very reliable impression.
Now let's imagine for a moment that the artist would arm Ilya with a real museum mace. Would she look in the picture? Definitely not. Or it would be a frightening-looking weapon, studded with thorns, rather speaking about the bloodthirstiness of its owner than about his peacefulness, or … "a ball on a stick", which does not at all fit with the heroic appearance of Ilya. Brilliant? Yes, brilliant, although not historical. Not historical, but epic!
Here is the shield … it is clearly round, metal with an umbilicus and also clearly migrated here from the painting "The Knight at the Crossroads", but … the fact is, there were no such shields in Russia at that "heroic time" yet! This is a typical Turkish kalkan, which spread among us in the 16th century, so here an almond-shaped, large, "scarlet" shield would be more suitable for Muromets. Well, here's something like the shields of the Bilibino "Red Horseman" of 1899 and his other heroes. This would not make the picture worse.
The last third hero is the youngest and, apparently, that is why he is dressed in the "youngest" armor for Russia. He wears a helmet and a chain-plate armor of a clearly oriental pattern. And, of course, the bow is beautifully written, again from the collection of the Armory.
It is interesting that on his neck he has a torch and a chain, and a ring with a stone on his finger, and a ring, and he also has a rich belt with a set, that is, Alyosha likes to show off with Vasnetsov, and how could he do without this, if he was a success in appearance, and how, in this case, "good fellow" and without a beautiful "pattern"? Everyone writes about the gusli at the saddle, but that the crosshair and the pommel of the sword have a certain similarity with these details of the sword of Charlemagne "Jauyez" somehow no one paid attention, although there is such a similarity. True, the ends of the crosshair of the French sword are clearly longer.
We do not know what the artist was thinking about when creating this brilliant canvas. He left no memories of how he painted this picture. But the thought involuntarily comes to mind that Dobrynya symbolizes Byzantium and the Varangians, Alyosha is the East, from which eastern weapons and the traditions of archery came to us, but Ilya Muromets embodies the uniting force of the Russian people, he stands between the West and the East, as the strongest, most powerful and wise.
So yes, there are paintings in which historicity is sacrificed to epicity, but if a master writes them, then their quality does not suffer from this at all, we just understand that the artist has shifted a number of accents for greater expressiveness and … that's it! Idea dominates everything and at the same time dominates masterfully!
And now let's imagine that Vasnetsov would not be … what he was, but would draw three heroes of different ages at the same time and belonging to the same culture. This could be an excellent illustration for the find of the “Black Grave” burial, or warriors in “Yaroslav Vsevolodovich's helmets” - who are richer, who are poorer. The whole three could have either round with an umbilic or almond-shaped shields and … what in the end would we get? And would these heroes be compared with the heroes known to us ?!
