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The Most Ancient Information about the Ukrainian Folk Painting Cossack Mamai

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The authors of the publication:
Rakhno Kostiantyn
p.:
86–106
UDC:
929:811.161.2’373.21
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15407/um-etnolog.2024.21.086
Bibliographic description:
Rakhno, K. (2024) The Most Ancient Information about the Ukrainian Folk Painting Cossack Mamai. Ukrainian Art Studies, 21, 86–106.
Received:
26.09.2024
Recommended for publishing:
07.11.2024
Рublished
03.12.2024

Author

Rakhno Kostiantyn

a Doctor of History, senior researcher, a leading research fellow at the National Museum of Ukrainian Pottery in Opishne (Opishne, Poltava Region, Ukraine).

ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0973-3919

 

The Most Ancient Information about the Ukrainian Folk Painting Cossack Mamai

 

Abstract

At the current stage of ethnological, cultural, and art historical research on the phenomenon of Ukrainian folk art, particular attention is being given to the folk painting Cossack Mamay. In recent years, additional arguments have been presented in support of both Eastern and Western theories of its origin, and new hypotheses regarding the etymology of its name have been proposed. However, a number of key issues remain unresolved, including the chronology and nature of the earliest references to this folk image. Art historical scholarship has so far lacked a structured historiographical overview of this subject.

This article examines the first mentions of the Cossack Mamay folk painting, dating from the 1830s to the 1860s. These references come from Ukrainian, Polish, Russian, and German authors, including well-known writers, ethnographers, and historians whose lives and work were connected to Ukraine and regions of dense Ukrainian settlement. Many of the sources cited are introduced into scholarly circulation for the first time. For a long time, only a small portion of these references was used in the study of the Cossack Mamay painting, often presented in abridged form or based on inaccurate translations. The rest remained overlooked, leading to a distorted understanding of how this folk image entered the scholarly and cultural discourse. The newly discovered data shed light on a number of important issues: the geographical spread of the painting, the social environments in which it circulated, its role and placement in traditional Ukrainian home interiors, and the circle of its creators.

 

Keywords

Cossack Mamay, folk painting, folk art, historiography, published sources, ethnology, visual arts.

 

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