The Ceremony of Transferring by the State Hermitage Museum of the Fragments of Frescoes from the Mikhailovsky Zlatoverkhiy Cathedral (St Michael's Cathedral of the Golden Domes) to the Supervision Service for the Relocation of Cultural Heritage of Ukraine

On February 1, 2001 by the Order of the Minister of Culture of the Russian Federation Mikhail Shvydkoy and in accordance with the Law of the Russian Federation "About the Treasures Relocated to the Union of SSR as a result of the World War II and still located on the territory of the Russian Federation" of April 1998, the State Hermitage Museum in the person of Mikhail Piotrovsky, Director of the Museum, transferred to the Ukrainian representative charged with special authority four fragments of frescoes from the Mikhailovsky Zlatoverkhiy Cathedral. The Mikhailovsky Zlatoverkhy Cathedral in Kiev was built by the Kievan Prince Svyatopolk Iziaslavich in the early 12th century as the main cathedral of the family monastery of princes, the descendants of Iziaslav. Interior decorations of the cathedral were the highest achievements of monumental art of Kievan Rus. The Cathedral was substantially reconstructed in the 17th century, but mostly from outside. It existed untouched till the early 20th century. The original decor the cathedral interior was preserved extremely well, which was rare even for Kievan monuments.

In 1930s according to the decree of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine this unique ancient monument was pulled down and blown up. Representatives of science and culture insisted that before the destruction of the cathedral the most precious mosaics and frescoes from it were dismantled and located in different museums of Kiev. Later on some fragments of frescoes were transferred to the museums of the Russian Federation on exchange terms and a contractual basis with Ukraine. All exchange procedures took place before 1941.

During the occupation of Kiev by the Nazi many of the fragments were taken to Germany and after the war returned to the Soviet Union. A part of the artistic objects were sent to the Novgorod Museum of Regional Studies.

In 1953 fragments of frescoes from Novgorod were received by the State Hermitage Museum, thoroughly studied and restored by the specialists.

These fragments are samples of ornamental paintings characteristic of the ancient Russian monumental art of the pre-Mongolian period. They presumably decorated the pilasters, columns and window lintels of the cathedral. Three of them represent different patterns of geometrical and plant ornaments. The fourth fragment in a rather bad state of preservation bears unclearly seen contours of the medallion with a half-figure of a Father of the Church.

Russian museums and cathedrals have very few samples of the monumental paintings from Kievan Rus, including paintings from the Novgorod Cathedral of St Sophia and Novgorod Cathedral of St Nicholas (Nikholo-Dvorishchensky Cathedral).

At the ceremony of transferring of the frescoes in the Grand Church of the Winter Palace

Signing the documents