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– If I had to describe the Temple of Saint Sava in one word, that word is a miracle! That word is correct and I am happy that God has given me the good luck to participate in the creation of this miracle – says in an interview for the painter “Blic” and icon painter, member of the Academy of Arts of Russia Nikolai Mukhin, a man who with his creative solution in 2014 won the competition for the selection of the interior design project of the Temple of San Sava.
Under his leadership, the mosaic was completed, covering an area of about 15,000 square meters, which makes the Temple unique in the Orthodox world, and perhaps in all sacred buildings. Mukhina is unofficially called the greatest living Russian religious artist, and officially holds the title of People’s Artist of Russia, the highest title bestowed on artists by the state.
How did this miracle happen?
– I work 25 hours a day, but the results I see now make me feel satisfied and fulfilled and I think it was worth it for my team and for me to dedicate ourselves fully to that work.
You have been dedicated to the Temple of San Sava since 1994, when you visited it for the first time. Is it true that after that visit you dreamed of decorating it?
– I dreamed, but could not imagine that it would come true. In 1994, I visited the Temple of Saint Sava for the first time and was in a delegation led by the blessed Russian Patriarch Alexy II. He, along with the blessed Patriarch Paul, held a service that I attended. Considering that I am an artist, an icon painter, at the time I thought, oh my, this space is something that every artist dreams of painting. My friend Milun Radenkovic, thanks to whom I came to the Temple in 1994, while we were standing in the service, looked at me and said: “You will make a mosaic.” I looked at it in disbelief, but it was a prophetic statement.
After that prophetic statement, after 23 years, he won the interior decorating contest. What was in your head then when the imagination came true?
– I rejoiced for three seconds, and then I realized the responsibility and gift of God to work in a temple like this.
Did you feel, at least for a moment, envy that such an imposing mosaic adorned the domes of the Serbian, and not that of the Russian Orthodox Church?
– I do not feel any kind of envy, since I do not divide Orthodoxy into Russian and Serbian. Russian and Serbian Orthodoxy are one whole. This only increases the responsibility even more because in some way one represents and also represents the Russian church. So, in addition to the responsibility towards the Serbian woman, I also feel the responsibility towards the Russian Orthodox Church because I believe that she also entrusted me with that task. The St. Sava temple is primarily a Serbian temple and it is being built for the Serbian people, but it belongs to the entire Orthodox Church, and those are not empty words.
You said you were happy for three seconds when you won the competition. How much and how did you prepare to translate the idea from paper to reality?
– I worked a lot in Serbia, before the competition at the Lepavina Monastery in Zagreb, the dome of Uba and I was prepared because I already knew the history, tradition and customs of the Serbian people. The good preparation, my calculations, the knowledge and the experience of the artists who worked with me on the mosaic of the dome helped me to avoid mistakes this time as well. God saw our work, because the artist who works on the temple scaffold must always keep in mind that one day that scaffold will be dismantled and he will come down. And you will not be able to correct anything else.
Because mistakes can’t be corrected, you were extremely strict with the students you hired to participate in creating the mosaics, so you even followed them on camera when you were not with them?
– I was very demanding and asked for the maximum that they could contribute. For such projects, you always need control and it doesn’t matter what it was but the fact that they were involved in this historic project. If I were in your place, I would be happy to participate in such an effort. I mean there were relatively few students, mostly artists, who graduated from the Academy of Arts. I asked everyone as much as possible, precisely because of that responsibility before the history that was entrusted to us, for which control was necessary. Now they are proud because they had the opportunity to participate in such a great world project, thanks to the Temple of San Sava, they have become true artists.
What are the details of the Saint Sava Temple mosaic technique?
– The technique is traditional. Glass is heated to high temperatures, so to speak, and then such material is broken into small pieces and combined with some other material. Jokingly, I asked my engineer to calculate how many parts were needed. He calculated that around 50 million small pieces were built in this mosaic, 300 tons of glass were assembled, or around 30 wagons.
The dome of the mosaic is dominated by gold, do you say figuratively that this temple is transformed by that color?
– Yes, I call the Temple of San Sava transformed precisely by that golden hue. Gold is a color used in iconography as a symbol of the transfiguration of Christ and unreal light. So this temple was dark and gray because it was all concrete, and we transformed it.
How much have you transformed by participating in a project like this and is this the crown of your rich career?
– The temple of San Sava determined my life. It is an amazing gift from God that marked my existence in this world. I hope I do not live in vain.
VIDEO: Finished works on the mosaic of the Temple of Saint Sava
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