The article attempts first to restore the truth by re-examining the forgotten frescoes of the church on the estate of the Kiev Art Institute (excavated by M.K. Karger in 1947 and published by him) as part of the decoration of the Kiev shrine in the context of the end of the 11th century. Secondly, preliminary information about other fragments of frescoes, originating from the same church and stored in several collections in Kiev, Novgorod and St. Petersburg, is published here, and finally, the author publishes two new mural fragments: one of a face, and the other of an ornament.

The author proves the dating of the frescoes by the end of the 11th century at the modern level. The fragments of the Kiev frescoes are of exceptional interest, since very few murals have been preserved from the second half of the 11th century in Kiev and in other centres of pre-Mongol Rus'. The fragments from the collection of M.K. Karger, together with the frescoes of St Michael's Cathedral in Vydubychi Monastery in Kiev and in St Michael's Church in Oster, give an idea of the mural decorations of this period. The author proposes to place these frescoes within the ascetic artistic tradition.

The article deals with the fragments of wall painting, accompanied with traces of renovation, that were discovered during the architectural and archaeological survey of St. George's Cathedral at Yuriev Monastery. The author analyzes the various explanations of the black brush-strokes which appear among the group of fragments, drawing on the results of physical and chemical analysis.

An overview of the main publications is presented in this paper. Nineteenth-century scholarship was mostly descriptive. The artistic features of the frescoes and their iconography were not then subjected to analysis. V. Sarab'janov considered the chapel painting as an independent ensemble. In his opinion the chapel was decorated with murals after the main ensemble of frescoes. As a scholar he made a significant contribution to the study of the iconography and of the program of decoration of Polotsk chapel. V. Sarab'janov was the first to offer a precise date for the painting (the first third of the thirteenth century). However, there is no consensus among art historians concerning the date of the decoration of the chapel. A. Selickij, V. Pucko and B. Vasil'ev consider it as work of the second quarter or the middle of the twelfth century. Contradictory estimates of the artistic features of the chapel paintings indicate the absence of a clear picture of the stylistic development of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries Byzantine and Old Russian painting. It is obvious that we have to find criteria for the analysis of this material.

The article analyses Old Russian silver and gold objects made in the XI-XIV centuries preserved in Russian museums and private collections, and the technological methods of their production. The traditional techniques of ancient Russian gold- and silver-smiths are compared to those of Byzantine and Western European jewellers. The conclusion has been drawn that there are similarities, with a rather slight differences, among the main technological methods used in works of ancient Russian, Byzantine and Western European gold- and silver-smiths throughout the XI-XIV centuries. The differences lie in the characteristic decoration of the objects, and are largely owing to their liturgical purposes. Technological methods of manufacturing these precious objects have changed significantly over the centuries.

This article is devoted to Simon Ushakov's icon of the Pantocrator created in 1662/63 (State Russian Museum). The author concentrates her attention on a new interpretation of the face of Christ. Its technical execution and facial type tell us that it is an example of "naturalistic" style. But in the author's opinion naturalistic iconography appeared in Russian art earlier than the new pictorial manner. Although the stylistic features of the Vladimir Mother of God painted by Ushakov in 1652 (State Tretiakov Gallery) are not new and reflect the main trends of Russian icon painting in the second quarter to the middle of the seventeenth century, the eyes of the Virgin already have an original form, with a stressed thickness of the lower eyelid and even with thin little eyelashes. In the fifties and sixties of the seventeenth century the row of eyelashes appears on Russian icons beyond Ushakov's physiognomic scheme, instead of their traditional depiction in silhouette. The icon of Christ is a classic example of naturalistic style. Even the clothes are painted in a new way, though later Ushakov will also follow the old manner of depicting them. Stylistic analysis provides a means of clarifying the origin of the «naturalistic» style.

The article examines the double identity of altar retables and some other types of thirteenth- to fifteenth-century painting in churches in Florence and Venice which were commissioned by private patrons or lay confraternities for the churches of mendicant orders. The vows of poverty and the rigorous statutes of these orders severely limited the possibility of their being direct patrons of art objects in their churches. Nevertheless they made available private spaces (chapels and altars) to wealthy families and lay confraternities. This helped them to raise money and to strengthen their relations with the city laity. However these spaces were never entirely private, as they were often used by the clergy who thoroughly controlled their iconographic programs and decorative schemes. Thus the panel paintings examined here reflect the identity of the donors by placing, families' coats of arms, or figures of the patron saints of family members and of the order. By means of sophisticated iconography programs could be composed by and for the monks themselves. By controlling the art objects in many private chapels in their churches the congregations obtained cohesive semantic and artistic ensembles initiated and paid for by private donors. The means of arranging such ensembles can be labeled indirect patronage which became an effective substitute of direct patronage to mendicant orders.

This is the first Russian study of the Rucellai chapel in the church of San Pancrazio in Florence. This funeral chapel, completed in 1467, was commissioned by the largest Florentine patron, Giovanni di Paolo Rucellai, and is associated with Leon Battista Alberti. A copy of the Holy Sepulchre with golden ratio proportions is the kernel of the ensemble. The chapel is one of the most important examples of the adoption of sacred topography in Tuscany. It has influenced several Italian monuments. Special attention is paid to issues of commissioning and to the social and public importance of the Rucellai chapel. The author gives her own interpretation of its decoration, primarily of the inlays of emblems of the customer and of Medici family members. The monument is considered as part of the conceptual ensemble of buildings commissioned by Giovanni Rucellai. It is shown how his subtle plan has increased the importance of the family tomb, at least within the city. This has significantly raised the social and political status of its owner. The author analyses the circumstances which made the Rucellai chapel an important part of the architectural, cultural and sacred image of Quattrocento Florence.

The work of Agnolo di Domenico del Mazziere (1466 - 1513) and his brother Donnino (1460 - after 1515) represents a local artistic tradition based on late Quattrocento pictorial language. They were pupils of Cosimo Rosselli and combined in their works, primarily large altarpieces made for three family chapels of the Corbinelli family in the church of Santo Spirito in Florence, the approaches and schemes which were practiced by prominent masters of the Florentine school. Their well-balanced and eclectic style is obviously archaic against the background of the achievements of Renaissance art of the first quarter of the sixteenth century; however, their works permit the identification of the decorative elements of large frescoes and altars made for aristocrat-patrons of the Medici period, which became fashionable, then standard and then widely current at all artistic levels. It portrays the tastes, the peculiar idiom, and "formula" of Florentine painting which was worked out in the last third of the fifteenth century.

Given the territorial expansion of the German nation in the Holy Roman Empire, a heterogeneous mixture with German areas dominating, the spread of Reformation ideology required Charles V to carry out reforms aimed at centralising his power and restoring the religious unity of the country, as well as a number of measures aimed at consolidating the empire according to principles of nationality. As an enlightened ruler supporting humanist culture and art, Charles skilfully used them to further his own political interests. In shaping the imperial structure, he paid special attention to the emperor's portrait. Numerous portraits of Charles V created by masters of various European countries on the occasion of his coronation in Aachen in 1520, and the depictions of the placing of the imperial crown on his head by Pope Clement VII in Bologna in 1530, of the triumphantly arranged procession, of his arrival at Augsburg and of the assembled Reichstag are contrasted in execution and carry different iconographic programs. Giving the painters freedom of choice in matters of typology and stylistics, Charles, acting as an arbitrator, preferred those variants that would depict his political career and ambition in allegorical form. From this point of view, the program of works by German artists (Christoph Amberger, Lucas Cranach the Elder) looks more demonstrative than the images in paintings by Titian (1530, known by copies) or Bernard van Orley and Jan Cornelisz.