Icons of the Athos mode of execution with dated inscriptions of Altai

Dated icons with captions are of special interest for research, being a reference point in the time and territorial space of art history. Due to this, it is possible to attribute a number of works that don’t have captions. The most capacious texts give reason to determine the exact origin of the monument. Thus, the iconographic centers and the names of individual icon painters, who worked more than a hundred years ago, are revealed. Iconographic analysis and work to identify the inscriptions confirmed the presence of several of these images in the temples of the Barnaul metropolis. Among the designated monuments, a certain number of works with dated signatures belong to the Athos letter of the late XIX and early XX centuries. The relevance of studying the monuments of Athos iconography is confirmed by a significant number of scientific publications on this topic. Historical information about the close ties between Altai and the Holy Mountain of the turn of the XIX–XX centuries proves the regularity of the actual presence of these monuments on the territory of the Altai Krai and the Altai Republic. The revealed archival documents testify to the high culture and special veneration of Athos images at the local level. The meeting of the commissioned icons painted on the Holy Mountain was accompanied by multi-day processions, which were approved by the ruling bishop. The creation of the identified works is limited to 1890–1912 and refers to various icon-painting workshops of Russian monasteries located on Mount Athos. The article attempts to unite the Athos icons into groups, in accordance with their origin. The iconographic and stylistic diversity of the studied images reveals the self-sufficiency of the creative methods used in these art centers and the high professional level of icon painters. The chronological sequence allows us to determine the nature of stylistic changes in painting through the prism of time.