Over the past decades, the depletion of natural environment under the influence of man-made factors has become apparent. But the formation of this trend was laid even more than a century ago. Significant progress in technical, technological and scientific fields has led to an increase in population, improvement of its well-being and active exploitation of natural resources. As a result, there was an active settlement of vast territories, transformation of natural territories into cultivated lands, loss of forest and flood-plain lands, excessive consumption of all resources, high dependence on fossil fuels, which as a result had a negative impact on the environment [1]. It is human activity that has the most active influence on ecosystems, subjecting all their components to changes in particular, including their topography [2]. Although human involvement in the evolution of relief has a long history, so, fundamental changes are observed in our time. With the deepening of industrial revolution, acceleration of urbanization process and constant socio-economic development, changes in the relief no longer occur solely under the action of

The purpose of the work is to comprehend the experiments conducted by artists with traditional technology «levkas» and describe their results in modern art practice. Methodology. The study used a comparative method and comparative analysis of technical and technological features of the traditional icon-painting levkas and modern painting (using this soil). For this purpose, in the practice of modern levkas, works were identified that correspond to the concept of «artistic experiment». The scientific novelty lies in the analysis and refinement of technical and technological innovations in the modern artistic practice of levkas, which were invented and applied by some Ukrainian artists. Conclusions. In the modern artistic practice of levkas there are works: created on the plane (one and two-sided) and art objects. On surface treatment, they can be smooth and textured; with low (bulk) and high (overhead) sculptural relief. When creating textures, different fillers are added to the soil. Components of traditional recipes are sometimes replaced by modern materials. Usually the basis for the levkasny ground is a board, but also it can be pieces of wooden furniture or a canvas. Levkasny ground covers the surface of the work completely or partially. Collage techniques in levkas are becoming a common practice. The mixing of techniques and technologies of fine arts led to the creation of a new technique – «gesography». The inclusion of finished objects in the work is a new technique (it is associated with ready-mades). The graphite pencil in levkas showed a new function of the material (drawing on levkas). This way of using a graphite pencil opens up space for new experiments with graphics and levkas. Key words: levkas, soil for icon painting, icon painting, gesography, art object, artistic experiment.

The article provides an overview and reveals the features of the professional formation, development and social status of female artists’ creativity in the Italian fine arts of the XVI-XVII centuries. The value of their artistic heritage for future generations has been established. It was stated that the role of a female artist in society was influenced by both social and gender factors, in particular, the fact that the profession of a master artist was assigned to men, and the teaching of art to girls was related to obligatory household chores or hobbies. It has been proven that already in the XV century, artists appeared in Italy whose activities went beyond these boundaries. Initially, they were self-taught nuns, such as Catherine of Bologna, but by the end of the century, the work of female artists acquired a professional character (for example, Pr. de’Rossi). It is noted that, since that time, works of art by female artists have influenced the change in social stereotypes about their work. It was found that Italian female artists of the Renaissance and subsequent centuries turned mainly to the genres of portrait, landscape and still life. However, there are cases of creation of monumental works (Pl. Nelli) or reflections of dramatic events (A. Gentileschi). It was revealed that by the beginning of the XVIII century in these genres, female artists were in full competition with men and were the inventors of both new genres (S. Anguissola) and new painting techniques (R. Carriera). There is also a manifestation of their author’s vision in compositions on religious themes, on historical and mythological themes. It has been proven that the achievements of Italian female artists of the XV–XVII centuries were no less significant than those of male artists.