Ukrainian portrait painting of the 16th-18th centuries in the context of european art movements
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.32405/2308-8885-2024-4(114)-12-18Keywords:
portrait art, Ukrainian painting, artistic style, secular portrait, art schools, noble cultureAbstract
The article deals with the development and evolution of Ukrainian secular portrait painting from the 16th to the 18th centuries within the context of European artistic movements. The authors present the process of the emergence and growth of portrait painting, offering an opportunity to immerse in the historical events of the 16th-18th centuries, reflected in the figures of notable Ukrainians of this period. The focus is on the ideological and philosophical differences between secular Western European and Ukrainian portraiture of the same historical period. The content of such terms as portrait, counter-effect and parsuna is explained.
The authors emphasize the relevance of the article in light of current events in modern Ukrainian history, particularly the struggle of Ukrainians for independence and the right to their identity as a distinct nation, as well as Ukraine’s aspiration to integrate into the European Union. These factors encourage the nation to seek its place in its historical past as an integral part of European cultural civilization.
The painting of the 16th-18th centuries is an essential cultural layer in Ukraine’s national history, preserved in works of art that carry information about the philosophy of the era, its aesthetic preferences, and cultural progress.
The article concludes that talented artists of Ukrainian portraiture from the 16th-18th centuries significantly contributed to the development of the national artistic culture, representing it worthily in the treasury of world artistic heritage. It is summarized that the portrait painting of this period laid the foundation for all future genres in the progression of Ukrainian painting. The strong realist trend of this time would increasingly find support in the achievements of Western European art while maintaining its connection with life in Ukraine and its national spiritual and emotional color.
The value of this period is outlined: portrait art had not yet entered the restrictive frameworks of the 19th-century academic art system, and its manifestations were nationally unique and inimitable. In this aspect, Ukrainian portrait painting emerged as a European-level artistic phenomenon. By depicting specific historical figures, the portrait painting of the 16th-18th centuries also reveals the historical situation of Ukraine during this period, marked by the rise of Ukrainian culture.
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