Ukrainian tradition of engraved cartographic images of pilgrimage centres and Nikodem Zubrzycki’s maps of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra caves as its little-known example

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to propose the analysis of the Ukrainian tradition of engraved cartographic images of pilgrimage centres and to introduce into Ukrainian academic discourse images of engraved plans of the Caves of Saint Anthony and Saint Theodosius in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, produced in 1705 by the renowned 17th–18th-century Ukrainian engraver and draughtsman Nikodem Zubrzycki. The location of these woodcut maps was, until recently, unknown or little known to Ukrainian researchers, and the images themselves are likely being published in Ukraine for the first time. We are unaware of any other copies of these woodcuts by N. Zubrzycki, which makes this publication relevant and important for Ukrainian scholars. It concerns Ukrainian cultural heritage that has been appropriated by the aggressor state and to which Ukrainian specialists have no access.

The research methods included dialectical interdisciplinary, analytical and systematic approaches; bibliographical and historical-comparative methods; iconographic and formal-stylistic analysis.

The results of our research include publication (likely for the first time) of engraved plans of the Caves of Saint Anthony and Saint Theodosius in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, produced in 1705 by Nikodem Zubrzycki using the woodcut technique. The available source material has been analysed, and the history of the Ukrainian cartographic tradition has been examined, in particular the maps of the monasteries intended for pilgrims. The contribution of N. Zubrzycki to the development of the Ukrainian cartographic tradition is highlighted separately. Attention is given to the artistic features of N. Zubrzycki’s plans, including those of the Lavra’s caves, and on the artist’s role in the development of the stylistics of the Ukrainian tradition of cartographic depictions of pilgrimage centres.

Conclusions. This study has made it possible to introduce into Ukrainian academic discourse previously little-known or unknown images of woodcut plans of the caves of Saints Anthony and Theodosius in the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, created by Nikodem Zubrzycki, who played an important role in the history of the development of both the Ukrainian tradition of cartographic imagery and Lavra prints in general.