Ushakov, Simon

Born 1626 in Moscow; died there June 25, 1686. Russian painter.

From 1648 to 1664, Ushakov worked in the Silver and Gold chambers, where he designed banners and metal and wooden articles. In 1664 he became a salaried icon painter of the Armory and director of the icon-painting workshop there. He painted icons, parsuny (early Russian portraits), miniatures, and frescoes and supervised the painting of the interiors of Arkhangel’skii and Uspenskii cathedrals (1660) and the Hall of Facets (1668) in the Moscow Kremlin. He also made geographical maps and plans and drew sketches for engravings; his own engravings included The Seven Deadly Sins (1665).

Ushakov helped reform Russian painting of the third quarter of the 17th century. While retaining traditional iconographic composition, he defined form by means of chiaroscuro and subtle transitions between areas of color. The resulting three-dimensional effect created the impression of reality. Outstanding examples of Ushakov’s work include The Trinity (1671, Russian Museum, Leningrad) and The Vladimir Virgin (The Tree of the Russian State; 1668, Tret’iakov Gallery).

Ushakov was the author of the treatise “A Word to the Person Devoted to Icon Painting” (c. 1666; see Vestnik Obshchestva drevnerusskogo iskusstva pri moskovskom publichnom muzee, Moscow, 1874, issues 2–3), in which he discussed realistic representation in icon painting.