The beginning of the history of the Vasnetsov family

Since most of the representatives of the Vasnetsov family were from the clergy, they devoted a lot of effort to the cause of public education. It was a common story of a priestly family typical of the Vyatka land.

It is reliably known that the commitment to the pedagogical direction from priestly roots has been preserved to this day through the son of the priest Kosma Dmitrievich Vasnetsov (1695-1748).

The branch of Joseph Dmitrievich Vasnetsov (born in 1700), Kosma's brother, gave the world two worldfamous artists Viktor and Apollinary Vasnetsov, who, together with their younger brother Arkady, were the founders of the Vyatka Art Museum, today named after the Vyatka Regional Art Museum named after V. I. Ap. The Vasnetsovs. In addition, it was from the sons of Joseph that the branches of singers and musicians descended.

At the end of the XIX century, the creative direction became more pronounced in the traditions of the family, which became a logical development of the three-hundred-year practice of the Vasnetsov priestly family, who taught literacy to both their children and the children of parishioners. Many generations of Vasnetsovs received drawing skills at the theological college and seminary, some of them, showing remarkable abilities for drawing and sketching, participated in the design and decoration of temples under construction. And they developed their hearing from early childhood by singing in the church choir.

List of references:
Vasnetsovshchina. // O.A. Vasnetsova.

It is reliably possible to trace the history of the Vasnetsov family, documented in clerical records, metric books, confessional paintings, official deeds, audit tales, commemorative books and annual calendars of the Vyatka province since the second half of the 17th century.

Today it is reliably known that the root of the family is Dmitry Vasnetsov, a former sexton in the wooden Church of the Savior in the Vyatka village of Oshet. It should be noted that the historical development of the Vyatka land was very different from the typical development of the western and southern lands of Russia in the XII-XVII centuries.

Firstly, the devastating wars with the Tatar-Mongol conquerors did not affect the Vyatka lands. Secondly, by decree of Tsar Ivan IV (the Terrible) of 1565, the Vyatka land did not enter the oprichnina, that is, into the possessions personally belonging to the sovereign, but remained a zemstvo — a state territory. Thirdly, serfdom practically did not exist in the Vyatka province.

These features have left their mark on the character of the people inhabiting the northeastern lands of the Moscow state.

The clergy played a big role in the life of the Vyatichs. Until the beginning of the 19th century, the cause of public education was in the hands of the Church. In 1735, the first educational institution was opened in Khlynov — the Slavic-Greek-Latin school for boys of the clergy and "the best city people", where the Vasnetsovs later studied.

Representatives of the Vasnetsov family of the XX-XXI centuries

Links to Internet sources