Apotheosis of monarchy by Byzantine models. The iconogmraphic program of the mosaics from Alexander-Nevsky’s Cathedral in Warsaw

Abstract

This article is devoted to the mosaics of the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral built in Warsaw in 1894-1912. 16 magnificent mosaic panels based on sketches by Viktor Vasnetsov, Nikolai Koshelev, Nikolai Bruni, Andrey Ryabushkin and Viktor Dumitrashko constituted an elaborate iconographic programme developed by the byzantynist, professor Nikolai Pokrovsky, commissioned by the emperor Nicholas II. After the demolition of the cathedral, some of the mosaics were lost, and some were scattered in different places (in museums, churches, etc.). Based on the surviving fragments of mosaic compositions and archival photographs, the authors of the article attempt to restore and analyse this iconographic programme and indicate its ideological significance in the context of the Church policy of the last Russian emperor.

Keywords

• alexander nevsky cathedral in warsaw
• iconographic program
• mosaics
• nicholas ii
• nikolai pokrovsky
• victor vasnetsov
• pokrovsky cathedral in baranovichi
• national museum in warsaw