On the question of the qenesis of old believer icon painting

The article briefly deals with the emergence of Old Believer icon painting in Russia. Based on the analysis of literary sources, the features of the development of this phenomenon of Russian artistic culture at an early stage (XVIII - first half of the XIX century) are shown. The first part of the article briefly describes the historical situation that influenced the life of the Old Believer communities in the 18th century, which arose in inaccessible areas of the state. The persecution of the Old Believers was reinforced by royal decrees, which, among other things, forbade them to paint icons. Further, the article provides information about the work of icon painters in one of the largest centers of the Old Believers of the 18th century - Vygo-Leksinsky monastery. This the monastery became the largest supplier of icons for the Old Believers throughout Russia. From the 1770s, the Old Believers managed to settle in Moscow, at the Rogozhskaya and Preobrazhenskaya outposts. Since that time, the leading role in the development of the spiritual, economic and cultural life of the Old Believers has passed to the Moscow communities. From sources it is known that in the Old Believer monasteries they were also involved in the restoration of icons. From the second half of the 18th century, provincial centers also developed Old Believers. Particular attention is paid to icon painting in the Epiphany Sloboda Mstera, whose masters specialized in the manufacture of icon stylizations and fakes.