Zakharia Samoilovych in Chernihiv

During the hetmanship of Ivan Mazepa, the Chernihiv printing house published several Prayer Books (1687, 1691, 1692, 1693, 1695, 1697). Based on the declared name, Our attention was drawn to the printed Prayer Words 1693, 1695 рр. It is indicated in the bibliography, that the first one was dedicated to Chernihiv Archbishop Feodosius Uglytskyi, who took the chair 11.09.1692 Dr.. The only copy of this book is kept in the Moscow Historical Museum. She is decorated 4 engravings on copper by an unknown author with the image of the heart and scenes from the holy scriptures, and the reverse of the title is a heart with the coat of arms of Feodosius Ughlytskyi, pierced with arrows. The size of the old print is small, 12º, amount 521 sheet[1]. Who could have been the engraver?

The Biblioteka Narodowa w Warszawie has an engraving by a Kyiv engraver of the late 17th and early 18th centuries. Zahariya Samoilovych with the plot of the Magi's worship of Christ (фото. 1). Several details of the image attract attention: Western European iconography, clearly a Cossack saber on the king's belt, below – a cartouche with the coat of arms of Feodosius Ughlytskyi with the abbreviation FUACHE ("FEODOSIUS UGLYTSKY ARCHIMANDRIT YELETSKY[2]”); under the cartouche, a poetic interpretation of the coat of arms as a reflection of the bishop's Christian virtues; below is the respectful signature of the author: Zakhary Samuylovich, the lowest servant of your lordship. AHC…”. The last letters indicate the year of creation 169… . The final letter is unclear, so there is no satisfactory decipherment: between 2 letter E with dots (?), and below it a semi-oval bracket. Maybe you should read AHCHE, тобто 1695? There are no analogues of the indicated signature, although he is known 14 творів[3]. It is interesting, that in Russia there is a work by Samoilovich with a similar plot "Adoration of Tsars John and Peter Alekseevich and Tsarevich Alexei Petrovich to the newborn Christ" (фото. 2). The composition is significantly different from the previous work. Impression, that it is an icon. And no Western European iconography for you. Apparently, the tastes of the customer were affected, because it was created by Samoilovych on the order of Moscow. Engraving takes up a sheet of paper, no date, but we can assume that it is between 1690 та 1696 years - the years of the birth of Tsarevich Oleksii and the joint reign of Ivan and Peter, and closer to 1690/1691 рр. Підписався гравер просто – “З С”.

Prayer letter 1695 Dr.. described by defective specimens, there is no complete copy. It is also in 12º sheet, of 91 sheets.

The above information allows us to assume, that Feodosiy Ughlytskyi and Zakharia Samoilovych were good acquaintances, because they lived and worked in Kyiv for a long time. Over time, Feodosiy Ughlytsky moved to Chernihiv at the invitation of Archbishop Lazar Baranovich, but did not forget his old acquaintance. And when the next Prayer Book was being prepared for printing, he commissioned work 169 from the engraver… Dr.. (?) or he himself suggested the engraving. The sizes of the book and engraving are different. Probably, it was a pasting, which was folded several times to the size of a book, for a gift copy or copies. For some subjective reasons, this did not happen. Maybe the second option. On. Samoilovych simply made a gift to the archbishop, thanking you for your friendly attitude and hoping for further orders in September 1692 р., as already mentioned, Feodosius occupied the Chernigov chair, which provided him with influence on the work of the Chernihiv printing house. It seems, that Samoilovych carved his work during 1690–1692.[4] This is indicated by the title of Feodosius Uglytskyi on the coat of arms and the date. Of course, redo the abbreviation for pasting 1693 Dr.. more expensive, so the wizard simply erased the last letter in the date. But this did not save the situation - the composition of the heraldic emblem with the inscription did not correspond to reality 1693 р., and the Prayer 1695 Dr.. has significant losses, so, we just don't know what happened to the engravings.

So, Zaharia Samoilovych's attempt to establish contacts with the Chernihiv printing house was left alone, because 1696 Dr.. his patron Feodosiy Ughlytskyi dies. But no matter how another page was opened in the history of Chernihiv printing, because no one wrote about this cooperation until recently.

Finally. Has Zakhariya Samoilovych been to Chernihiv?. The facts show that it is. Where he cut the "Warsaw" engraving in Kyiv, in Chernihiv? And there could and there. Regarding the author of other engravings on copper of the Praying Mantra 1693 Dr.. then the question remains open because the Moscow copy will be inaccessible to Ukrainian researchers for a long time, given the realities of today.

[1] Kameneva T.I.. Chernigov printing house, her activities and publications //Proceedings of the State Library of the USSR. Moscow, 1959. Т. 3. С. 271, 361.

[2] He held the position of archimandrite in 1688–1692. 1690 Dr.. ran for the positions of Metropolitan of Kyiv and Archimandrite of the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra. For a long time he headed the Kyiv Vydubytsky Monastery.

[3] Detailed dictionary of Russian engravers of the 16th–19th centuries. /Composition. YES. Rovinsky. SPb., 1895. С. 67–68, 575–577. Це 15 the work is probably not the last.

[4] That is, at the same time Z. Samoilovych fulfilled both the Moscow order and the Chernihiv one.

Старший науковий співробітник музею,

кандидат історичних наук Ігор Ситий