Treatment of Zakomaras’ Archivolts in the 12th-century Novgorod Churches
Keywords:
architecture of Old Rus’, Novgorod, Pskov, Ladoga, technology of vaulting, covering facade with zakomaras, tectonics, wooden tie-beamsAbstract
This publication has been completed with the support of the Russian Science Foundation (RSF), project № 24-18-00228 “Novgorod architecture of the 11th–15th centuries: building materials, constructions and artistic form”.
The article deals with the problem of correlation between the vaults and their representation on the facades: the main focus is on the archivolts of zakomaras in Novgorod architecture. The well-preserved churches reveal the technological and stylistic approaches to the vaulted constructions. The initial version of zakomara in St. Sophia cathedral (1045‒1050) was, in fact, a section of the wall between pilasters that did not support the vault but copied its shape, highlighted by the dog-tooth cornice. The 12th-century shift in the vaulting construction is the likely reason for the changes in the treatment of the zakomaras. The barrel vaults were built with the help of wooden structure, spanned between previously erected arches and semicircular sections of the walls. Most zakomaras carried part of the vaults’ weight, while few were decorative replicas, adjacent to the slope of the vault for the sake of exterior integrity. The archivolt was introduced as the element refining zakomara while echoing the vault in the St. Nicholas church and the Cathedral of the Antoniev monastery. The St. George cathedral of the Yuriev monastery brought about a new kind of archivolts with elongated proportions of the stilted arch. The facade pilasters become narrower at the level of the arches supporting vaults of the transept and the corner bays. The churches in Pskov, Ladoga, and Novgorod share this kind of treatment despite changes in the layout and interior composition. The setbacks on the pilasters generally are lower than the wooden tie-beams and display no definite connection with the windows. Consistent revelation of the vaulting including the lowest arches on the facades is relative to byzantine cornices. The elongated archivolts appear as both tectonic and ascetic feature suitable for solid and laconic Novgorod architecture.
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