THE SACRED SPLENDOR OF GILDED WOOD

The interior of Kizhi's Church of the Transfiguration, like many early Russian Orthodox churches, glows with gilded carvings that tell the story of Christianity in intricate and reverent detail. Behind the main crucifix in the nave a carved partition called the iconostasis displays portraits of Biblical figures. Set into the iconostasis are three doors: in the center the Royal Door, seen in the photograph at right, is reserved for ordained churchmen and the czar; on either side are two small entrances used by altar boys and others assisting at the service. The whole iconostasis, along with other carvings and icons in the church, helped the illiterate parishioner to see at a glance the broad outlines of the Orthodox faith.

BAROQUE PLANT FORMS adorn a column capital (above) and one of the sanctuary doors (left) in the Church of the Transfiguration. The intricately carved grapevine that covers the door is an elaboration of an ancient Christian motif.

A WOODEN CRUCIFIX portrays an emaciated Christ under a figure of God the Father, flanked by finely carved inscriptions and monograms.

During most of its history, Russia was a nation built of wood, and carpenters even spoke of "cutting" rather than "building" a town. Both rich and poor lived in wooden houses; only a few aspired to the grander stone or brick mansions preferred in Western Europe. Though most of the Kremlin in Moscow had been rebuilt of masonry by the 17th Century,

RUSSIA'S CHALET STYLE

A LOG RAMP leads up to the hayloft of a peasant home. In such farmhouses the ground floor housed livestock, while the family carried on all its activities on the second and third floors. The logs were stripped of bark and left rounded on the outside hut were cut flat on the interior. The details around the windows, seen in the closeup at right, reflect the influence of Western European styles: the S-shaped scrolls on top are baroque; the geometric designs below are local interpretations of neoclassical motifs.

Czar Michael continued to live in his wooden palace, convinced it was warmer and healthier than stone structures.

The prototype of all Russia's wooden construction was the peasant's home, of a style so simple that it could be erected within a few weeks. Logs were piled on top of one another until the house was the desired size (it might be as much as three stories high). Often the walls and roofs were finished before openings were cut for windows and doorways, which were then set off with carved trim and sometimes balconies. Within warm, spacious houses such as the north Russian chalet shown here, large patriarchal families of as many as 25 members could pass the winters in comfortable style.

TIME-HONORED PATTERNS

Carved motifs that go back hundreds of years are still to be seen on houses built along the Volga River. Many of these decorations echo designs first made for the bows of wooden river boats which have long since gone out of use. For centuries the craftsmen of the Volga region were celebrated throughout the country for building beautifully detailed vessels, and they frequently employed the same patterns of

Flowers, fruit, birds and beasts to decorate household shutters, lintels and friezes such as those shown in the details on these pages. Two of the most ancient designs were a bushy-maned lion, seen at lower right, and the mythical siren above it, a sweet-singing bird with a woman's face, which since classical times is said to have lured mariners to their doom.

In preparing a panel for carving a craftsman first drew his

Design on a piece of paper and then placed the paper flat against the wood. Next he perforated the outline of the design with a needle and sprinkled the paper with coal dust, thereby stenciling the design in a pattern of dots onto the wood beneath. Finally he removed the paper and drew lines connecting the dots. After he had rounded out his design and added an extra flourish or two, he was at last ready to start carving.

A BEEHIVE, carved in the image of a man, has hollow eyes and an open mouth to serve as entrances for the bees. Honey was removed from the hack of the figure.

A PEASANT HOME contains wooden furniture and such utensils as a barrel for kitchen waste (left), a water bucket by the window, and behind it, a breadboard.