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« 2026. # 4 (190)

The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 4 (190), 1056—1067

UDK 7.046.3:27-526.62](477.43/.44)”18/19″

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/nz2026.04.1056

  • Received: 18.07.2026
  • Accepted: 22.07.2026
  • Published: 23.09.2026

FEATURES OF THE DECORATIVE DESIGN OF FOLK ICONS OF PODILLIA

TRISKA Oksana

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4717-4396
  • Ph.D, Art History Researcher at Folk Art Department
  • at Ethnology Institute of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine,
  • 15, Svobody ave., 79000, Lviv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: oksana_triska@yahoo.de

Abstract. Among the various ethnographic groups of Ukrainians, the inhabitants of Podillia were distinguished by their fondness for richly decorating their homes. This tendency was also reflected in the ornamentation of household icons. The purpose of this article is to examine the specific features of the decorative content in religious scenes, to identify the origins of particular ornamental motifs, and to distinguish their types and artistic characteristics.

The object of the study is Podillian canvas icons preserved in private and museum collections in Ukraine, while the subject of the research is the various types of decorative ornamentation used in these works. The territorial scope of the study covers Eastern Podillia, and the chronological framework spans the second half of the nineteenth to the early twentieth century. The research methodology includes the comparative method, used to identify similarities with graphic sources; the artistic-visual method, applied to the analysis of pictorial forms; and the systemic method, employed to understand the integrity of the visual perception of the image. The novelty of this research lies in identifying the specific characteristics of decorative elements in Podillian icons on canvas, particularly their functions within the visual system of the artwork.

Conclusions. Nineteenth-century icon painting from Eastern Podillia is characterized by a wide variety of ornamental motifs that performed both aesthetic-symbolic and compositional-structuring functions within the pictorial space of the icon. Floral patterns were dominant, enriching religious scenes with elements of natural beauty.

The selection of ornaments was significantly influenced by widely disseminated chromolithographs. Icon painters borrowed certain decorative types and compositional ideas from these sources, yet applied them creatively, demonstrating their ability to reinterpret borrowed motifs. At the same time, the artistic expressiveness of the ornamentation depended largely on the painters’ professional experience in icon painting.

Keywords: household icon, folk icon painting, phytomorphic ornament, pattern, decorative types, rose, braided motifs (kosytsi), volutes, floral elements, folk tradition, artistic features.

REFERENCES

  • Selivachov, M. (2005). Lexicon of Ukrainian Ornamentation. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
  • Zhurunova, T. Canon and Manner in the Artistic System of Folk Sacred Painting of Podillia. Rodovid, 16, 48—56 [in Ukrainian].
  • Naiden, O.S. (1989). Ornament of Ukrainian Folk Painting. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
  • Osadcha, O. (2012). Semantics of Ornamental Motifs in the Decoration of Ukrainian Household Icons. Bulletin of Kharkiv State Academy of Design and Arts, 5, 70—80 [in Ukrainian].
  • Burkovska, L. (2019). Evolution of Natural Motifs in Ukrainian Icons of the 15th—19th Centuries. In: Decorative Art of Ukraine of the 9th—21st Centuries: Stylistic Transformations, Artistic Interpretations, and the Pan-European Context (Pp. 267—320). Kyiv: IMFE [in Ukrainian].
  • Pavlutsky, H. (1927). History of Ukrainian Ornament. Kyiv [in Ukrainian].
  • Shcherbakivskyi, V. (1980). Ornamentation of the Ukrainian House. Rome [in Ukrainian].
  • Kosmina, T.V. (1980). Rural Housing of Podillia. Kyiv: Naukova dumka [in Ukrainian].
  • Shvydiuk-Bohdan, A.S., & Selivachov, M.R. (2024). Oleksandr Naiden — a Contemporary Researcher of the Ancient Tradition of Wall Paintings of the Uman Region and Podillia. Ukrainian Art Discourse (Issue 2, pp. 169—181) [in Ukrainian].
  • Triska, O. On the Use of the Term ‘Household Iconostasis. Ethnology notebooks, 2 (170), 386—395 [in Ukrainian].
  • Pchilka, O. (1929). Ukrainian Peasant Wall Painting. Notes of the Historical-Philological Department of the All-Ukrainian Academy of Sciences (Book 23, pp. 177—188) [in Ukrainian].
  • Zarembsky, A. (1928). Folk Art of the Podillian Ukrainians. Leningrad [in Russian].
  • Yur, M. (2008). The Construction of the «Flower» Motif in Ukrainian Peasant Paintings and Non-Objective Painting of the 1910s—1920s. Art Studies of Ukraine (Issue 9, pp. 60—68) [in Ukrainian].
  • Lykhach, L., & Korniienko, M. (2000). Icons of Shevchenko’s Land. Kyiv: Rodovid [in Ukrainian].

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