International congress of byzantine studies belgrade, 22 27 august 2016

Ljudmila Pekarska
London, United Kingdom; 
[e-mail]
The Golden Age of Kievan Kolts: 
Iconographic Influence of Byzantine Art and Local Stylistic Developments
The aim of the proposed paper is to present a very important and thus far insufficiently studied 
special phenomenon of Kievan Rus (10-13
th
centuries) art in the fields of jewelry productions. The 
article presents jewelry of high artistic workmanship known as Kolts (golden temporal pendants) 
decorated with polychrome enamel, filigree, pearls and made in cloisonné technique. Over 20 
pairs of this elegant and luxurious commissioned jewelry have survived to the present day. All of 
them were found in hoards together with other precious jewelry in the ancient and richest part of 
medieval Kiev. Today they are located in different museums in Ukraine, Russia and in the West, and 
some remain in private collections.
The article presents pairs of decorations with their unique design and motifs and rare 
depictions of saints and isolated human heads within enameled circles. The author analyses some 
rare examples and describes the approaches and perspectives that characterize the said period in 
general, highlighting Kiev in particular.
It is noted that a new world of spiritual creativity quickly began to develop from 988 after 
Christianity was introduced from Byzantium as the official state religion of Kievan Rus. Kiev became 
the focal point of contact between Rus and Byzantium. At the end of the 10
th
and beginning of the 11
th
centuries, medieval capital accessed and absorbed the rich culture of the Byzantine Empire. Over the 
period of a century, Kiev developed to become one of the largest international centers in medieval 
Europe with some Western prelates in the 11
th
century describing Kiev as “the rival of Constantinople”.
While Byzantium played an important role in the development of art of ancient Rus and the 
two cultures were closely connected, its influence on the artistic culture of the Kievan State varied 
during different periods. This perhaps helps to explain why we do not have sufficient evidence to 
confirm the whole extent of the deep interaction between the two cultures in the field of jewelry art 
during the 11-12
th
century.

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The article will also present a small but very rich group of Byzantine enameled jeweler of the 
11
th
to the first half of the 12
th
centuries and will investigate the similarities and differences of similar 
types of ornaments between the two great centers of jeweler production - Constantinople and Kiev. 
It will offer deep insights Kiev’s local production of golden cloisonné Kolts with their local Christian 
concepts of images.
The remarkable golden cloisonné jewelry indicates that Kiev successfully captured cloisonné 
enamel techniques and Christian iconography from Byzantium in the 11
th
century and introduced 
its own perfections to Kolts and other ornaments, for example, to Medallion chains, Diadems and 
Pendant medallions.
The presented jewelry became an archetype model for the next style of local Kolts production - 
gold with niello and pearls and silver and niello with filigree. The paper will explore this magnificent 
collection of aristocratic ornaments (their shape, style and subject) - developed native Kievan enameled 
gold and silver work from the 11-12
th
century with their distinctly Byzantine heritage traditions.