MIGRANT CHURCH: ICONS AND WALL PAINTINGS OF THE WOODEN CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS IN HRADEC KRÁLOVÉ.

The church of St Nicholas, which is now located on the territory of Jiráskovy sady Park in Hradec Králové, Czech Republic, was originally built in the village of Habura (Slovakia). During the 2017 restoration, the iconostasis was dismantled, which made it possible to study the wall painting, preserved in fragments. The article examines the icons on the church walls, in the sanctuary and in the iconostasis, and the wall painting in the context of the activity of their authors. Most of the icons are attributed to the centre of church art in the town of Rybotychi (today the village of Rybotycze in Fredropol district of the Subcarpathian Voivodeship of Poland). In addition to the manner of painting and of the frame carving of the icons, the history of the church’s relocation shows that it was originally built in the epicentre of the activity of these masters on the border of the Peremyshl (today the town of Przemyśl, Subcarpathian Voivodeship of Poland) and Mukachevo (today a town in Ukraine) dioceses of the Ukrainian (than called Rus’ka) church. The chronology of the icon painting is related to the transfers and rededications of the church. The connection of the wall painting with the painting style of the master Yakiv of Rybotychi, who, as we assume, was the leading master of this centre in the 1670s and 1680s, is substantiated. Associated with his authorship are icons originating from the churches of Habura’s neighbouring villages. This confirms our hypothesis that the wall painting was created in the 1670s. Church icons belong to masters whose other works have been identified in museum collections and in churches in Slovakia, Poland and Ukraine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]