Vol. 31 No. 28 Engaging the Community OCTOBER 17, 2017

EXCAVATIONS AT BATURYN IN 2016-2017CERAMIC ADORNMENTS OF HETMAN ARCHITECTURE

War and economic problemsin Ukraine have complicated butnot interrupted the annual exca-vations conducted by the Cana-da-Ukraine archaeological expe-dition in the town of Baturyn,Chernihiv Oblast since 2001. Thisis thanks largely to the sponsorsof the Baturyn historical and ar-chaeological project: the CanadianInstitute of Ukrainian Studies(CIUS) at the University of Al-berta, the Pontifical Institute ofMediaeval Studies (PIMS) at theUniversity of Toronto, and theUcrainica Research Institute inToronto. Prof. Zenon Kohut, dis-tinguished historian of the Hetmanstate and former director of CIUS,serves as the academic adviserof this undertaking. Orest Steciw,M.A., managing director of the

National Executive of the Leagueof Ukrainian Canadians, is thepresident of the Ucrainica Re-search Institute. The W. K. Lypynsky East Eu-ropean Research Institute Inc. inPhiladelphia awarded a generousgrant for the archaeological in-vestigation of early modern Batu-ryn in 2016-17. In 2005-17, theChernihiv Oblast State Adminis-tration also contributed annualsubsidies for the excavations inthe town. In 2016, nearly 70 studentsand archaeologists from the uni-versities of Chernihiv, Hlukhiv,and Sumy were involved in theBaturyn excavations. Past summer,the archaeological expedition theredecreased to 50 members due tothe absence of students fromSumy. The expedition was headedby archaeologist Yurii Sytyi ofChernihiv National University.

Archaeologist Dr. VolodymyrMezentsev (CIUS, Toronto) isthe Canadian executive directorof the Baturyn project. The notable

historian of Ukraine-Rus’, Prof.Martin Dimnik (PIMS), has alsocollaborated in this research. In 1625, when the Chernihiv-Siversk land was under Polishrule, the Baturyn castle, the nu-cleus of the emerging town, wasfounded. Subsequently, a sizeableand sturdy fortress was constructedaround the castle. It became thepolitical, military, and adminis-trative capital of the Cossack statein 1669. Baturyn flourished andreached the peak of its urban de-velopment duringthe reign of Hetman Ivan Mazepa(1687-1709), who was the best-known and most respected of allUkrainian hetmans in the West. In 1708, with Sweden as anally, Mazepa led a revolt to liberatecentral Ukraine from increasingRussian domination. In retaliation,tsarist forces, aided by a traitor,broke into the Baturyn fortress,

looted and burned down the het-man capital, and annihilated itsCossack garrison as well as allthe residents—from 11,000 to

14,000 Ukrainians in total. Bythe order of Tsar Peter I, the com-plete destruction and depopulationof Mazepa’s capital was to serveas a demonstration of the severeprice to be paid for disloyalty tothe tsar’s authority. His intentwas to terrify and demoralize allof Ukraine. Half a century later, HetmanKyrylo Rozumovsky (1750-64)privatized and rebuilt Baturyn,and renewed its status as the cap-ital of the Hetmanate. Although,in 1764, the Russian Empire abol-ished this Cossack realm, Rozu-movsky continued to reconstructand repopulate the town, promot-ing its economic growth until hisdeath in 1803. After this last up-surge, the former hetman capitalfell into decline, but it has begunto revive in independent Ukraine. Since 2009, with the recon-struction of the impressive fortresscitadel, hetman palaces, the statetreasury house, court hall, andchurches, as well as the estab-lishment of several modern mu-seums of antiquities, Baturyn hasbecome a popular tourist attrac-tion. Over the past three years,the influx of visitors to the town’smuseums and historical sites fromUkraine and abroad has increased,reaching up to 150,000 sightseersin 2016.

In 2016-17, archaeologists con-tinued their excavations in Hon-charivka, the suburb of Baturyn.In the late 1690s, Mazepa con-

structed his principal residencethere, an imposing brick palace(20 m by 14.5 m) with threestories and an attic. In 1708, Russ-ian troops plundered and burnedthis outstanding piece of Ukrainianarchitecture. Analysis of the excavated Hon-charivka palace debris and writtensources, along with the 1744drawing of its ruins, has allowedresearchers to establish the ar-chitectural design and decorationof this structure. At Mazepa’s be-hest, his main residence was likelybuilt and adorned primarily in thestyle of the mature Central Euro -pean baroque. My research, how-ever, has shown that the embel-lishment of this palace’s faҫadeswith glazed ceramic rosettes rep-resented a distinctive attribute ofHetmanate architecture. While excavating the remnantsof Honcharivka’s villa in 1995-2013, many fragments of suchrosettes were found. These plate-like ceramic details have a semi-spherical central part and flat cir-cular rims. Their convex facingis ornamented with relief rosettes,i.e. stylized flowers of variouspatterns, and covered by white,yellow, green, turquoise, and lightor dark blue enamel. In 2017, this writer and graphicartist Serhii Dmytriienko of

Chernihiv examined numerousphotos of unearthed rosette frag-ments. Using computer graphictechniques we prepared hypo-

thetical colour reconstructions ofsix types of intact rosettes. Eachtype has its own specific reliefflower or geometric ornamentand predominantly three or foursubtypes with variations of colourglazing, up to 21 subtypes alto-gether. These details were nailed tothe frieze of the entablature in arow alternating different types or

subtypes. According to the au-thor’s reconstruction of the Hon-charivka palace exterior, thesefriezes on each of its three storieswere decorated with rosettes ofvarious diameters, ranging from30 cm to 40 cm. S. Dmytriienkohas estimated that approximately264 rosettes were mounted onthe palace faҫades. Specialists have pointed to theperfect technical and artistic qual-ity of the heating stove tiles orkakhli, the rosettes, and the slabsbearing Mazepa’s coat of armsfrom the Honcharivka palace.They recognize them as valuablepieces of Ukrainian baroque ar-chitectural majolica. The rosettesrepresented one of the most nu-merous and typologically diversecategories of ceramic embellish-ment of this edifice. My conclusions regarding theornamentation of the Honcharivkapalace by six types and from 16to 21 subtypes of rosettes with apalette of six colours of enamelcomplement the results of earlierresearch on the application there

of seven to nine patterns of floorpavements or inlays with glazedand terracotta tiles, about 30 kindsof fine glazed multicoloured stovetiles, and two versions of terracottaand glazed heraldic plaques. Thesefindings attest to the exceptionallyrefined, costly, and diversifiedceramic adornment of Mazepa’smain residence in Baturyn. I contend that the method ofdecorating the faҫades of thisstructure with ceramic rosetteswas borrowed from Kyivan ec-clesiastical architecture between1696 and 1700. This correspondswith Yu. Sytyi’s assertion aboutthe production of all the ceramicornamental details of the Hon-charivka palace, including therosettes, stove and floor tiles, andheraldic slabs, by experienced ar-tisans or kakhliari, whom the het-man summoned from Kyiv. Un-doubtedly, they made these warefrom local clay while in Baturyn.Yet these masters could havebrought with them the carvedwooden molds which they em-ployed to fashion rosettes forsome contemporaneous churchesin Kyiv. In the 17th-18th centuries, in

keeping with the Kyivan model,and possibly with the involvementof Kyivan craftsmen, severalmonastic churches in the Kyiv,Chernihiv, and Poltava regionswere also embellished with ce-ramic rosettes. In fact, the Hon-charivka palace was the onlyknown residential building inUkraine which was ornamentedwith ceramic rosettes (excludinglater imitations on dwellings orkam’ianytsi of the Cossack era). Thus, the exclusive applicationof this specific method of adorningchurches of the leading Kyivanarchitectural school for finishingMazepa’s palace in Baturyn showsthe unique nature and nationalflavour of the structure. By itsthree-story design, highly artisticglazed ceramic polychrome revet-ments, and unusual combinationof Western and Ukrainian baroquedecorations, the principal hetmanresidence stood out among thesecular buildings of the Cossackstate.

Volodymyr Mezentsev, Ph. D.CIUS, Toronto

The 17th-century fortress citadel of Baturyn with the Resurrection Church and the earliest hetman residence within the bailey. Reconstructed on the basis of archaeological research in 2008. Photos by V. Mezentsev.

Richly illustrated booklet providing the update on excavations in Baturyn, published by “Homin Ukrainy” in 2017.

Hetman of Ukraine, Ivan Mazepa, with his coat of arms as Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. Computer collage by S. Dmytriienko.

Mazepa’s palace in Honcharivka, the suburb of Baturyn before 1708. Hypothetical reconstruction by

V. Mezentsev, computer graphic by S. Dmytriienko.

Some of the glazed ceramic rosettes from the faҫade decoration of the Honcharivka palace prior to 1700. Hypothetical reconstructions by V. Mezentsev and S. Dmytriienko, computer graphics by S. Dmytriienko.

* Excavations...page 2 UE

This year, archaeologists partlyexcavated the foundation of somehitherto unknown destroyed brickstructure at Mazepa’s manor inHoncharivka. Its investigationand identification will be com-pleted next summer. The 2016 excavations in theformer fortress and the southernsuburb of Baturyn discoveredremnants of wooden dwellingsof the burghers and Cossacks, 11silver and copper Polish and Russ-ian coins, three fragments of cop-per rings, four copper buttons,four bronze and brass clasps andsix decorative appliqués fromCossack leather belts, sabre-knots,and horse harnesses, a fragmentof a bronze sabre hilt guard, fourlead musket bullets, four flintpieces from flint-lock rifles, aniron horse stirrup, a lead seal,

and a ceramic game chip of the17th and 18th centuries. Last year, in the southern sub-urb, a 17th-century bronze neckcross was unearthed. It bears therelief of a three-barred Golgothacross with the symbols of thePassion of Christ on both sides.In the fortress, a carved stonemold for casting neck crosseswas also found. Yu. Sytyi hasmaintained that these items weremanufactured in Baturyn beforeits destruction in 1708. In 2016-17, the expedition con-tinued excavating the site of thehousehold of Judge General VasylKochubei (after 1700) in thetown’s western end. After 1750,Rozumovsky owned this manorand commissioned three woodenedifices there. In Yu. Sytyi’s view,these served as offices for thehetman’s administration, whichwere dismantled in the 19th cen-tury. Archaeologists have uncoveredportions of brick foundations,which supported the timber wallsof two of Rozumovsky’s build-ings. The heating stoves (hruba)there were faced with artistic ce-ramic tiles. Last summer, twofragments of narrow tiles fromthe second part of the 18th centurywere found there. They feature

elaborate floral motifs executedin dark-blue enamel on white andyellow backgrounds. In 2016, within the fortress,archaeologists unearthed half ofa small flat rectangular ceramicstove tile, which was glazedcobalt-blue and white, and bearsthe images of a house and a largeflower in baroque Dutch style.Stove tiles of the same shape,size, colouring, and manner ofglazed painting from the secondhalf of the 18th century have beenfound in considerable numbersin Kyiv, Nizhyn, and the Rozu-movsky buildings in Baturyn. Atthe museum in his Baturyn palace,five intact analogous stove tilesare on display. They feature de-pictions of early modern WesternEuropean country houses, towers,stylized birds, and flowers. Perhaps these narrow and smallrectangular tiles discovered atBaturyn in 2016 were applied asdecorative horizontal bands andcornices between rows of largertiles revetting the heating stovesof Dutch design. Representativefinds of such sizeable tiles from

Rozumovsky’s buildings in Batu-ryn are exhibited in his palace-museum. They are glazed pre-dominantly cobalt and white, butoccasionally brown, green, yellow,and beige. These tiles boast skillfulrealistic and stylized drawings ofpeople in 18th-century Europeandress, flowers, and landscapes ofearly modern Western Europeancities and ports with sailboats, aswell as sophisticated plant andgeometric ornaments, all executed

in the late baroque Dutch style. Rozumovsky likely importedthe best and most expensive tilesglazed cobalt and white fromHolland for finishing the heatingstoves and fireplaces at his am-bitious palatial residences and of-fices of hetman administration.He could have also used somecheaper imitations of the fash-ionable Dutch tiles, which weremanufactured in Russia from theearly 18th century, and possiblylocally in Baturyn since 1750.Conceivably, the flat tiles glazedbrown, green, yellow, and beigeof Rozumovsky’s era found inBaturyn represent Ukrainian ware.In their paintings, some influencesof the style, images, and orna-ments of Dutch glazed ceramicsalong with its national folk inter-pretations in the multicolouredenamel techniques are visible. Last year, in the fortress, for

the first time in Baturyn, archae-ologists unearthed a remarkabletiny porcelain figure of a gentle-men in 18th-century Europeanclothing. This statuette was mas-terly fashioned in a realistic man-ner, although without small details,and painted in blue, red, apple-green, gold, dark-bronze, andblack colours. I believe that itwas a product of the porcelainfactory in Meissen, Saxony, andbrought to Baturyn during Rozu-movsky’s time. The figurine couldhave stood on display in the houseof either a Cossack officer(starshyna), a member of the gen-try (shliakhta), or a well-to-doburgher, and served as a child’stoy. These finds of valuable Ger-man porcelain sculpture andDutch-style glazed ceramic stovetiles provide insight into the Eu-ropean commercial and culturalconnections of Baturyn, as wellas the Westernization and pros-perity of its elite during the lasttown’s vibrancy under Rozu-movsky. Yu. Sytyi published an impor-tant article this year about theexcavations by our expedition ofcemeteries in the Baturyn out-skirts. He argues that most of the25 buried inhabitants of the 17th-18th centuries, exhumed in theTeplivka suburb in 2005, werevictims of the 1708 Russian attackon the hetman capital. Archaeol-ogists uncovered there skeletonsof children, men, and women ofvarious ages – members of severalfamilies. In a southern suburb, in 2006,they excavated the remains of achild inside a timber structurethat was burned in 1708. In pre-vious years, in several parts ofBaturyn, archaeologists also un-earthed human remains buriednear or amidst the ruins of burntdwellings of the 17th or early 18thcenturies. Yu. Sytyi has positivelyidentified these buried residentsas casualties of Tsar Peter’s puni-tive action. In Honcharivka, this year, ourexpedition investigated the rem-nants of a wooden dwelling ofthe early 18th century, which wasburned together with the neigh-bouring Mazepa villa in 1708.

An iron cannon ball was foundinside this structure, a reminderof the artillery shelling sufferedby the town that year. In summary, the 2016 excava-tions in Baturyn have yielded anumber of rare and significantartefacts for the study of ceramic

decorations of residential and ad-ministrative buildings of the het-man capital, as well as the cultureand lifestyle of hetmans, Cossackofficers, gentry, and burghersthere. New archaeological datahas also advanced our knowledge

of the local manufacturing ofmetal ornaments, neck crosses,arms and accoutrements of thehetman’s Cossacks and their hors-es, and the architectural majolicain the town, as well as its tradeimports and artistic influencesfrom Western Europe in the 17thand 18th centuries. The review offindings from the graves excavatedby our expedition in the suburbshas provided archaeological evi-dence of the killing of entire fam-ilies during the extermination ofthe population of Mazepa’s capital. The recent detailed examinationof its history and antiquities ispresented in the richly illustratedbooklet Arkheolohichni doslidyBaturyna 2016 roku. Keramichniozdoby palatsu Ivana Mazepy(Archaeological Research of Batu-ryn in 2016. Ceramic Decorationsof Ivan Mazepa’s Palace), Toronto:“Homin Ukrainy”, 2017, 32 pp.in Ukrainian, 75 colour illustra-tions. This publication is availablefor purchase for $10 from the of-fice of the National Executive of

the League of Ukrainian Canadi-ans in Toronto (tel.: 416-516-8223, email: luc@lucorg.com)and through the CIUS Press inEdmonton (tel.: 780-492-2973,email: cius@ualberta.ca, http://www.ciuspress.com/catalogue/history/361/arhaieologheichni-de-oslidei-baturina-2016-r).

* * * Next summer, archaeologistswill renew their field explorationsin Baturyn. Meanwhile, theUkrainian government, burdenedwith heavy military expenses,will likely suspend its funding ofthis scholarly project from 2018onwards. In a time of peace, thebenevolent support of the Baturynresearch by Ukrainians in Canadaand the USA was very important,and in the present situation it willkeep this project alive. The late poetess VolodymyraWasylyszyn and her husband,artist Roman Wasylyszyn(Philadelphia), Dr. GeorgeIwanchyshyn and Dr. WilhelminaDegroot (Toronto), AndrewMaleckyj and Motria Kyzycz(New York), and Alexandra

Zolobecky-Misiong (Livonia, MI)have been the most generous pa-trons of the study of Baturyn. In2016-17, the archaeological re-search on the hetman capital andthe preparation of related publi-cations were supported with do-nations from the National Exec-utive of the League of UkrainianCanadians (Roman Medyk, pres-ident), the League of Ukrainian

Canadians – Toronto Branch (Bo-rys Mykhaylets, president), theLeague of Ukrainian Women inCanada – Toronto Branch (HalynaVynnyk, president), the KniahyniaOlha Branch of the UkrainianWomen’s Association of Canada(Natalia Jemetz, president), theBuduchnist Credit Union (OksanaProciuk, CEO and Chrystyna Bidi-ak, personnel manager), thePrometheus Foundation (MariaSzkambara, president), the Ukrain-ian Credit Union (Taras Pidza-mecky, CEO), the Golden LionRestaurant (Anna Kisil, owner),the Healing Source IntegrativePharmacy (Omelan and ZeniaChabursky, owners) in Toronto,the Canadian contributors to theUkrainian Studies Fund Inc. atHarvard University, and theUkrainian History and EducationalCenter in Somerset, N.J. (NataliaHoncharenko, director). Continued support for archae-ological investigations in Baturynand the publication of its findingsby Ukrainian organizations, foun-dations, companies, and privatebenefactors in North America willbe most welcome. Canadian citi-

zens are kindly invited to sendtheir cheques with donations to:Orest Steciw, M.A., President,Ucrainica Research Institute, 9Plastics Ave., Toronto, ON,Canada M8Z 4B6. Please makeyour cheques payable to: Ucraini-ca Research Institute (memo:Baturyn Project). American residents are advisedto send their donations to: Mr.Stan Kamski, Treasurer, Pon-tifical Institute of MediaevalStudies, 59 Queen’s Park Cr.E., Toronto, ON, Canada M5S2C4. Please make your chequespayable to: Pontifical Instituteof Mediaeval Studies (memo:Baturyn Project).These instituteswill issue official tax receipts toall donors in Canada and theUSA, and they will be gratefullyacknowledged in related publi-cations and public lectures. For additional informationabout the Baturyn project, readersmay contact Dr. VolodymyrMezentsev in Toronto (tel.: 416-766-1408; email: v.mezentsev@utoronto.ca). I kindly thank theUkrainian communities in NorthAmerica for their generous con-tinuous support helping the projectscholars to reconstruct the gloriousand tragic history of the capitalof Cossack Ukraine.

EXCAVATIONS AT BATURYN IN 2016-2017

Discovery of a pot while excavating the remnants of a17th-century structure in Hon-

charivka. Photos of the 2016 ex-cavations and finds by Yu. Sytyi.

Front and back of the 17th-century patterned bronze

neck cross found in the southern suburb in 2016.

Bronze and brass clasps and decorative appliqués from Cossack belts and horse harnesses, and a copper button from the 17th-18th century discovered in Baturyn in 2016.

Fragments of small ceramicstove tiles from the second partof 18th century with glazed im-ages in the Dutch style. 2016

excavations in Baturyn.

Fragment of a stove tile paintedwith multicolouгed glaze.

Presumably a local Baturynproduct from Rozumovsky’s era.2007 excavations in the citadel.

Photo by V. Mezentsev.

The 18th-century Germanporcelain statuette found in the

Baturyn fortress in 2016. Photo by Yu. Sytyi.

Half of a large glazed ceramic stove tile depicting a man and a floral ornament in late baroque Dutch style.

Rozumovsky’s palace-museum in Baturyn.

Tiles with glazed painting in Dutch style from the adornment ofstoves in Rozumovsky’s buildings. Baturyn National Preserve.

This and the next photo of a stove tile by V. Mezentsev.

Excavations of the 17th-18th-century dwellings of Cossacks and burghers in the former Baturyn fortress as well as the brick foundation of the administrative

office of Hetman Kyrylo Rozumovsky at Vasyl Kochubei’s household in 2016.

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Ukrainian Echo October 17 , 2017 2

CERAMIC ADORNMENTS OF HETMAN ARCHITECTURE