Vasiliy Griaznov

Vasiliy Vasilievich Griaznov (Belarusian:Васіль Васільевіч Гразноў; c.1840, place unknown — 27 February 1909, Vilnius) was a Belarusian painter, art teacher and architectural historian.

Not to be confused with St. Basil of Pavlovsky Posad, whose original name was Vasily Gryaznov
Top: Lida Castle
Bottom: Ruins of a church dating from the times of Algirdas; in Vilnius

Life and work

He graduated from the Stroganov Moscow State Academy of Arts and Industry with a diploma in technical drawing and landscape painting, then served as a draftsman in the silver workshop of the Sazikov jewelry company. In 1864, at the invitation of Ivan Petrovich Kornilov, a trustee of the Vilnius School District, he moved to Vilnius, where he devoted himself to the study of historical monuments. He also taught drawing and calligraphy in the public schools. After 1886, he taught at a girls' school.[1][2]

He made numerous trips throughout Lithuania and Belarus, seeking out monuments and landmarks, then taking photographs or painting watercolors. Some of his photographs were published in the Vilnius city calendar for 1887; although it had to be produced outside of Lithuania, due to a lack of the necessary technical equipment.[3] His graphics were often exhibited in St. Petersburg at archaeological congresses.[4] As these works were designed for practical use, relatively few have survived. A notable example depicts the Church of St. Michael, Synkavichy. Some were used as book illustrations.

In the late 1860s, he was one of the first to investigate and describe the Kalozha Church, following its partial collapse. He found traces of forgotten frescoes, including a depiction of the Holy Trinity, and determined that the church once had a wooden bell tower.[5]

Perhaps his best known discovery came about when he was searching through a church in Turov and came across a box of coal mixed with paper. When he spread out the contents, he found a manuscript from the 11th century which is now known as the Turov Gospel.[6]

References
  1. Serebryakov, M. V. (1903). Исторический очерк столетнего существования 1-й гимназии. 1803-1903 (in Russian). 1. Vilnius. p. .
  2. Памятная книга Виленской губернии на 1890 (in Russian). Vilnius. 1890. pp. 124, 127.
  3. Petrov, N. I. (1889). Из путешествия в Северо-Западный край. Киевская Старина (in Russian). Kiev. XXIV: 475.
  4. Alekseyev, Leonid Vasilyevich (1996). Василий Васильевич Грязнов. Археология и краеведение Беларуси. XVI–30-е годы XX в (in Russian). Беларуская навука. pp. 121–122.
  5. Trusov, I. G. (2011). Борисо-Глебская Коложская церковь (in Russian). Grodno: ЮрСаПринт. p. . ISBN 978-985-90187-2-5.
  6. Shumeyko, M. F. (2005). История белорусской археографии / Археография: курс лекций (in Russian). Minsk: БГУ. p. .

Further reading
  • G. A. Kachanouski, Археологія і гістарычнае краязнаўства Беларусі ў XVI—XIX стст (Archaeology and History of Belarus: XVI — XIX centuries), 1984.
  • Nikolay Nikolayevich Ulashchik, Введение в изучение белорусско-литовского летописания (Introduction to the study of Belarusian-Lithuanian annals), 1985.

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