Museum of Ukrainian home icons

Last updated
Radomysl Castle. Museum of Ukrainian Home Icons. The Ceremonial Hall's piece of exhibition Muzei Ukrainskoi domashnei ikony.jpg
Radomysl Castle. Museum of Ukrainian Home Icons. The Ceremonial Hall's piece of exhibition

The Museum of Ukrainian home icons (Ukrainian : Музей української домашньої ікони) of the 16th to 20th centuries is the basic part and main attraction of the Radomysl Castle, a historical and cultural complex which is located in the town of Radomysl (Zhytomyr region, Ukraine).

Ukrainian language language member of the East Slavic subgroup of the Slavic languages

Ukrainian is an East Slavic language. It is the official state language of Ukraine, one of the three official languages in the unrecognized state of Transnistria, the other two being Romanian and Russian. Written Ukrainian uses a variant of the Cyrillic script.

Radomysl Castle

Radomysl Castle is a historical and cultural complex created in 2007–2011 by Olga Bogomolets MD, a Ukrainian doctor and public activist. The castle's center is an old flour mill built in the town of Radomyshl in the late 19th century by Polish engineer Piekarski. The mill was constructed upon the ruins of a paper mill built in 1612 by the order of the archimandrite (abbot) of Kyiv-Pecherska Lavra Yelisey Pletenecki (1550–1624). During research conducted during the reconstruction of this building, it was discovered that it had been planned to be used as a fortress. Since 2011, Radomysl Castle is part of the Council of Europe’s cultural project called Via Regia, its purpose is to promote cultural exchanges by means of tourism between European countries.

Radomyshl City in Zhytomyr, Ukraine

Radomyshl is a historic city in Zhytomyr Oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Radomyshl Raion (district), and is located on the left bank of Teteriv River, a right tributary of Dnieper River. Its population is approximately 14,716 (2017 est.).

The museum’s funds are based upon the private collection of icons collected by Olha Bohomolets, MD, a well-known Ukrainian doctor and public activist. It took nearly 16 years for Mrs. Bogomolets to form the collection (since 1996). This is the first and only museum of its kind in Ukraine and in the entire world, and it is also the largest museum of icons in Eastern Europe. It represents perhaps the largest Christian exposition in Ukraine.

Icon religious work of art, generally a panel painting, in Eastern Christianity

An icon is a religious work of art, most commonly a painting, in the cultures of the Eastern Orthodox Church, Oriental Orthodoxy, the Roman Catholic, and certain Eastern Catholic churches. The most common subjects include Christ, Mary, saints and angels. Although especially associated with "portrait" style images concentrating on one or two main figures, the term also covers most religious images in a variety of artistic media produced by Eastern Christianity, including narrative scenes. Icons can represent various scenes in the Bible.

Olha Bohomolets physician

Olha Bohomolets, MD is a Ukrainian physician, singer and songwriter, Honoured Doctor of Ukraine, the founder and chief doctor of the Institute of Dermatology and Cosmetology.

A Doctor of Medicine is a medical degree, the meaning of which varies between different jurisdictions. In the United States, Canada and some other countries, the MD denotes a professional graduate degree awarded upon graduation from medical school. In the United Kingdom, Ireland and other countries, the MD is a research doctorate, higher doctorate, honorary doctorate or applied clinical degree restricted to those who already hold a professional degree in medicine; in those countries, the equivalent professional degree is typically titled Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS).

The icons kept in the Museum are made by both professional and amateur artists. However, their works are equally valuable. Sometimes the artists used Ukrainian Christian folklore as the source of inspiration.

Christian mythology mythology of Christianity

Christian mythology is the body of myths associated with Christianity. The term encompasses a broad variety of legends and stories, especially those considered sacred narratives. Mythological themes and elements occur throughout Christian literature, including recurring myths such as ascending to a mountain, the axis mundi, myths of combat, descent into the Underworld, accounts of a dying-and-rising god, flood stories, stories about the founding of a tribe or city, and myths about great heroes of the past, paradises, and self-sacrifice.

Olga Bohomolets, the owner of Museum of Ukrainian Home Icons tells the visitors about the icons of Museum's collection Museum of icons4.jpg
Olga Bohomolets, the owner of Museum of Ukrainian Home Icons tells the visitors about the icons of Museum's collection

Some icons retain the marks reminding of anti-religious policy and brutal atheism of the Communist dictatorship in Ukraine (traces of fire, slashes, bullet holes etc). Dramatic impression is produced by a chest for wheat made of headless icons.

Atheism is, in the broadest sense, the absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is the rejection of belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which, in its most general form, is the belief that at least one deity exists.

The unique attraction of the Museum is a rare icon of St. Nicholas carved in stone in the 12th century. The tradition of such icons comes from the Byzantine Empire and they were used in churches in Rus' up to the 16th century.

Byzantine Empire Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages

The Byzantine Empire, also referred to as the Eastern Roman Empire or Byzantium, was the continuation of the Roman Empire in its eastern provinces during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, when its capital city was Constantinople. It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453. During most of its existence, the empire was the most powerful economic, cultural, and military force in Europe. Both the terms "Byzantine Empire" and "Eastern Roman Empire" are historiographical terms created after the end of the realm; its citizens continued to refer to their empire simply as the Roman Empire, or Romania (Ῥωμανία), and to themselves as "Romans".

The Museum holds nearly 5,000 items of Ukrainian sacral art from all around the country. Among them are not only Orthodox icons, but also Catholic and Greek-Catholic, including those respected among the followers of different Christian confessions (such as the Holy Virgin of Częstochowa, Berdycziv, Pochaiv etc.).

Eastern Orthodox Church Christian Church

The Eastern Orthodox Church, officially the Orthodox Catholic Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 200–260 million baptised members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops in local synods, although roughly half of Eastern Orthodox Christians live in Russia. The church has no central doctrinal or governmental authority analogous to the Bishop of Rome, but the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople is recognised by all as primus inter pares of the bishops. As one of the oldest religious institutions in the world, the Eastern Orthodox Church has played a prominent role in the history and culture of Eastern and Southeastern Europe, the Caucasus, and the Near East.

Catholic Church Christian church led by the Bishop of Rome

The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with approximately 1.3 billion baptised Catholics worldwide as of 2017. As the world's "oldest continuously functioning international institution", it has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilisation. The church is headed by the Bishop of Rome, known as the pope. Its central administration, the Holy See, is in the Vatican City, an enclave within the city of Rome in Italy.

Eastern Catholic Churches autonomous, self-governing particular Churches in full communion with the Pope

The Eastern Catholic Churches or Oriental Catholic Churches, also called the Eastern-rite Catholic Churches, and in some historical cases Uniate Churches, are twenty-three Eastern Christian particular churches sui iuris in full communion with the Pope in Rome, as part of the worldwide Catholic Church. Headed by patriarchs, metropolitans, and major archbishops, the Eastern Catholic Churches are governed in accordance with the Code of Canons of the Eastern Churches, although each church also has its own canons and laws on top of this, and the preservation of their own traditions is explicitly encouraged. The total membership of the various churches accounts for about 18 million, according to the Annuario Pontificio, thus making up about 1.5 percent of the Catholic Church, with the rest of its more than 1.2 billion members belonging to the Latin Church, also known as the Western Church or the Roman Catholic Church.

Sources

Related Research Articles

Polesia Natural and historical region

Polesia, Polesie or Polesye is a natural and historical region starting from the farthest edges of Central Europe and into Eastern Europe, stretching from parts of Eastern Poland, touching similarly named Podlasie, straddling the Belarus–Ukraine border and into western Russia.

Chernihiv Oblast Oblast in Ukraine

Chernihiv Oblast is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Chernihiv. Within the Oblast are 1,511 settlements of various sizes ranging from large cities to very small villages. Population: 1,055,673 (2015 est.)

Vinnytsia Oblast Oblast in Ukraine

Vinnytsia Oblast is an oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Vinnytsia. Population: 1,610,573 (2015 est.)

Little Russia

Little Russia, sometimes Little Rus', is a geographical and historical term first used by Galician ruler Bolesław-Jerzy II, who in 1335 signed his decrees as Dux totius Russiæ minoris.

Kryvyi Rih City of regional significance in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine

Kryvyi Rih or Krivoy Rog is a city in the Dnipropetrovsk region of Ukraine; it is the 8th-most populous city in the country. It lies within a large urban area, administratively incorporated with Kryvyi Rih Municipality as a city of regional significance. It also serves as the administrative center of the district, although it is not part of it. The city extends for 126 km from north to south.

Zhytomyr Oblast Oblast in Ukraine

Zhytomyr Oblast is an oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. The administrative center of the oblast is the city of Zhytomyr. Its population is approximately 1,240,482 (2017 est.).

Peter Mogila Metroploitan of Kiev, Halych,and All-Rus

Metropolitan Peter was an influential Romanian Orthodox theologian and reformer, Metropolitan of Kiev, Halych and All Rus' from 1633 until his death.

Name of Ukraine

The name "Ukraine" was first used to define part of the territory of Kievan Rus' in the 12th century. The name has been used in a variety of ways since the twelfth century, referring to numerous lands on the border between Polish and Kievan Rus' territories. In English, the traditional use was "the Ukraine", which is nowadays less common and officially deprecated by the Ukrainian government and many English language media publications.

Kozelets Urban-type settlement in Chernihiv Oblast, Ukraine

Kozelets is an urban-type settlement in Chernihiv Oblast (province) of northern Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Kozelets Raion. Kozelets is located on the Oster River, a tributary of the Dnieper. Population: 8,142 (2015 est.)

National Art Museum of Ukraine art museum

The National Art Museum of Ukraine is a museum dedicated to Ukrainian art in Kiev, Ukraine.

Theotokos of Pochayiv

Theotokos of Pochayiv is an Eastern Orthodox icon of the Virgin Mary, painted in a late Byzantine style, of the Eleusa iconographic type. Like many famous icons, it is now usually displayed with most of the surface covered by an elaborate frame in precious metals, or riza, except for the faces.

Kostyantyn Gryshchenko Foreign minister ukraine

Kostyantyn Gryshchenko is a Ukrainian diplomat and politician. Since Ukraine gained independence, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko has served in a succession of senior positions with responsibilities ranging from arms control and regional security to education and public health. He served as Vice Prime Minister of Ukraine (2012-2014), Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and First Deputy Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine (2008-2010). Ambassadorial appointments include: Head of Mission of Ukraine to NATO and the Ambassador of Ukraine to Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg (1998-2000), Ambassador to the United States (2000-2003) and Ambassador to the Russian Federation (2008-2010). In addition to his posts in the Ukrainian Government, Kostyantyn Gryshchenko participated in personal capacity in a number of high-profile bodies focused chiefly on various aspects of regional and international security: 1991 –Deputy Chief Inspector for biological weapons of the United Nations Special Commission in Iraq (UNSCOM); 1995-1998 –Member of Council of Founders, Geneva Center for Security Policy; 1999-2003 Member of the Advisory Board on Disarmament Matters to the UN Secretary General ; 2000-2003 –Member, United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission (UNMOVIC) and 2003-2006, Member of the Board of Directors of Transatlantic Partners Against AIDS. Kostyantyn Gryshchenko holds the diplomatic rank of Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary.

Pavlo Hai-Nyzhnyk was born on May 28, 1971 in Dunaivtsi of Western Podillya, Soviet Union and is a Ukrainian historian, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Senior Research Scientist at I.F.Kuras Institute of Political and Ethnic Studies of National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine, Academician of the Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (Kyiv), Head of Department of Historical Studies at the Scientific Research Institute of Ukrainian Studies (Kyiv), and Ukrainian poet.

Radomysl paper mill

Radomysl paper mill is a paper producing factory in the town of Radomyshl. It has been in operation since the first half of the 17th century, first as a paper mill, then as a flour mill. It is now part of Historical and cultural complex Radomysl Castle.

The Little Russian identity was a cultural, political, and ethnic self-identification of the elite population of Ukraine who aligned themselves as one of the constituent parts of the triune Russian nationality. The identity was not supported by the majority peasant population, instead preferring the ethnonym Ruthenians or Rus' people. The Little Russian identity combined the cultures of imperial Russian and Cossack Hetmanate.

Yevhen Buket Ukrainian journalist

Yevhen Vasyl'ovych Buket – Ukrainian local historian, journalist and public figure. Honorary ethnographer of Ukraine (2016). In 2012 – Chairman of the NGO "Wikimedia Ukraine". 2011 initiated the Ukrainian Wikiexpeditions; 2013 – initiated the photo contest "Wiki Loves Earth". Both projects are among the most successful initiatives of NGO "Wikimedia Ukraine".

Samiilo Velychko the author of the first systematic presentation of the history of the Ukrainian Cossack state

Samiilo Vasyliovych Velychko — Ukrainian Cossack-nobility chronicler, the author of the first systematic presentation of the history of the Ukrainian Cossack state.

Symbols of Ukrainian people

National symbols are the sacred attributes for Ukrainian people. In Ukrainian graphics there exist a number of symbols and images from national songs, legends. Such symbols and imagery are used in national customs and rituals. They are reproduced in embroidery on national costumes, ritual cloth—rushnyks, painted on crockery, in forged products, in carving, in bas-relief house decoration, in hearth painting, pottery, engraving and also in Ukrainian traditional Easter eggs—pysankas.