Dmitry Trofimov decided to donate his creative powers to the Church while still studying at the Surikov Institute. The color, plasticity, light of Russian icon painting touched the soul of the young artist in practice in the Rostov Kremlin, where he studied and copied the famous frescoes. Dmitry studied the basics at the I.E. Grabar Restoration Center. Even in the army, the artist served with a brush in his hands and painted the walls of the temple of his military unit. Later Dmitry Trofimov founded a workshop and called it "Tsargrad" - so admire his spiritual greatness, power, fullness of meanings of Byzantine culture.
Today Tsargrad is a community of icon painters, architects and art critics. The workshop is engaged in complex beautification of churches. Tsargrad designs and creates all the interior decoration - paintings, icons, iconostases, church furniture and lamps, stained glass windows and marble floors. The works of the workshop can be seen in more than thirty Orthodox churches. "Foma" talks about several projects of the "Tsargrad" company, which the masters themselves consider to be significant.
Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Moscow
Dmitry Trofimov spent the summer of 1999 in the woods in the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, feeling both happiness and great responsibility. A team of a teacher and three graduates of the Surikov Institute passed a rigorous competition. 36 collectives fought for the right to work in the restored church. All of them were assigned to paint the image of the Savior on canvases of the same size. The competition committee selected the 9 best teams.
The team, which included Dmitry Trofimov, was instructed to recreate the frescoes of the Transfiguration and Ascension of the Lord in the central part of the church. Large-scale compositions are located on the eastern pylons - wide pillars that support the vault. Multi-meter scenes were created based on small black and white photographs. The painting took three summer months. In the fall, before the consecration of the Cathedral of Christ the Savior, artists painted the local and festive rows of the main iconostasis.
Church of the Nativity of the Virgin, Diveevo
The Nativity of the Virgin Church is underground, it is also called a crypt. It is small and cozy, with low arches. The temple is part of the complex of the Kazan Cathedral of the Diveyevo monastery. The construction of the church was blessed by the Monk Seraphim of Sarov himself. He predicted that the relics of the saints would rest in the crypt. And so it happened: in 2000, a tomb was built here for the relics of the monastic nuns of Diveyevo; Alexandra, Martha and Elena.
The painting reflects the idea of the four earthly inheritances of the Most Holy Theotokos, to which Diveyevo belongs. On the walls of the temple there is a history of two thousand years. It begins with how the apostles and the Mother of God cast lots among themselves, in which direction to go with the preaching of the Gospel. The cycle ends with the scene of the uncovering of the relics of the monastic Diveyevo nuns at the turn of the 21st century.
At that time, it was the most complete historical and mystical cycle of painting dedicated to the monastery. Dmitry Trofimov has developed more than half of the fifty compositions himself. Many subjects in church art did not occur. The artists learned a lot from the Chronicle of the Seraphim-Diveevsky Monastery, which was compiled by the Holy Martyr Seraphim (Chichagov). His image is also in the temple. The Diveyevo sisters helped the icon painters a lot. They suggested how best to compose the iconography, they themselves wrote the ornaments.
This is the first temple that "Tsargrad" painted on gold backgrounds. Such a luminous painting creates a special, light feeling of space. Gold symbolically conveys Divine glory, joy of the Kingdom of God. According to the commandment of the Monk Seraphim, in the Church of the Nativity of the Mother of God, the unbroken Psalter is read in front of an unquenchable lamp.
Church of the Holy Blessed Prince Demetrius Donskoy and the Holy Blessed Euphrosyne of Moscow, Tula
The first and so far the only church in Russia in honor of the holy spouses Demetrius Donskoy and Euphrosyne of Moscow is located in the reconstructed bell tower of the Tula Kremlin. It was blown up in the 30s of the 20th century and rebuilt 80 years later. The dedication is due to the fact that Kulikovo Pole is located on the Tula land. In 2015, the Tsargrad workshop developed and implemented a project for painting and iconostasis in the church.
The new church in the heart of Tula is not a parish church; they serve here on holidays and are often crowned. Therefore, the painting of the walls reminds of the value of the small Church. The temple is surrounded by the hagiographic cycle of the holy princes. Dmitry Trofimov developed it on the basis of akathists - a kind of text icons. The akathists to Dimitri Donskoy, Euphrosyne of Moscow, Sergius of Radonezh and the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God were the proponents of the painting.
As a result - twelve major compositions. According to them, as if from a book, you can read the life of the saints: from the blessing of the young Demetrius on a trip to the Horde to the meeting of the Vladimir Icon of the Virgin.
In addition, the church depicts the holy spouses Cyril and Maria of Radonezh, Peter and Fevronia of Murom, Anna Kashinskaya and Mikhail of Tverskoy, Tsar Nicholas II and Empress Alexandra Feodorovna.
"Tsargrad" executed the painting in the style of the 17th century, because the Assumption Cathedral is almost the last example of painting of that time. The color is solemn, festive: on a gold background, interspersed with white and azure colors.
Church of St. Spyridon of Trimifuntsky, Samara
A small church in the new district of Samara has become a real educational center. And the decoration here is light and joyful. Working on the painting, the Tsargrad team finally formed their characteristic style.
The emphasis in the temple, according to Dmitry Trofimov, should be the akathists to Christ, the Mother of God, and saints. Therefore, the main color, tonal contrast is created around the figures, primarily the Savior. You can recognize the paintings in the workshop by combining white and gold backgrounds. They also show the fonts clearly and clearly. Masters actively introduce the texts of prayers into the painting.
At the same time, the color is restrained, golden, with small accents of bright blue colors. Another distinctive feature is the combination in the interior of painting, imitation of marble and relief elements from plaster.
The walls of the Samara temple are decorated with a hagiographic cycle, again based on akathists. These are four compositions dedicated to Saint Spyridon of Trimyphus.
Chapel of the Great Martyr. Panteleimon, Vidnoye
The chapel in honor of the great martyr Panteleimon is located on the territory of the health center, hence the dedication to the holy healer. The Tsargrad workshop created an architectural project and all the decoration: painting, stained glass, lighting, floor. Painting, imitation marble and plaster elements are again combined here.
There is no iconostasis in the chapel, so the emphasis is on the image of the deesis, prayer intercession. In the center of the eastern wall is the Savior. The Mother of God, John the Baptist and two archangels are before him. And on the neighboring walls are depicted the faces of holiness - the great martyrs, saints, blessed - only twelve ranks. Together with the deesis, they represent the image of the Universal Church, aspiring to Christ.
What is the idea of painting? To emphasize the purpose of the chapel: a person comes here to pray to both the Savior and the saints who stand before Him.
The image of St. Panteleimon in the chapel looks like an icon with stamps: in the center is a large figure of a saint, and around are miniature scenes of his life. This is an unusual technique for wall painting, to which Dmitry Trofimov was inspired by the masters of antiquity. By working with different scales, they built a hierarchy of meanings. The ceiling is decorated with stained glass - the main source of light in the chapel, which supports the idea of light and joy.
Church of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Dobryanka
The church in Dobryanka, which is called the "capital of kindness", stands on the banks of the majestic Kama. The workshop made a general design for it, combining paintings, iconostasis, icon cases, and lamps into a harmonious whole.
The painting is based on the style of the 17th century, which is associated with the history of the city and the entire Perm region. These lands are a kind of "empire" of the Stroganovs, salt merchants. An entire iconographic movement is named after the famous dynasty - the Stroganov letter. It was impossible to ignore this cultural layer, although the Nativity Church was built already in the 19th century.
The Tsargrad team managed to organically fit the 17th century style into the space of classicism. However, the icon painters remained true to their principles. Favorite white and gold background is combined with azure, typical for religious painting of the 17th century. In general, the coloring of the painting is light, festive.
Also, in collaboration with Andrey Vukolov's Abramtsevo Workshops, a unique carved iconostasis was created. Starting from the 16th century samples, which used mica, the united team of craftsmen "discovered" the technology of colored varnishes to decorate the iconostasis body.
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