The Presidential Library’s new film tells about the frescoes of the icon painter Dionysius

March 26, 2021 the Presidential Library's portal in Live broadcasts section and on the institution's YouTube channel broadcasted the premiere of the film "The Saved Frescoes of the Church of the Nativity of the Virgin of the Ferapontov Monastery", filmed in Vologda Region by the library's film group.

“The places are wonderful and blessed! At every step, nature gives you here its sublime impressions, consecrated by the memory of men who pleased God and sowed all this land with the seeds of spiritual enlightenment" - these words Russian historian Ivan Brilliantov made an epigraph to the publication about the Ferapontov Monastery, published in 1898. His book attracted the attention of Tsar Nicholas II, as a result of which the Imperial Historical Commission was created to restore the ancient monument. Work on the restoration of the monastery began in the early years of the 20th century and continues to this day. A UNESCO session in 2000 inscribed the monastery as a World Heritage Site.

Ferapontov Belozersky Theotokos-Rozhdestvensky Monastery, one of the oldest in the Russian North, stands at the head of all Belozersky monasteries. Founded by the Monk Therapont, it became famous thanks to the frescoes of the successor of the traditions of Andrei Rublev, the famous icon painter Dionysius. This is the only original author's painting that has survived in the country.

At the end of the 15th century, a stone cathedral of the Nativity of the Virgin was erected on the territory of the monastery. In 1502, an artel of artists was invited to paint the cathedral, led by the famous master Dionysius, according to the text of the chronicle on the slope of the northern door, the camera lingers on this fragment, giving the viewer the opportunity to peer into the ancient chronicle and appreciate the man-made feat in the name of the Savior, an outstanding representative of the Moscow icon painting schools.

“The painting of the temple is a bible for the illiterate”, - reflects Mikhail Sharomazov, Director General of the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve. - Through traditional, seemingly biblical compositions, the master brings us to the idea that real faith exists ideally as a difficult choice and a realized necessity. Personal responsibility for what happens on Earth is what Dionysius writes on the wall. And the most important theme that runs through all the compositions is personal doing. No one for us will make our fate, our history. How we will live, how we will 'do' - this will be the world in which we live ”.

The film directed by Tatiana Dyakonova is a popular science story about the masterpieces of Russian ancient art, designed for a wide range of viewers.

The Presidential Library and the Kirillo-Belozersky Museum-Reserve are linked by cooperation based on the Agreement signed in 2018. The cycle of unique films of the Presidential Library about the salvation of the frescoes of churches and monasteries in the North-West of Russia will continue in the future.