О выявленных в Вильнюсе иконах И. М. Малышева

ENThis article studies the history of appearance in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, of two iconostases by I. M. Malyshev, the renowned icon-painter of the second half of the 19th century who worked in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius (Троице-Сергиева Лавра). The iconostases were painted for the Orthodox convent which was founded by Emperor Alexander II in honour of Mary Magdalene. This convent was established on the place of a liquidated Catholic monastery in accordance with the policy of strengthening the power of the state and Orthodoxy in the North-Western region of the Empire after the riots of 1860‒1863. Bishop Filaret (Drozdov) of Moscow took part in the foundation of the convent. It was due to his efforts that Mother Superior and the nuns came to Vilnius from Moscow. Bishop Filaret recommended that the iconostases should be ordered in the Trinity Lavra of St. Sergius; the commissioner was the Vilnius Committee for Building Orthodox Churches (Виленский комитет по строительству православных храмов). The article describes the hardships of the existence of the convent amid wars and revolutions. Only a small part of I. M. Malyshev’s iconostases survived, namely 11 icons. 3 icons are in private possession, 6 are in Uspensky Cathedral, 2 are in the sacristy of Mary Magdalene. All the icons are provided with dates, are well-preserved, those that are kept in private collections are very well restored. The article makes public the discovered icons as well as a number of archival documents. Keywords: I. M. Malyshev, convent of Mary Magdalene in Vilnius, iconostasis, Byzantine style, carved and gilded background.