Svitlana Olianina
Institute for Cultural Research of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0628-146X
DOI:
Keywords: iconostasis, engraving, textual insertions, Council of Trent, Catholic art, homily.
Abstract.
From the 1630s onwards, inscriptions began to appear on the architectural frame of the Ukrainian iconostasis, serving as textual commentaries to the images it contained. Initially, only the names of saints were transferred onto the frame; subsequently, scene titles and theological annotations were also introduced. By the second half of the seventeenth and throughout the eighteenth centuries, such textual insertions had become an integral component of the iconostasis’s semantic program. This article explores the ideological foundations of this innovation and the reasons for the introduction of accompanying texts on the architectural frame of the Ukrainian iconostasis during the first third of the seventeenth century. It argues that this practice arose as a response to the reforms in Catholic art that followed the decrees of the Council of Trent. One of the models for incorporating inscriptions onto the Ukrainian iconostasis frame can be traced to the altars of Catholic churches in Poland, which began to feature textual insertions of identification and theological content in the early seventeenth century. The Orthodox communities of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, existing within this shared cultural context and oriented towards the enhancement of preaching and education along Jesuit lines, adopted the inclusion of verbal commentaries on the iconostasis frame. This innovation extended the communicative potential of the iconostasis as a tool of visual preaching by adding a verbal dimension to its symbolic and didactic message.
Author’s biography.
Svitlana Olianina , Doctor of Art Studies, professor, Leading Research Fellow, Institute for Cultural Research of the National Academy of Arts of Ukraine, Kyiv
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PDF (in Ukrainian)
The article was received by the editorial office on 09.06.2026.
The article was accepted for publication after review on 15.06.2026.
The article was published on 30.06.2026.
Vol 29 No 1 (2026)
Section: MUSEOLOGY AND PROTECTION OF CULTURAL HERITAGE