Conservators reassembled scattered fragments of a 1466 fresco, buried during 17th-century renovations, and rehung the restored composition in St. Sophia Cathedral on the Nativity of the Theotokos.
Fragments of a 1466 fresco, 'The Mother of God with the Child Enthroned,' were rediscovered across decades and assembled into a single composition.
The painting was likely knocked off the cathedral wall and buried during late 17th-century renovations when floor levels were raised.
Restorers have returned a restored 15th-century fresco, "The Mother of God with the Child Enthroned," to St. Sophia Cathedral in Veliky Novgorod. The composition dates to 1466 and was created at the order of Archbishop Iona of Otnja.
Workers apparently knocked the fresco off the cathedral wall during major late 17th-century renovations. When the floor level was raised, remnants of the painting ended up buried in construction fill and remained hidden for centuries.
Fragments began to emerge in modern times. Historian and archaeologist Mikhail Karger found the first pieces in 1956 while studying the cathedral's southern section. In the 1990s custodians found additional fragments in rubble between an excavation area and a pillar. Further unidentified fragments in Karger's collection, held by the Novgorod museum archives, were later matched to the same composition. By joining these finds conservators were able to reconstruct the original scheme.
Specialists at the Novgorod Museum-Reserve undertook years of painstaking restoration to assemble scattered fragments into a coherent image. The restored work was rehung in St. Sophia Cathedral on the feast of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos.
Ivan Lykoshin, director of the Russian Ministry of Culture's Department of Museums and Circus Arts, said the composition is a major monument that had been hidden for centuries and credited museum staff for the restoration work.
The restoration reconstructed an image that existed only in scattered fragments for roughly 300 years and reinstated it within the cathedral's historic fresco program.
President Vladimir Putin ordered the icon to be transferred to the Russian Orthodox Church in 2023.
The cathedral is undergoing a restoration project in preparation for next year’s centennial celebration.
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