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Gold Jewellery of Kyivan Rus

Registration required

Shevchenko Talks

GOLD JEWELLERY OF KYIVAN RUS'

online presentation by Olga Shkolna (in Ukrainian language)

Sunday, December 29, 2024 @ 12 - 2 PM EST (Toronto time), 19 - 21 (Kyiv time)

online

Please join us on Sunday, December 29, 2024, for GOLD JEWELLERY OF KYIVAN RUS', an online lecture, in Ukrainian, by Professor Olga Shkolna, Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University.

Through the 10th to the 13th centuries, Kyivan Rus’ was the largest and most powerful East Slavic state in Europe. Its capital, Kyiv, one of the most ancient cities of Europe, was introduced to Christianity by Prince Volodymyr who ruled from 980 to1015. Following the example of Orthodoxy from Byzantium, it became the official state religion

This heralded the beginning of a new era in the arts for Rus’ in general and for Kyiv in particular leading to a great flourishing of creativity in architecture, literature, and craftwork, with jewellery-making becoming one of its finest arts.

The Byzantine Empire not only provided the master craftsmen of ancient Kyivan Rus’ with examples of canonical Christian iconography, wall-painting, mosaics, and miniature illuminated books, but also encouraged the development of many goldsmithing traditions, particularly the technique of cloisonne enamelling. This resulted in the jewellery-making of Kyivan Rus’ becoming one of its finest arts and achieving wide acclaim throughout the then-existing ancient world.

The Slavs’ age-old worship of the natural, life-giving forces – Sun, Earth and Water – is reflected through the characteristic symbols in their embroidery, ceramics and jewellery. The handiwork of these jewellers was sent far and wide, enabling generations of craftsmen in other parts of country to use the finest Kyivan artefacts as models for their own work.

In time, thanks to dynastic marriages, jewellery creations of Kyivan Rus’ came into the possession of elite families in the East and West, and eventually the finest examples found their way into the collections of prominent American and European museums.

Olga V Shkolna, Professor of Fine Arts, is Head of the Department of Fine Arts and Design at the Borys Grinchenko Kyiv Metropolitan University. The lecture will be presented in Ukrainian.

Registration Required. To register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0sd-iorz4jHtawdsqI6ltgJaZrmjaefKFH

This lecture is sponsored by The Olzhych Foundation.