Russian Russian iconography The team of the project "Gury Nikitin: Images and Instructions of Russian Iconography" conducted the first filming of a documentary film about the legacy of the great Russian iconographer Gury Nikitin. The film will be presented to a wide audience this fall.
The film, designed for a wide audience, will be seen by Internet users and visitors to exhibitions, where the works of the fresco master of the Holy Trinity Danilov Monastery (Pereslavl–Zalessky) will be displayed in digital quality, accompanied by information materials and live comments from experts. Preserved in amazing integrity, unlike the fragmentary heritage of many of the master's contemporaries, this monument of medieval church painting is unique in that it consistently illustrates all the main subjects of the Revelation of John the Evangelist ("The Apocalypse") – the most mysterious and symbolically intense book of Christianity. The frescoes created by the main character of the new film project provide a rare opportunity for deep immersion into the Russian traditional spiritual culture of the turning point of the second half of the 17th century.

According to the film's director Alexander Sorokin, viewers of the film, shot in the genre of documentary essay research, will gain useful knowledge in the field of icon painting, the artistic language of Gury Nikitin and his workshop, the semiotics of Christian subjects and the features of Kostroma icon painting of this period.

The leading character is Sergey Kruglikov, PhD, lecturer, educator. According to the script, the viewer is immersed in the secret meanings of the plots of the "Apocalypse", reflected in the frescoes of the famous Kostroma icon painter, through the personal perception of the hero of the painting. Arriving in Pereslavl-Zalessky, Sergei makes a pilgrimage to the Danilov Monastery to see the very Trinity Church, which was painted by the famous Kostroma icon painter and his artel.

At the monastery, the hero of the painting receives an unusual offer: among a group of other pilgrims, to take part in a night reading of the Book of Revelation by John the Theologian. On the initiative of the abbot of the monastery, Abbot Panteleimon (Korolev), and with his direct supervision, this unusual event has been held here for several years. Introducing the hero and the audience to the history of the monastery and the educational practice that has already become popular among pilgrims, Father Panteleimon acts in the film both as a guide to the sights of the monastery and as a guide to the world of the secret plot meanings of the Apocalypse.

Another participant and scientific expert of the film project, Veronika Androsova, candidate of theology, associate professor at the Orthodox Nikolo–Ugresh Theological Seminary, and author of a series of books on Bible studies, became the main guide to reading specific stories of the Apocalypse using the frescoes of the Danilov Monastery.
The exhibition project "Gury Nikitin: Images and Instructions of Russian Icon Painting" is being implemented by the NPC Indrik with the support of the Presidential Foundation for Cultural Initiatives. Educational exhibitions in four Russian cities will be one of its main events.: Kostroma, Kirillov, Vologda and Arzamas – which will be held from the beginning of October 2025 to the end of January 2026.    
The project partners are the Mikhail Abramov Society for the Promotion of the Preservation and Popularization of Russian Culture, the Kirill-Belozersky Historical, Architectural and Art Museum-Reserve, the Department of Culture of Arzamas, the Holy Trinity Danilov Monastery in Pereslavl-Zalessky and other scientific, educational and public organizations.
Prepared by Ekaterina Ushakova