The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 4 (190), 1068—1075
UDK 75.046.3:27-526.62(477.83) “16/17”
- Received: 02.07.2026
- Accepted: 16.07.2026
- Published: ??.??.2026
ICONOGRAPHIC FEATURES OF THE ALTARPIECE «SAVIOR» FROM THE CHURCH OF THE CATHEDRAL OF ST. ARCHANGEL MICHAEL IN THE VILLAGE OF YASENYTSIA-ZAMKOVA
PELEKH Mariana
- ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-5780-9650
- Candidate of Art History, Associate Professor,
- Associate Professor of the Department
- of Graphics and Book Art,
- Institute of Printing and Media Technologies;
- National University Lviv Polytechnic,
- 17, Pidvalna Str., 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
- Contacts: e-mail: marjanna.peleh@gmail.com
LUKOVSKA Olha
- ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4074-7454
- D. Sc in Art Studies, Professor,
- Professor of the Department of Graphics and Book Art,
- Institute of Printing Art and Media Technologies;
- National University Lviv Polytechnic,
- 3, Lychakivska Str., 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
- Contacts: e-mail: olha.i.lukovska@lpnu.ua
Abstract. Introduction. The image of the Savior Blessing with Both Hands from the church ensemble in Yasenytsia-Zamkova represents an important example of the development of Ukrainian church art in the 17th—18th centuries. As the principal icon of a side altar, it reflects the synthesis of the Byzantine artistic tradition with the theological and liturgical concepts of the Greek Catholic Church. This rare iconographic type demonstrates both continuity with early Christian models and the originality of the Ukrainian iconographic tradition.
Purpose. The study aims to identify the theological sources, iconographic prototypes, and artistic features of the iconography of the Savior Blessing with Both Hands, as well as to determine its place in the development of Ukrainian church art.
Methods. The research is based on iconographic, iconological, semiotic, historical, and comparative methods, which make it possible to analyze the symbolism, theological meaning, and artistic characteristics of the iconographic composition within its historical and cultural context.
Conclusions. The iconography of the Savior Blessing with Both Hands constitutes a distinctive phenomenon of Ukrainian Baroque church painting, reflecting both the continuity of Byzantine tradition and the creative reinterpretation of Christological imagery in the Ukrainian cultural environment. The preserved monuments provide new opportunities for further research into regional icon-painting traditions and the evolution of Ukrainian church art.
Keywords: iconography of the image of Jesus Christ, Christ Blessing with Both Hands, seventeenth- and eighteenth-century church art, graphic prototypes, painting tradition of Western Ukraine.
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