A SET OF IMPORTANT ICONS OF THE FOUR EVANGELISTS FROM THE ROYAL DOORS. CIRCLE OF SIMON USHAKOV MOSCOW, ARMOURY CHAMBER, CIRCA 1670-1680s ST MATTHEW 72 by 51 cm; ST MARK 72.5 by 51 cm; ST LUKE 72 by 51 cm; ST JOHN 73 by 51.5 cm. Related literature: The Inventory of the Assumption Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, 1701, Russian Historic Library, St. Petersburg, 1876, vol. 3, column 566. V.A. Menyailo, The Iconostasis of the Ascension Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, Moscow, 2005, P. 37. T.V. Nikolaeva, The Old Russian Painting in the Cathedral of the Zagorsk State Museum, 1977, cat. 86, P. 28. These four icons, the main panels of the Holy Gates, reflect the essential iconographic changes to this important part of the iconostasis in the mid seventeenth century and are related to the work of the masters of the Armoury Chamber. There are grounds to believe that the artist who reworked the traditional scheme of the Holy Gates of the fourteenth to sixteenth centuries was one of the most celebrated icon painters of the second half of the seventeenth century: Simon Ushakov, the head of the Armoury Chamber. The shortened, waist-height figures of the Evangelists pointing to the text in their opened Gospel Books (similar to the figures of the Mother of God and the Archangel Gabriel facing each other at the apex of the gates), first appeared in 1653 on the Holy Gates of the Cathed ral of the Assumption in the Moscow Kremlin. This iconography focused attention entirely on the large faces, which were brought closer to the viewer, reflecting the interest of the art of this period in the human individual. The opened Gospels in the hands of the evangelists were turned towards the viewer so that the text written on the pages could easily be read, reflecting the interest of the Modern era in the “depicted word”. Yet another innovation appeared in later works. The Holy Gates of the Chudov Monastery Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin, executed by Simon Ushakov in 1672 and the Cathedral of the Assumption in the Troitse-Sergiev Monastery, also painted by the head of the Armoury Chamber in 1684. These Gates depict the Evangelists with their heavenly symbols alongside: an eagle next to John the Theologian, a winged calf next to Luke, an angel next to Matthew and a winged lion next to Mark. This iconography became widespread subsequently both in Moscow and the iconostases of the Volga region, as is evident in many of the Holy Gates in the churches of Yaroslavl and Kostroma. In all these works, as in our icons, the symbols assigned to the Evangelists are those accepted in the Western church and conform with the interpretation by Hieronymus the Blessed, who assigns the lion to Mark and the eagle to John. The use of the iconography of Simon Ushakov, which had not become an established tradition in Russian art of this time, by the master who painted these parts of the Holy Gates, indicates that he worked in a circle close to the celebrated Moscow icon painter in the 1670s-1680s. The master retains Ushakov's characteristic composition of the Evangelists, depicted at waist-height, holding opened books in their hands but also introduces changes of his own — the symbols rest on clouds, the Gospel in Mark's hands is only partly open, so that the richly decorated gold binding of the book, decorated with pearl and gem ornamentation is visible. The artist who painted the Holy Gates was undoubtedly a senior master of the Armoury Chamber and close associate of Simon Ushakov. This is evident in the painting technique, characteristic of Ushakov, especially the realistic treatment of the faces, the pigments typical for this school, the colour of the background and the manner of applying the gold assist. The soft modelling of the full form of the face with dense shadows and white highlights, the careful working of each fold in the furrows of the flesh, the multiple layers of ochre and the fine detailed modelling are the hand of an outstanding master — and a direct successor of Simon Ushakov. The background ornamentation incised in the gesso is a later over-painting of the icons, but is entirely in keeping with the artistic execution of the works. Of particular interest is the floral ornamentation on a black background on the reverse side of the icons — an unique example of the decoration of the inside surface of the Holy Gates facing the altar, which, as far as we know from surviving icons, had never been adorned before in this way. The craquelure and abrasions suggest that it may have been the first. This is of particular interest, given the division of labour among icon painters in the Armoury Chamber where the Holy Gates were created, which had its own “foliage” artists who decorated the numerous imperial and boyar's palaces, private quarters and refectories with this ornamentation. The rich decoration of a creeping vine motif with bright leaves and buds, especially attractive against the dark background, is similar to the few surviving secular paintings of the third quarter of the seventeenth century. The icons are outstanding works of seventeenth century Russian art, which are of very great artistic and historical interest and of great importance for museums.