Simon Ushakov - Russian icon painter and graphic artist. In addition to icons, he painted murals, miniatures. The artist also produced woodcuts. The first of the Russian painters made his works copyright.
Gifted with multifaceted talent and recognized at court, Pimen Fedorovich Ushakov went down in history under the name Simon. Two names for his time were the norm: the first was intended for life, and the second, hidden, was given at baptism and was kept secret from outsiders. The exact date and year of birth of the artist is unknown, there is no data on his personal life. However, quite a lot is known about the painter.
The beginning of the way
His biography began in 1626 in Moscow. A bright representative of the final period of the art of Moscow Russia did a lot for the development of painting.
Since the construction of the Kremlin, a new period has begun in Russian culture. The image of objects was approached in innovative tricks. The approaches of various schools, including Italian, are characteristic of Russian architecture and painting of that time. Thanks to new trends, all types of creativity have gained greater decorativeness, brightness of colors and plasticity of images.
Ushakov became the main representative of the transition to a new period. Simon was taught painting skills from an early age. Neither after him, nor before him, at the age of 22 years old anyone was accepted to the prestigious denominator position. There are versions of the Posad origin of the artist's family. However, the signatures on his works indicate that the author is a Moscow nobleman. This title was received later as a mark of special distinction.
According to one of the researchers of the work of Simon, a nobleman, the master could be hereditary, because he was able to master the craft, and after receiving education, take a public post with a salary. The duties included the creation of sketches for church utensils made of precious metals and enamel. In addition to painting banners, Ushakov was also charged with developing drawings and motifs for embroidery.
Vocation
Despite the high workload, Simon managed to write images, becoming a famous icon painter. He painted the walls of temples, made beautiful notches on his guns, skillfully made cards.
The astonishing industriousness and skill of Simon did not escape the attention of the authorities. In 1644, the guys were transferred to the Armory. There he took up the position of the bestowed isograph. As talent improved, Ushakov headed Moscow icon painters.
The first work of the master in 1652 was the famous image of the Mother of God of Vladimir. Five years later, the first Spas miraculous authorship of the painter appeared.
Violation of the usual canons of writing brought fame to the image. The work shows the realism of features, volumetric and thorough writing. Despite the presence of eyelashes, gleam in her eyes, imitation of tears, that is, innovation, the church adopted the icon.
In total, several images are written, but the first is recognized as software. In search of maximum proximity to the ubrus with the face of Christ left on it, Ushakov constantly improved his work. He changed features, removed or added inscriptions. Both the master himself and his students became the first to equal Western painters. Human features were introduced into the portraits. This technique was not used in the old icon painting.
Innovation
Old Believers harshly criticized representatives of the Ushakov school. The miraculous Spas, written for the Trinity Cathedral, is strikingly different from the Old Believers' faces. Hard canons dictated a manner of writing that was far from reality. They differed noticeably from Simon’s colorful and light works.
For the first time in the work of one painter, Old Russian and new art came together. For the first time the master involved the "Fryazhskoye", Western art, perspective, plot.
Ushakov described his ideas about the contemporary painting industry in the book “The Word to the Curious Icon Scripture”, published in 1666. In his essay, the author spoke more progressively than was realized in painting. In principle, mirrors described the desire for image accuracy. The proposed innovative writing technique used the smallest, slightly distinguishable strokes, hiding the color transition. "Floats" were multi-layered.
With their help, a skin tone close to real was formed, the chin was rounded, the puffiness of the lips was emphasized, the eyes were carefully drawn. For the introduction, Ushakov received the nickname of Russian Raphael. The first portrait executed by the master, the parsuna, demonstrated a new one in art.
