Guslitsy is a historical region located in the southeast of the Moscow region, which includes more than sixty settlements. The small volost connecting the past with the present owes its name to the river of the same name. Several centuries ago, the original land was the center of the Old Believers, where the persecuted Old Believers lived, rushing here after the church schism.
The region, whose history is full of ancient legends, occupies a special place in the national culture of our country.
Appearance of book trade in the Guslitsky volost
Adherents of primordial Orthodoxy, who wanted to preserve their culture, manually rewrote Old Believer books and continued to do this until the beginning of the 19th century. The Old Believers who inhabited the volost, engaged in various crafts, were very educated people. They even organized spontaneous schools, where they taught peasants to read and write.
Old Believers were engaged in Guslitsky painting, the history of which, most likely, dates back to the XVII century. However, to this day, researchers can not figure out its origin. Some art historians are of the opinion that the roots of its traditional patterns should still be sought in the Byzantine ornament.
It is in Guslitsy that a unique book trade appears. Here lived and worked talented craftsmen who were engaged in decorating manuscripts, which were very expensive. Despite the high price, the books instantly dispersed throughout the country, and their popularity was facilitated by the elegant design of the folios dressed in leather bindings and the high literacy of the scribes.
Guslitsky manuscripts in which the texts of chants corresponded were most often intended for worship. Looking at these books, one can judge the attitude of the Old Believers towards the Lord. For them, he was a source of happiness, and therefore all the works are very cheerful.
Sunset and the revival of arts and crafts
Original art, which became a unique phenomenon for the region, existed until the end of the XIX century. It was at this time that the market was flooded with book products issued by printing houses. Printed publications, which are much cheaper than handwritten, come out in large numbers. Scribes are deprived of orders, and with them the means of subsistence. Over the course of two hundred years, the handicrafts gradually came to naught, and the printed book completely replaced the manuscript.
Enthusiastic scribes who worked in the 60s of the last century created on Whatman paper and inked. However, many elements of the Guslitsky painting are very inferior to traditional samples, because the masters did not have the experience and the necessary accessories.
And only ten years ago, the first attempts to revive decorative folk art appear.
A true miracle from time immemorial
The Guslitsky painting, the photo of which is presented in our article, formed Old Believer manuscript books, and this craft was not used anywhere else. The texts were decorated with a special kind of ornament that did not imitate any of the known ornaments, and the fantastically beautiful world of plant patterns is close to folk art of the middle strip of our country.
Book scribes are artistically gifted people who have achieved high design results. Skillful masters who possessed the skills of Old Slavonic writing decorated the manuscripts with color screensavers and miniatures. The unusual beauty of unique patterns instilled in the soul of the person who read them, pacification and at the same time gave books a special elevation.
Even within the same manuscript created in the Guslitsky district, various combinations of complex patterns are striking in their diversity.
The skill of artists who created unique works
Guslitsky painting is a real exclusive. The incomparable writing style is of great interest not only to art critics, but also to ordinary people.
The special worldview of the Old Believers is reflected in the vibrant mural, made only by hand. The elegantly decorated books, painted by talented artists, are distinguished by lush ornaments, which harmoniously combine Russian patterns and elements of European Baroque. Decorated with colorful miniatures, they are incredibly popular.
Initial letter - the main element of "guslits"
Pages of Old Believer books are decorated with capital letters. In the Guslitsky painting, they are the essential part of the book decor. Initial letters are depicted in the form of people, animals, colored floral ornaments.
The first letters of hand-written stories are an unusual element that plays not only a decorative role. According to those who were engaged in manuscripts, this is a kind of border point at which a completely different world arises. Everyday life is interrupted, and a new story is born.
Initial letter is the main element of the Guslitsky painting, which intersects both the secrets of human passions (images of people and animals) and nature (floral ornament, including images of berries and flowers).
The text, designed by artists, seems alive and is perceived by each person in their own way. In addition, any letter is a great space for creativity. They were so heavily ornamented that it is difficult for descendants to immediately identify the letter.
Riot of bright colors in the painting
The main feature of the Guslitsky painting is its bright colors, which are combined with shining gilding. Thanks to their use, readers have a feeling of joy and celebration. It should be noted that such a riot of flowers, life-affirming, is not present in any of the Old Believer's manuscript schools.
The following color combinations are found: red and blue, blue and green, yellow and red. Other combinations are possible, but these are the most popular combinations. Talented artists balanced contrasting colors, skillfully picking out certain shades. Since the middle of the XIX century, a golden color appears in the ornament of books, and screensavers become more solemn. Water-based paints were used for painting, due to which the color transition turned out to be smooth, and for ink stroke - black ink.
Plant motifs
The floral ornament of "guslits", which completed the tradition of decorating the Old Believer manuscript book, is unique and more reminds of wood carvings. Each creator, having his own style, performed different forms of curls and flowers. Someone made them large, while someone, on the contrary, performed very small and elegant.
It is curious that artists painted a folk-based ornament only on the title page and in the margins of books, and at the very end of the text drawings appeared - the so-called endings.
Very fine hatching
In addition, the artists focused on the color shading that was used to paint the basic elements of the Guslitsky painting. Modeling the volume, it was performed with sharp feathers. It is the fine shading that is the main thing in the technique of creativity, honed by centuries. Contemporaries cannot even understand how it was applied. Some researchers believe that a sharpened pen, while others are sure that it could not have done without a brush.
Screensavers replacing manuscript text
In Guslitsy, an individual style of book design has developed, and traditional screensavers, as well as field decorations, consisting of patterns of large forms, occupy more and more space on the page, crowding out the text itself. And the characteristic ornament of the Guslitsky painting worked out in the volost became obligatory for decorating manuscripts of all Old Believers, wherever they live.
Screensavers (small ornamental compositions that highlight the beginning of a section) often occupied the entire page of a manuscript book. They represent a finished composition in which there are vertical columns entwined with a stem. Their compositional solution is characterized by the "stringing" of all components, as well as the upward movement.
In addition, they have horizontal bases for three levels of the picture. It is believed that these tiers are a kind of correspondence to three worlds (terrestrial, underground and heavenly). And in the upper one there is always an irresistible desire upward, to the divine.
The inner part of the volume letters, as well as the screensaver, is decorated with both colored and bright golden curls of bizarre patterns.
Elements of Guslitsky painting and their meaning
As historians suggest, a very long time ago a certain meaning was hidden in combinations of elements of complex patterns. However, book-writers have lost this language, and the ornament in ancient art is just an ornament. And many authors gave bizarre drawings their own interpretation.
For example, on the left side of the pages of manuscript books you can often see bizarre-looking trees, on top of which birds must sit. It is believed that this image of the tree of the world - a kind of model of the universe, where each creature has its own place.
Favorite elements of the ornament of the Guslitsky painting are wonderful birds, which, according to artists, symbolized good. Bearing good news to people, they are always distinguished by fantastic coloring.
Great opportunity to express yourself
Some people wrote the text, while others painted intricate patterns. The artists had "prorisi" - tracing paper with holes through which the ornament was applied. This was done in order to speed up the work and not to draw pictures of the Guslitsky painting every time.
The stencils that have just appeared are a great opportunity to make any postcard or book unique. Even those who do not know how to draw at all will be able to choose their own from the many options. Bright and complex patterns of ornaments attract contemporaries who have a desire to reproduce what they saw and give free rein to their rich imagination.
The laborious work of artists
Those who want to learn the basics of the unique Guslitsky painting should work very hard, because the touch should be thinner than eyelashes.
This is a time-consuming job, as hatching is done with a very thin brush. And before you start painting, you will have to practice a lot. Some students after training develop their business, which cannot but rejoice. However, the main thing is to preserve the style so that a “pseudo-guslitz” does not appear. The fact is that the ancient painting can be compared with science, because everything is precisely verified in it, and artistic techniques have been worked out for centuries. And now she does not suffer any liberties from modern masters.
Folk craft that should not disappear
Guslitsky painting is a living thread leading to the distant past. And all attempts to revive it allow you to touch history, because this is a unique heritage of ancient Russian culture.
Unfortunately, and, perhaps, fortunately, folk craft will not be put on stream. There are too few artists working in this complex technique. But in the old days, only loners created real works of art that are now admired. Let's hope that young professionals will pass on their skills to others, which means that the form of ancient art will not disappear and will live forever.