Iconography "The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin" on the Materials of Ukrainian Icons of the Mother of God, XVIII-XIX Centuries
The article is devoted to one of the topical №s of cultural and spiritual interaction between Ukraine and the West. This research is aimed to identify the origins of a new iconography as well as some modifications of a traditional iconography of the Mother of God in Ukraine in the XVIII-XIX centuries. It raises the question of an impact which the Western European culture had on a spiritual and artistic life in Ukraine in the XVIII century and how it mediated the creation and development of the iconography of the «Immaculate Conception» image of the Virgin. In the context of a historical situation, the penetration of the Catholic understanding of the conception of Virgin Mary in the minds of Orthodox Ukrainian hierarchs is considered. In its turn, it led to the formation of the «Immaculate Conception» iconography. The spread of a Western iconography of the Mother of God in the XVIII century reflected a change in public understanding of this image. The main iconographic features of the «Immaculata Conception» type are shown through the examples of Ukrainian icons of the Mother of God of the XVIII-XIX centuries. The article presents images of some rare dipterous icons whose iconography isquite unknown to the masses. Structuring the knowledge of Ukrainian icons of the Mother of God in the mentioned period might help to present more fully a process of iconographic development of the Mother of God images. This article could also complement to the research done in the field of studying modern Church art monuments and serve as an iconographic material for icon-painters and Church art historians.