Medieval and Manuscripts

Alypius (icon painter)

Alypius (secular name Alexei Ivanovich Konstantinov, 21 March [O.S. 9 March] 1851, Yaroslavl Governorate, Russian Empire – 30 August [O.S. 17 August] 1901, Valaam, Grand Duchy of Finland, Russian Empire) – a Russian icon painter, hieromonk of Valaam Monastery, who became known as the creator of the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God, venerated in the Russian Orthodox Church and the Finnish Orthodox Church as a miracle-working icon. Alypius was a member of the commission for the construction of the Transfiguration Cathedral of Valaam Monastery and its bell tower, led the monastery's icon-painting workshop and the icon-painting section of the art school at the monastery. The vivid and complex personality of the artist attracted the attention of his contemporaries. He was written about by the traveller and journalist Vasily Nemirovich-Danchenko; the writer and publicist, representative of the conservative–Christian current of social thought Ivan Shmelev, and the poet, playwright and translator Konstantin Sluchevsky. A significant number of documents relating to his life and work are preserved in the archive of New Valaam Monastery. Interest in the life and work of Alypius at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century arose following the publication of the Tale of the Valaam Icon of the Mother of God found in the archive of New Valaam Monastery. Art historian Svetlana Bolshakova held that the work of Hieromonk Alypius marked a turning point in the development of the artistic style of the Valaam icon-painting workshop. She associated with his name the transition of Valaam Monastery – both in the creation of icons and in monumental murals – to the principles of the academic school of painting.

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See also

• ▸Crosby Hall, London
• ▸Harrington rod
• ▸Abbey of Saint-Pierre de la Couture

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Text from Wikipedia; plate via Wikimedia Commons. Text CC BY-SA 4.0; plate freely licensed (see Commons). Source record. Images and catalogue data are reproduced from open-access collections.