Kosiv R. Church Art of the Rybotychi Center: Masters, Iconography, Artistic Features.

The study of the artistic features of the 1670s–1760s Rybotychi masters works allowed to highlight icons made by one author. On the basis of common methods of painting, the interrelations between the craftsmen were traced. It was found that in general the works of the 1670s–1710s feature higher professional level than those of later time. In the 1720s–1730s works by the Rybotychi masters, trends of the Baroque style are becoming noticeable. Rybotychi masters Ivan Seredyskyi and Fedir Khronovyat worked in this period. Their works are identified on the basis of authors’ inscriptions and archival information. Among the various individual manners of masters who worked in the 1730s–1760s on approximately the same professional level, with a simplified interpretation of the image, anonymous author of the c. 1735 icons of the Apostles from the Hroziova church stands out. We consider him one of the most skillful masters of this center. The works of the 1740s–1760s Rybotychi masters are decorative and plane, but also more schematic and simplified, with modest frames, little engraving on the background, minimal inscriptions, often with errors. Authors’ names and donators’ inscriptions were not found on the works of this time. Since the 1770s, the activity of the center of church art in Rybotychi is not traceable.