10 works, Today, July 26th, is Saint Jacob's day, his story thru art #207

Unknown artist

Saint Jacob Netsvetov

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Saint Jacob Netsvetov, Enlightener of Alaska, was a native of the Aleutian Islands who became a priest of the Orthodox Church and continued the missionary work of St. Innocent among his and other Alaskan people. His feast day is celebrated on the day of his repose, July 26.

Mikhail T. Tikhanov,  (1789–1862)

Aleut in Festival Dress in Alaska, c. 1818

Watercolor 

Collection of the Scientific Research Museum of the Russian Academy of Fine Arts

Mikhail Tikhonovich Tikhanov (1789–1862) was a Russian artist. Born a serf in 1789, Tikhanov showed artistic talent at the age of seventeen and was sent by his master Prince Galitzine to the Imperial Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. Freed in 1815, he worked at the Academy before being recommended for the post of an expeditionary artist for Captain Vasily Golovnin and the expedition of the Kamchatka around the world.

During the voyage from 1817 to 1819, Tikhanov painted at least 43 different pictures of important figures and scenes from Russian North America, Alaska, California and Hawaii. He specialized in human portraits. 

On the voyage home in 1818, Tikhanov became seriously ill while the Kamchatka was in Manila in the Philippines. Afterward, he started showing signs of mental illness and was placed in a hospital in Saint Petersburg. Despite a brief period where he showed signs of improvement, he relapsed and never recovered his sanity or worked again. He spent the remainder of his life in the care of a widow of one of his colleagues. Although some of his works were later published by Captain Golovnin in his account of the expedition, most of his works were never published in his lifetime. His works are now in the Museum of the Russian Academy of Arts in Saint Petersburg. More on Mikhail Tikhonovich Tikhanov 

Netsvetov was born in 1802 on Atka Island, part of the Aleutian Island chain in Alaska. Netsvetov was the eldest of four children who survived infancy. He chose a life with the Church and enrolled in the Irkutsk Theological Seminary.

Unknown artist

Saint Jacob Netsvetov

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On October 1, 1825, Netsvetov was tonsured a sub-deacon. In 1826 he graduated from the seminary with certificates in history and theology. With graduation he was ordained a deacon on October 31, 1826 and assigned to the Holy Trinity-St. Peter Church in Irkutsk. Two years later, Archbishop Michael ordained Netsvetov to the holy priesthood on March 4, 1828. Netsvetov was the first native Alaskan to be ordained to the priesthood. With his elevation to the priesthood, Netsvetov began to yearn to return to his native Alaska to preach the Word of God.

Viktor Vasnetsov

Epitaphios, c. 1896

Russian museum , St. Petersburg

The Antimins is one of the most important furnishings of the altar in many Eastern Christian liturgical traditions. It is not permitted to celebrate the Eucharist without an antimins. The antimins is kept in the centre of the Holy Table (altar) and is unfolded only during the Divine Liturgy. More on antimins

Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov (May 15 (N.S.), 1848 – July 23, 1926) was a Russian artist who specialized in mythological and historical subjects. He is considered the co-founder of Russian folklorist and romantic nationalistic painting, and a key figure in the Russian revivalist movement.

From the age of ten, Viktor studied in a seminary in Vyatka. During his seminary years, he worked for a local icon shopkeeper. 

Having graduated from the seminary, Viktor decided to move to Saint Petersburg to study art. He auctioned his paintings, in order to raise money required for the trip to the Russian capital. In August 1867 Viktor entered the Imperial Academy of Arts.

He won a bronze medal at the World Fair in London (1874).

In 1876 Viktor moved to Paris where he studied classical and contemporary paintings, academist and Impressionist alike.

In the late 1870s Vasnetsov concentrated on illustrating Russian fairy tales and the epic narrative poem Bylinas, executing some of his best known pieces. 

In 1884-1889 Vasnetsov was commissioned to paint frescos in the St Vladimir's Cathedral of Kiev. This was a challenging work which ran contrary to both Russian and Western traditions of religious paintings. More on Viktor Mikhaylovich Vasnetsov

Upon departing, Archbishop Michael gave Netsvetov two antimensia, one for use in the new church that Netsvetov planned to build on Atka, and the other for use in Netsvetov's missionary travels. Netsvetov and his party set off for Alaska on May 1, 1828. This journey, which was always hard, took over a year to complete, and was completed on June 15, 1829.

Dan DeRoux 

Bering Strait Faces The Last Roundup In The Last Frontier

Museum of the North

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Daniel DeRoux was born in Juneau Alaska in 1951 and, except for 5 years in San Francisco, has been painting in Alaska all of his life.  He is the recipient of the 2008  Governor’s Award  for Individual Artist.  Daniel DeRoux’s work is in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian and the Butler Institute of American Art in Youngstown, Ohio, the Morris Museum in Atlanta and all the major museums in Alaska. His exhibition record includes many awards in International and National competitions, including: The Florence International Biennial Exhibition of Contemporary Art, A Gold Medal for “Most Accomplished Artist” in the Los Angeles International Art Competition,  a Bronze Medal in “Mixed Media” in the Los Angeles International Art Competition, and Certificates of Excellence in Painting and Drawing. www.danderoux.com

Netsvetov's new parish was a challenge. The Atka "parish" covered most of the islands and land surrounding the Bering Sea. He made his appearances while enduring the harsh weather, illness, hunger, and exhaustion. 

With the completion of the church on Atka, Netsvetov turned to education of the children, teaching them to read and write both Russian and Unangan Aleut. While living in the north areas was difficult, Netsvetov was active in the intellectual life as well; in addition to his own subsistence needs, he was active in collecting and preparing fish and marine animal specimens for the museums in Moscow and St. Petersburg. 

Unknown artist

Qallupilluk 

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The Qallupilluk are marine creatures of the cold arctic waters. They are often described as having scaly and bumpy skin, not unlike a scalpin. It is said that these ugly creatures reek of sulfur.

He worked on an adequate Unangan-Aleut alphabet and translations of the Holy Scriptures and other church publications. He began to receive awards for his services. In time he was elevated to Archpriest and received the Order of St. Anna.

Unknown artist

Russian America

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About 1743, fur traders from the Russian Pacific Coast started setting up hunting and trading posts along the Aleutian Islands.

Unknown artist

Kvikhpak Mission, 1845

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On December 30, 1844, St. Innocent appointed him head of the new Kvikhpak Mission to bring the light of Christ to the people along the Yukon River. Netsvetov established his headquarters in the Yup'ik Eskimo village of Ikogmiute. For the next twenty years he learned new languages, met new people and cultures, invented another alphabet, and built more churches and communities. At the invitation of the native leaders he traveled as far as the Innoko River baptizing hundreds from many, and often formerly hostile, tribes. He continued even as his health deteriorated.

Unknown artist

Repose of Saint Jacob Netsvetov

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As his health worsened he remained in Sitka serving at the Tlingit chapel until his death on July 26, 1864. More on Saint Jacob

Unknown artist

Synaxis of the Orthodox Saints of North America

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Please visit my other blogs: Art Collector, Mythology, Marine Art, Portrait of a Lady, The Orientalist, Art of the Nude and The Canals of Venice, Middle East Artists, and 365 Saints, also visit my Boards on Pinterest

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