Pryimych M. Professional church painting in Zakarpattia of the 2nd half of the 18th century – 1st half of the 20th century: folk tradition, Byzantine canonicity and influences of West-European art.

The monograph is an all-round study which considers Zakarpattia professional church art as an integral part of modern art tradition of the region. The study intends to outline the trends of artistic evolution in Zakarpattia on the basis of exploring the fine art of churches in the region, to find out sources and character of influence of local folk traditions, Byzantine iconography and West European tendencies on the artistic trends in Zakarpattia in late 18th – early 20th century in the context of cultural development of Ukrainian population of the area. The study presents an analysis of artistic processes in the Church of Greek rite at the background of historical and culutural transformations evolving in the Austrian empire since the 18th century. The work embraces church art objects not only within the present-day Zakarpattia, but also on the neighbouring territories of Slovakia, Hungary and Romania for the sake of their importance for better understanding of the art processes of the 18th – first half of the 20th centuries. The role of main factors affecting the formation of church fine art in Zakarpattia is elucidated, in particular traditional folk art, influence of Byzantine iconography by means of metabyzantine artistic forms, role of monasteries in the introduction of West European art and development of education due to the ideas of Enlightenment.