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Andrei Rublev, together with artel he had painted over 80 icons for the
Vladimir cathedral of the Dormition in 1408. The Rublev iconostasis served
as a model for new iconostasis in large cathedral for a along time. There
were quite a few similar iconostasis made in the XV century, but only the
Kirillo-Belozerski monastery cathedral of the Dormition iconostasis has su r
vived in a more complete state. Its almost five hundred years old history was
full o f events. Already 40 years after they had been painted, all icons were
covered by silver gilded basma oklads, which remain today on the deisis and
festival icons. In 1630 ano the r tier consisting of 25 icons of the forefathers
was added. Although the icons for the cathedral of the Dormition were painted
in Moscow with the donation o f a rich boyar Vasili Ivanovich Streshnev,
they were executed by a Vologda icon painter Zhdan Dementiev, known for
his work in the Vologda St. Sophia cathedral. In 1645 the original Holy
doors were replaced by new ones, covered with a silver gilded chased oklad
o f splendid Moscow make, presented by Tzar Mikhail Feodorovich. They
have survived to this day. The local saints icons also received the well-
presented okladi o f a similar design.
The iconostasis was essentially redone in the XVIII century (after 1764).
The old tiablo construction , when icons were placed in rows side by side on
deco ra ted h'eams, was in 1757 replaced by a common carved and gilded
iconostasis made by a master of the Vologda carving shop Vasili Feodo rov
ich Dengin. This is the iconostasis which we see now. In the XIX cen tu ry
the already inexpressive carving was covered with ano the r th ick layer o f
ground and gilded. Many of the icons of the local saints were covered with
silver chased rizas during reconstruction. Many of the old icons did no t fit
into the new iconostasis and were removed. Only 15 were left in the chu rch
feasts tier, 16 in the deisis, and the prophets icons were removed altogether,
as the ir long boards did not fit into the new icon arrangement. It was impos
sible to do completely without the prophets tier. So they painted half-length
figures of the prophets on special removable boards, which replaced the
covers under the stands o f the local saints icons. Their unsure painting a p
paren tly belongs to monastery icon printers.
The old icons removed from the iconostasis were for a long time stored in
the altar. But then they were gradually taken away from the monastery and
the trace o f many o f them was lost. The icons remaining in the iconostasis
were strongly altered by renewals and did not attract much a tten tion . Only
one icon o f 1497 «In Thee rejoiceth» remained in the local saints tier. Two
o ther ones, including the main icon of «the Dormition» are now in the
Tretyakov Gallery. The o ther icons which stand in the local saints tier today
date from the XVI («the Burning Bush») or the XVII («the Trinity», «Pred-
sta Tsaritsa» ect.) century.
In the end of 1960s restoration of the 1497 icons from the cathedral of
the Dormition began. It lasted several years and is now completely finished.
Meanwhile, icons dating from 1497, which once belonged to the cathedral
o f the Dormition were found in different museums where they had arrived
by various routes.
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