Hagia Sophia of Kyiv: Mosaic color solutions
As has been said, when you make the temple was used 260 m. m mosaic paintings and more than 3,000 square meters. m frescoes. This extraordinarily beautiful decoration, very harmony with the architectural forms of the building. For registration of the central part of the temple used mosaic, which gives the interior grandeur and strikes the eye of any visitor Visitor here is almost from the doorstep.
Particularly impressive looks Lady in blue robes, contrasting with a gold background. Gold background generally one of the main features of mosaic paintings of St. Sophia. For his images used smalt made in a special way. Robe of Christ Almighty holds also in blue, but it still permeate gold veins. Smalt masters used this color as a symbol of divine light. In the image of Christ by making a touch of gold, the ancient artist very accurately expressed the basic idea of Christianity that Jesus did not just resides in the divine radiance, but it is the source. Faces used for the manufacture of very small pieces of flesh-colored glazes. Mosaic in the temple laid so carefully and thoroughly, which is absolutely no noticeable transitions between rows of different directions.
When making St. Sophia were applied glazes over 130 different colors and shades. Among them:
• green - 34 shades;
• blue - 21 shade;
• gold - 25 shades;
• red - 19 shades.
Despite this diversity, the predominant colors can be called gray, white, blue and purple. In addition to glazes, in the design of Hagia Sophia of Kyiv were used blotches natural stone. Development of mosaic art in those days in Russia reached the widest scope. Smalt made of glass, which was painted in different colors to add to it salts and metal oxides. Technology implementation in the ancient mosaics fundamentally no different from modern methods. Colorful pieces of smalt, and sometimes natural stone simply pressed into the ancient masters in wet plaster.
Unusually harmonious interesting color solutions St. Sophia centuries pleasing to the eye of the faithful. And nowadays, anyone can come to admire these unusual and beautiful mosaic pictures created by skillful artisans of ancient Russia.