Show all images on one page	#007391 Title: Principal/Master Artist: Mikheev Alexander Size: 8x3x11 Size (inches): 3x1.25x4.25 Price : $1475 SOLD!

This interesting box showing the village of Ferapontovo and a raven was painted by a famous Fedoskino artist Alexander Mikheev.
The Ferapontov convent , in the Vologda region of Russia, is considered one of the purest examples of Russian medieval art, a reason given by UNESCO for its inscription on the World Heritage List.
The monastery was founded by Saint Ferapont in 1398 in the inhospitable Russian North, to the east from the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery, named after his fellow monk, Saint Kirill of Beloozero. The fame of the monastery started to spread under Kirill's disciple, Saint Martinian, who was to become a father superior of the Troitse-Sergiyeva Lavra in 1447. Even after Martinian's death, his monastery was protected and favored by members of Ivan III's family. The most ancient structure, the Cathedral of Nativity of the Virgin (1490), was built in brick by the masters of Rostov. This edifice is the best preserved of three sister cathedrals erected in the 1490s in the Russian North. All the interior walls are covered with invaluable frescoes by the great medieval painter Dionisius. This is the last surviving Russian medieval church with fully painted walls.
During the 1530s, they added a treasury, a refectory, and the unique Annunciation church surmounted by a belfry. At that time the monastery enjoyed special privileges conferred upon it by Ivan the Terrible, and possessed some 60 villages in the vicinity. The tsar himself frequently visited the monastery as a pilgrim.
In the Time of Troubles, the monastery was ravaged by the Poles. During its recovery the last buildings -the tent like church of Saint Martinian (1641), a two-tented barbican church (1650), and a bell tower (1680) were added to the complex. The belfry clocks (1638) are said to be the oldest in Russia.
As the monastery gradually lost its religious importance, it was being turned into a place of exile for distinguished clerics, such as the Patriarch Nikon. It was abolished by Emperor Paul in 1798, re-instituted as a convent in 1904, closed by the Bolsheviks twenty years later, and turned into a museum in 1975. The museum constitutes a part of the Russian North National Park since 1991.
The box is called a principal and showing a black raven on the left side of the front side of the box. The bird is paint very precisely, with a lot of details. The look of the bird is not really friendly to show who is a real Master here... The architectural scene is painted also very much detailed and in contrast.The artist has used the colors and style which is easy to recognize to those who familiar with his art.
The box is constructed from paper-mache. The lid is hinged from the top of the scene. The work is signed with the artist's name, the year of 2012 and the village of Fedoskino.