The National Museum of Lviv has launched a series of cultural events commemorating its centennial with an exhibit of icons portraying the Mother of God, the Christ Child, and the Magnification. Although this particular event marks the museum’s 99th anniversary, preparations for the jubilee are underway. In keeping with tradition, the museum holdings of Metropolitan Andrey Sheptytsky’s collection are traditionally exhibited in December, for Metropolitan Sheptytsky founded the museum in December 1905.
The National Museum of Lviv has the world’s largest collection of icons portraying the Mother of God, the Christ Child, and the Magnification. Over sixty icons spanning three centuries illustrate the main iconographic styles and techniques addressing the theme of the Divine Incarnation. Ukrainian iconography is marked by a combination of images from the Old and New Testaments, while the principal depiction of the Mother of God and the Christ Child is almost invariably represented by the most widespread type known as the Odigitria. Although another type of icon existed, with the Mother of God flanked by the Apostles, the only extant examples date from the fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries. The earliest of them is an icon from Sushytsia Velyka. Rare icons from Malniv and Korosten are on display here for the first time.
Art specialist Dr. Maria Helytovych, the curator of the exhibit and head of the section devoted to ancient Ukrainian art, says that altogether, the collections from other museums in Ukraine, as well as Poland and Slovakia whose holdings include Ukrainian icons, contain a smaller number of icons. Most of the icons are on display for the very first time, after having been subjected to a whole range of restoration work, including the discovery of later inscriptions on some icons.
Icons from the sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries are examples of the so-called folk icon-painting style, which is linked with the growth of painting centers in cities and towns of the time. Considering that most icons were painted by anonymous artists, signed and dated icons are especially valuable, such as “The Mother of God with the Magnification,” which is signed by Master Oleksiy and was once part of the iconostasis in the Church of the Dormition in Smilnyk. This artist’s creativity is noted for its particular chamber style of composition, lyricism, and complexity.
Interestingly, there were quite a few young people at the launch of the exhibit. They took their time studying every icon. Although not everyone could explain the importance of each icon, one girl said, “I went through the entire exhibit and feel as though my soul has been cleansed.”
