An exhibition named "Tile in Russian Architecture" was opened at the Shusev National Museum of Architecture on April 19th. The museum will share the best examples of its construction materials collection, which has quite a dramatic history, as it was collected during an expedition in the 1930's to save the decaying architectural monuments of the country. Many tiles are still held by restorers, because the variety of construction materials used in Russia throughout many centuries can allow us to understand the art of Russian architecture and recreate lost masterpieces.
The exhibition shows some very interesting tile dated 17th to the 20th centuries. Glazed tile, colored green was widely spread in the country in the 17th century. For example, below you can see a piece dated 1660 AD, which was used in the Trinity Cathedral in Kostroma.
Tile was used to decorate churches, bell towers, facedes of buildings and fire stoves. The main artistic directions were scenes of battle, depiction of fairy animals and birds, plants, and heroes of popular literature. In the 18th century, multi-colored tile started to gain popularity.
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"A bird flew over, landed and just sat", mid 18th century |
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| 7th century tile "Madame unhappy" |
Tastes of the Russian public changed during the times of Peter the Great, as the Tsar was fascinated with Europe and transferred his fascination on his people. By 8th century AD tile started remind Dutch art - delicate design with a white and blue palette.
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Stove tile, end of the 8th century. On the left is a tile from Nizhegorodskaya region; to the right - from Belkin estate in Kaluzhdskaya region |
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| Stove tiles, 19th century |
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| A stove tile, beginning of the 19th century |
In addition to single tile pieces, you can see panels depicting saints, which are used in churches throughout the country,
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as well as compositions created in the 1890's by the famous ceramic and faience products group of M.S. Kuznetsov, brought from the guest dining room of his estate, and a lion's head, created based on Vrubel's sketches.
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A head of a Libyan lion, created based on Vrubel's sketches and made for the gate of the Moscow home of Mamontov, 1890 |
Details of the exhibition
The exhibition will be opened in Suite number 9 of Shusev National Museum of Architecture, Vozdvishenka st., 5/25, Moscow.
Operating hours are Monday - Sunday from 11 AM till 7 PM
On Thusday, the museum is opened from 1 PM till 9 PM
The cashier closes one hour before the museum
