Icons from the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv Exhibited at The Louvre

Through its action, the Musée du Louvre is seeking to contribute to the protection of Ukrainian cultural objects and the fight against their illicit trafficking. To respond to this pressing need, since December 2022, Louvre staff have been collaborating with their counterparts at the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv, to facilitate the transfer of sixteen of the most emblematic works from the Ukrainian national collections to France, in the utmost secrecy.

This operation, unprecedented in character and scope, demonstrates France’s unwavering support for Ukrainian culture professionals, who demonstrate extraordinary energy and creativity on a daily basis in coping with the consequences of the war. It was devised in partnership with the International Alliance for the Protection of Heritage in Conflict Areas (ALIPH), which has been fully committed to the protection of Ukrainian heritage since the start of the war.

The exhibition ‘The Origins of the Sacred Image: Icons from the Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv’, is presenting five of the sixteen works transferred to France: four icons from the 6th and 7th century, encaustic paintings on wood from Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Sinai, and one micro-mosaic icon from the late 13th or early 14th century from Constantinople, with a remarkable gold frame. This set of five icons illustrates both the classical heritage at the foundation of Byzantine civilisation, and the highly original relationship to images that it introduced, which characterised artistic expression within Eastern Christianity. It forcefully announces the themes of the Department of Byzantine and Eastern Christian Art recently created at the Musée du Louvre.

These masterpieces of sacred art have yet to reveal all their mysteries, and will subsequently be subject to in-depth analysis and study. An international committee composed of Ukrainian scientists and international specialists in the field will accompany this highly anticipated research.  Heralding the opening of the new department in 2027, this exhibition is both a vibrant manifesto of the force of images in Byzantine art, and an emphatic tribute to the richness of Ukraine’s national collections, and the professionalism of our colleagues who are courageously endeavouring to protect this universal heritage.

The Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko National Museum of Arts in Kyiv is the most important Ukrainian institution dedicated to universal art history. It encompasses some 25,000 works of ancient art, Byzantine, European and Asian art. The museum’s collection owes its origin to the Ukrainian entrepreneurs, art lovers and philanthropists, Bohdan and Varvara Khanenko. The couple made their first acquisitions during their 1874 honeymoon in Italy. From the beginning, their wish was to build an eclectic collection for themselves, with the ultimate aim of allowing the collection to be seen by as many people as possible.

Image : Saints Sergius and Bacchus © Khanenko Museum