The formation of the Shartash style of manuscript decoration of traditional book culture took place in the Urals in the region of Shartash Lake in the 1780s – 1820s in scriptoriums of Old Believer hermitages. The specifics of the settlement and development of the Ural region, in which the Old Believers played an important role in all the diversity of its movements with the presence of their artistic traditions, determined the characteristic features and signs of an independent artistic style. It took shape, on the one hand, under the influence of the Old Russian book culture, using elements and stylistic devices that existed in the manuscripts of the pre-schism period. On the other hand, the style was formed considering the developments in the artistic directions of other Old Believer centers as a result of active interaction with their bookishness. This was the influence of the Pomorskaya tradition as a result of contacts with the Ural Priestless Old Believers and Vetkovskaya one as a result of active interaction with Western Russian centers of Old Believers. Despite the combination of various graphic techniques, the Shartash style is a holistic phenomenon of the Old Believer culture. Creative comprehension of various pictorial traditions by the Ural scribes led to the creation of an original artistic style, which has become an important element of regional culture. The Shartash style of decorating manuscripts, taking shape in the end of the 18^th – beginning of the 19^th centuries, was relevant on the pages of manuscripts until the end of the 19^th – beginning of the 20^th centuries.

Key words: Old Believers, Ural, book and manuscript tradition, ornamentation of manuscripts, Shartash style, regional culture

DOI: 110.22250/20728662_2023_1_154

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About the author

Natalia V. Anufrieva – Senior Researcher, Senior Keeper of the Collections of the Laboratory of Archaeographical Studies of the Ural Humanitarian Institute, Ural Federal University named after the first President of Russia B.N. Yeltsin; 51 Lenin str., Yekaterinburg, 620000, Russia; This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.