Pushkin House invites you to an online lecture by Russian art historian Professor Alexei Leporc dedicated to the influence of Ukrainian culture on the Russian architectural tradition of the late 17th and early 18th centuries.

70% of all the proceeds from this event will go to the Support for Ukrainian Cultural Workers Fund.

This is an online event. With the purchase of a ticket, you will be able to watch live or access the recording on-demand afterwards.

In the words of Professor Leporc, it was Ukraine that gave late 17th century Moscow its most precious necklace of magnificent churches. Following the Eternal Peace Treaty of 1686, which set out the division of Ukraine between Poland and Russia, Moscow was visibly influenced by the Ukrainian tradition and architecturally “Ukrainised” as Russia took greater political control over the country. Everything usually described as “Naryshkin Baroque” (for example the Fili and Troitse-Lykovo churches, and the Novodevichy convent ensemble) was a rather direct result of Lev Naryshkin’s (and many others’) fascination with splendid Ukrainian churches. Naryshkin was uncle and mentor to the future emperor Peter the Great, thus influencing cultural tastes for decades to come. “Naryshkin Baroque” is too often misinterpreted as being the first wave of Western European influence on Russian culture, when in fact it resulted from the impact of Ukraine’s already well-established architectural tradition.

Professor Alexei Leporc is an art historian, specialist in Western European Art and architecture living and working in Saint Petersburg. He was Professor of 15th–20th century West European art and architecture at St Petersburg European University from 1999 to 2006. Prior to that he taught at the Technical University in St Petersburg and previously held research positions at the Institutes of Art History in Germany and Austria. He has also lectured at the Universities of Lancaster and Bangor, at the Royal Geographical Society, and the Courtauld Institute in London, among others. His publications are devoted to George Minne, Francis Bacon, Oskar Kokoschka, Maggi Hambling, and a wide range of architectural themes.