The Bible, Art and Christian Aesthetics. Art in Christian culture Aesthetic features of Christian art

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History first

Early Christianity is a conditional name. The period from the appearance of the first monuments of Christian art to the formation of barbarian kingdoms (approximately the 3rd-6th centuries) is also called by art historians "ancient Christian", "Christian antiquity", etc. This phenomenon is also very narrow geographically - it applies only to the territory of the Roman Empire. The peculiarity of the culture of these territories is that for them Antiquity is not a myth and not a distant model for reproduction, as for the rest of the Christian world, but a living, immediate past, ties with which have never been broken. Therefore, Italy stands apart in the history of Western European art.

These three centuries were perhaps the most turbulent in the history of the Empire. Having celebrated the 1000th anniversary of the founding of Rome in 248, she managed to survive the famous “crisis of the III century”, when for 50 years not a single emperor died a natural death, under the emperor Aurelian (270-275) to change the social system - to move from principate to dominate (a form of autocratic government, from the self-name of the emperor dominus - master), from the persecution of Christians under Diocletian (284-313) to move to the recognition of their official status under Constantine (313). In 330, the empire receives a new eastern capital - Constantinople, which will become the heir of Rome and maintain the status of the capital of the great Empire for more than a thousand years. In 394, the Roman Empire finally collapses - Theodosius the Great divides between his two sons Arcadius and Honorius. Arcadia gets the eastern part, more favorable from all points of view, Honorius - the western, constantly attacked by barbarians. Barbarian raids become more frequent; in 378, at Adrianople, the barbarians inflict a decisive defeat on Rome. By 340, the residence of the emperor was transferred to the northwest, to Milan, and in 402 to the east of the Apennine Peninsula, to Ravenna, surrounded by malarial swamps. During the 5th century Rome is threatened at least six times by barbarians - in 405, when the commander Stilicho, tutor of Honorius, manages to stop the Visigoths led by Radagaisus at Florence, in 410, when the Visigoth Alaric occupies Rome for the first time, despite the fact that only three a year ago, the Romans paid a ruinous ransom; after 5 years, Rome was sacked for the second time by its commander Ataulf. Among the captives is Galla Placidia, sister of the emperors. In 450, the most terrible of the barbarians approached Rome - the Huns, led by the "Scourge of God" - Attila. It is characteristic that it is not a representative of secular power who comes out to meet him, but the Pope of Rome - Leo the Great, who manages to stop the Huns under the walls of the city by the power of eloquence and at the cost of a huge ransom. When, after 5 years, vandals led by Gaiseric approach Rome, Pope Leo again goes out to meet them, but this time he only manages to limit the sack of the city to two weeks and ensure that the vandals do not touch the main churches of Rome.

In 476, the history of the Western Empire ends - the military leader Odoacer deposes the last emperor - the infant Romulus Augustulus (who, ironically, bears the names of the founder of Rome and the first emperor), but does not crown himself (as any praetorian would have done 150 years ago in his place), but sends signs of imperial power to Constantinople, to Emperor Zeno, with the words "there is one sun in the sky, one emperor on earth." Ravenna in 492 is occupied by the Ostrogothic king Theodoric and makes it the capital of his kingdom.

After that, the Eternal City was besieged and occupied several more times - in 536 by the Byzantine emperor Justinian, after 5 years - the Goth Vitigis, and then Totila, who took hostage and killed the entire Senate. This continues until the end of the 8th century, when the Lombards threaten Rome, but the early Christian period for Western Europe ends, perhaps, with the arrival of the Byzantines in Italy. By the VI century. in Europe there are a number of already fully formed barbarian kingdoms.

This time was no less turbulent in the history of Christianity. Along with the East, Rome participates in the fight against heresies and the search for a single formula for confessing the new faith. At the ecumenical councils in Nicaea, Ephesus and Chalcedon, the heresies of Arianism (326), Nestorianism (432), Monophysitism (451) are condemned, primarily concerning the dual unity of human and divine natures in Christ and questions of the relationship of the persons of the Godhead in the Trinity. However, Western Christians are not as sensitive to issues of heresy and are not as committed to theological subtleties as Eastern ones, and the main problem of the West is the widespread Arianism - a doctrine that affirms, first of all, the human nature of the Savior, without the fullness of the Godhead - He is recognized as a perfect Man, on whom in the moment of Baptism the Holy Spirit descends. Christ from “consubstantial” to the Father is recognized as “like in essence” (in the Greek words “omousios” and “omoiusios” only one letter does not coincide - iota, hence the expression “do not change one iota”). Empress Helena herself and her son Emperor Constantine, although they patronized the holding of councils (Constantine personally greeted the confessors-bishops who arrived at the Council of Nicaea with a kiss of peace), did not remain indifferent to this temptation, and it is natural that the vast majority of barbarian tribes adopted Arianism at baptism more accessible and understandable to them.

And now about art

The dates of the beginning of the Middle Ages for historians and for art historians do not coincide. Historians believe that the Middle Ages began with the Edict of Milan - the official recognition of Christianity as one of the religions of the Empire in 313 under Emperor Constantine. Tradition says that the emperor’s sudden conversion is the result of a miraculous vision, after which he commands the initials of Christ (the so-called chrism - xr) to be inscribed as an “alexeme” (Greek “protection”, “talisman”) on military banners and shields of legionnaires , legalizes Christianity, but he himself is baptized only after 25 years, on his deathbed. However first christian images appear a century earlier, at the beginning of the 3rd century (a hundred years ago, researchers believed that even in the middle of the 1st century). Thus, Christian art is experiencing the so-called. the "catacomb" period, stretching from approximately 200 to 350, when Christians do not have their own large-scale architecture, monumental sculpture and painting, and the circle of monuments is limited, in fact, to tomb decorations and decorative and applied art. The beginning of the catacomb period is the time of the Church's sharp protest against any images within its walls, its end is marked by the recognition of their necessity and reflections on what they should be.

Second period of early Christianity- approximately from 350 to 600 - the time from its final approval as the only religion of the empire (except for the four-year reign of Julian the Apostate in the 360s), the time of the appearance of real Christian church architecture of monumental painting, which adorns it - primarily frescoes and mosaics. The main problem of this period was the search for samples for buildings and pictorial compositions. For both, examples are found in Roman art and architecture - both the early Christian basilicas and the first mosaics depicting Christ and the saints borrow the most common type of public building in Rome and the typology of the imperial portrait. Long narrative series, like the reliefs of Trajan's Column or the illustrated manuscripts of the Aeneid and the Iliad, become the prototypes of the Old and New Testament cycles of mosaics, frescoes or miniatures.

The dying Empire leaves its heirs in the West - the barbarian kingdoms - a huge layer of information - not only the entire body of ancient science, not only the formulas of the Christian faith forged in painful disputes, but also a myriad of visual images and their meanings that the barbarians will have to comprehend and enrich the language with them. his young art.

Art of the catacombs

The “catacomb” period of early Christianity was the time of its illegal existence, when periods of persecution were replaced by periods of relative loyalty to it, but Christianity did not have the status of an official religion. What happened during these three "illegal" centuries with Christian art?

For a long time it was considered that the first Christian images belong to the middle of the 1st century AD, i.e. by the time the Apostle Peter was in Rome. However, by now the opinion has been established that they appear around the year 200. Where - in what places and under what circumstances - could Christian painting and sculpture develop? We know, firstly, that during this period there is practically no special Christian architecture - the first Christians spend their "meals of love" in private premises, bought or provided for this by wealthy members of the community (such is the "house-church" in a small Parthian town Dura-Europos, a mansion on the Esquiline in Rome: a specially built aediculus on the site of Peter's grave is just an exception that proves the rule. Secondly, the attitude of the first Christian authors to any kind of adornment is not just cautious (which would be natural in the face of the constant threat of idolatry in the midst of pagan Rome), but clearly negative. They are against any images in Christian homes and meeting places. However, the very persistence and categorical nature of these prohibitions suggests that such images existed. The Christians of Rome automatically used their usual language of painting to convey new truths, just as they used their native Latin, giving familiar words (amor, caritas, virtus - love, mercy, virtue) a new, Christian meaning. The pagan painting of Rome was, first of all, an ornament - the floor or wall of a villa, a private house - this side of it was rejected by the Christian world. The first monuments of Christian art that have come down to us were not decorations of meeting houses, but frescoes and marble reliefs intended for tombs. It is a mistake to think that the first Christians invented catacombs (a word meaning in Greek "near the breach" or "near the recess") - tombs carved into soft rock - tuff - outside the city walls of Rome. This type of burial was widely used among middle-class people in pagan Rome, pagan and Christian tombs often coexist in the catacombs (for example, on Via Latina), just as in the 3rd century a pagan and a Christian could well be members of the same family. True, in the Christian catacombs, instead of the loculuses popular in the ancient world - niches for urns - arcosolia - niches for sarcophagi, or cubes (square vaulted halls with sarcophagi in the middle, illuminated through light wells - alfalfa) spread more widely. This is due to the gradual rejection of cremation among Christians professing the doctrine of the resurrection of the flesh. Stylistically, there is much in common between pagan and Christian frescoes, perhaps they were often made by the same master. Compared with Pompeian painting, with the secular "ground" painting that adorned dwellings, these are rustic, careless, often almost unprofessional sketches.

However, they are related to the masterpieces of Roman painting by the commonality of manner - the lightness of the essay, the indestructible memory of the laws of human anatomy, the freedom of posture, gesture, and the rotation of the figure. The difference between the pagan and Christian layer of monuments is primarily in the themes. Among pagans, plots are popular, either representing death as a sweet eternal sleep (Selena and Endymion), or glorifying courage when meeting with it (Cleopatra's Suicide). It is clear that such topics clearly contradict the Christian perception of death. There is, however, a plot that Christians were able to borrow from the pagans - Hercules leading Alcesta, the wife of King Admet, from Hades, Hercules the conqueror of death ( Via Latina ). In fact, the connection between ancient Roman and young Christian culture is more serious and deeper - borrowing occurs not at the level of a specific plot, but at the level of an image-symbol or sign. Thus, the most popular of the catacomb plots, the Good Shepherd, enters the repertoire of Christian art (it is surprising that it appears not as a seemingly obvious illustration of the gospel parable, but as a symbol of humanitas, humanity, long known in the ancient world) (Moskhofor). The figures of orants also come in the same way - images of the deceased themselves or biblical characters standing before God with upraised hands. This posture is a typical outward form of piety in ancient Rome. In turn, Christ with the apostles is depicted in the same way as Aristotle with his disciples has long been depicted. Christians brought to the catacombs and symbols and signs of their own invention - the vine, which from a Roman decorative motif became the most capacious and significant of the symbols of this kind - a symbol of the sacrificial blood of Christ and communion, a cross, a fish (ixtus is an anagram of the words "Jesus Christ, God's Son, Savior”), an anchor is a symbol of hope, etc. Already from this list it is clear that the kinship of style and even that does not cancel the revolution that took place at the level of the meaning of the image - from now on “any picture” is no longer a decoration of the room, but, above all , the bearer of meaning.

The art of the Christian catacombs sets itself a new task, unknown to antiquity - to choose from a huge circle of new subjects - the Old and New Testaments - the most revealing and suitable. The traditional idea of ​​history as a circle will have to be changed to a linear picture of the world, where history has a beginning, an end and a culmination - the Resurrection. Therefore, the first "narrative cycles" in the catacombs consist of only two scenes - the Fall and the Adoration of the Magi or the Fall and Baptism. These are some kind of marks on the coordinate axis - the beginning of the history of fallen humanity and the beginning of the Redemption (the birth of the Savior or the beginning of His earthly ministry). The painting of the catacombs is a set of such culminating scenes that speak of the miraculous salvation of the righteous - the Old and New Testament prototypes of the coming resurrection. These examples are selected on the basis of the text of the funeral prayer of St. Cyprian of Antioch (which, in turn, goes back to the Jewish prayer): “Save, Lord, his soul, as You saved Jonah from the belly of the whale, three youths from the fiery furnace, Daniel from the lions’ den, Susanna from the hands of the elders ... and I ask you , ... who opened the eyes of the blind, the ears of the deaf, healed the paralytic, resurrected Lazarus ... ". Jonah, Three Youths, Daniel, Miracles of Christ are the most popular subjects of catacomb frescoes. Each scene is presented "shorthand" - with a minimum number of characters and details. The catacomb fresco does not retell the event, but conveys its essence - for example, in the scene of the Healing of the bleeding wife from the catacombs of Peter and Marcellinus, only two are represented - Christ and the woman, while according to the gospel text this miracle, the author of the fresco combines two moments at different times - the touch of a woman on clothes of Christ and their dialogue. So, catacomb art moves away from decorativeness, striving for effects, fidelity to nature, in order to become a means of conveying the hidden meaning of events. It reflects that aspect of Christianity that was clearly incomprehensible to the world of Antiquity, which was looking for obvious beauty and clarity in everything - “certainty in the invisible” (Heb. 11:1).

The catacombs were active cemeteries until the 5th century, but continued to be revered as the burial place of the early Christian saints until the sack of Rome and its cemeteries by the Lombards in the 8th century. By the 7th century there was even a kind of guide to the catacombs for pilgrims. At the beginning of the ninth century the remains of the martyrs were transferred to the crypts of Roman churches.

Architecture

early christian architecture

Where did the early Christians worship? What were the first temples? These two questions refer to completely different subjects and periods. The first divine services - at first agapes - meals of love, then liturgies - were held in the so-called. "church houses" or "titles" - premises purchased by the community or donated by its wealthy members. Such is the miraculously preserved “house of prayer” in the small fortress of Dura Europos on the Parthian border, combining the functions of a church and a baptismal. Most often, divine services take place in private homes, in rooms specially adapted for this, where a mensa is set up - a liturgical table - and an episcopal chair is placed, because. the service during this period could be performed only by the bishop or in his presence. Small terms often turned into a church - for example, the home baths in the house of Senator Pudentius were turned into a church, which received the name Santa Pudenziana .

The first buildings specially erected by Christians are not yet temples, but a kind of monuments, called "martiria" - "evidence" - they mark significant places for Christians. So, services were performed in the catacombs on the tombs of saints. Ground martyria appear from the II-III centuries. at the place of execution, burial or glorification of the saint. They were surrounded by a fence or marked with a small chapel. Such is the “trophy of Guy” of the 2nd century. - a small two-column canopy-edicula over the alleged tomb of the Apostle Peter, which later entered the Konstantinovskaya building. The word "trophy" - a military term meaning "sign of victory" - the Roman army often left a cruciform structure decorated with armor and weapons of the enemy at the battlefield. The Christian "trophy" was erected next to the circus, in which Gaius, one of the first Roman bishops, once martyred.

With the legalization of Christianity in 313, the question of church building arises. There are already buildings for parish services, and the so-called "Parochial" buildings are being built. “station” churches, designed to gather the entire community of Rome on holidays. These were large-scale buildings designed for several thousand people. Roman basilicas served as a model for them (from the Greek word "basileus" - king) - secular buildings - reception halls or halls of courts, ending in a semicircular ledge - an apse, inside which stood the imperial throne or the tribunal was located and there was an image of the emperor - a guarantor of the validity of the decision made by the court . The latest of the secular basilicas of Rome - Basilica of Maxentius and Constantine (306-312) in the forum, a building with two apses, one of which contained a 15-meter statue of the emperor (now its fragments are stored in the courtyard of the Capitoline Museum). The early Christian basilica retains the Roman typology, but is covered with rafters, not vaults (vaults are too expensive and complicated equipment for Rome of the 4th-6th centuries), and is divided into longitudinal “corridors” - naves - by rows of columns, taken, as a rule, from destroyed pagan buildings. The central nave was wider and higher than the side naves (there could be 3 or 5, less often 1), and windows were cut in the upper part of it, illuminating the entire building. The apse, where the altar was now located, was separated from the naves by a transverse sleeve - a transept - and a triumphal arch. As a rule, the wall between the colonnade and the windows, the apse and the triumphal arch were decorated with frescoes or mosaics. The building of the basilica was preceded by a churchyard with a colonnade - an atrium, and a kind of vestibule - a narthex intended for the catechumens - preparing for baptism (and the preparation often lasted more than one year) and those who carried repentance and therefore were temporarily excommunicated from communion. Both could be present only at the first part of the liturgy - the liturgy of the catechumens, after which they were supposed to, with the exclamation of the deacon, "Doors, doors!" leave the church building (hence the expression "runs like a catechumen"). The altar apse in Constantine's buildings faces west, following the pattern of Solomon's temple, where the sanctuary was in the west, and the porch was in the east, so that the high priest, going out onto the porch for morning prayer, would face the rising sun. However, already in the 5th c. the apses are oriented to the east, traditionally revered as the sacred side of the world.

Constantine simultaneously begins the construction of martyria basilicas in the Holy Land (on the site of the Holy Sepulcher, in Bethlehem, Nazareth, Gethsemane, etc.) and in Rome. The first basilica built in Rome and for a long time had the status of a cathedral - Lateran (313-319). Constantine, himself not yet a Christian, deliberately builds it not in the center of the city, near the Forum with its pagan shrines, but on the outskirts, almost at the very city wall, near the mansion of the Lateran family, turned into an episcopal palace, and the former Praetorian barracks. Thus, this construction could, without irritating the pagan Senate and dignitaries, have the status of a personal gift to the Christians of Rome from the emperor as a private person. It was heavily rebuilt in 1657 by Carlo Borromini, and we can restore its former appearance only from a fresco of 1651. A baptistery is being built next to the basilica - a baptismal - an octagonal building with an octagonal font inside. Baptism in those days was performed only on adults, after a long preparation, only on Easter night and only in the Lateran Baptistery.

Under Constantine, two main martyria basilicas were erected in Rome - basilica of st. Petra (320-329) at the site of his supposed tomb, marked by a 2nd-century building, and basilica of st. Paul outside the walls (rebuilt under Theodosius in 386-402). Basilica of St. Peter, thanks to the popular veneration of the grave of the apostle, will be “taken away” from the Lateran status of the cathedral. By the first half of the 5th c. belong small Basilica of Santa Sabina on the Aventine Hill, decorated inside the so-called. "opus sectile" - an elegant marble inlay from the fragments of columns of pagan buildings, and the first church dedicated to the Mother of God - Santa Maria Maggiore on the Esquiline , founded under Pope Liberia after a miraculous snowfall in August 352. It stores the Nativity manger brought by Elena from Bethlehem. By the 5th century "station" - festive services with the participation of the entire city community - are distributed among at least 20 churches in Rome, which shows us the density of its church buildings. Christmas is celebrated in the Basilica of St. Petra, Easter in the Lateran, Assumption in Santa Maria Maggiore, etc.

Basilicas and baptisteries are being built in other cities of the Western Roman Empire. At the emperor's residence

from the 5th century - Ravenna - two octagonal baptisteries are being built in succession - the so-called. " Orthodox baptistery "450 (with the same success it can be called "Catholic") and, in contrast to it, " arian baptistery » 500, built by the Arian king Theodoric of the Ostrogoths (see Introduction). By the first half of the VI century. include two basilicas of St. Apollinaria in Ravenna Sant Apollinare Nuovo , built under Theodoric, and Sant Apollinare in Classe (in the harbor), erected already under the Byzantines. They differ from the Roman ones, primarily in that the columns separating the naves are no longer antique, but made in the same 6th century. - they lost all the characteristic features of the classical order, became thinner, lighter, acquired simple trapezoidal capitals and special mullion pillows, which further emphasize the fragility of the trunk.

Another problem with early Christian buildings is the use of mausoleums for church purposes. Mausoleum Rotunda of Constantine ( ) - sisters of Emperor Constantine - built around 330 on the Nomentan road - began to be used as a church building, and the sarcophagus

the deceased was moved from the domed space to the niche opposite the entrance, and a throne was placed under the dome. However, worship in a round building is hampered by the fact that with such a position of the throne, the flock does not stand in front of, but around the altar, which violates the already accepted “west-east” hierarchy. Another mausoleum - the sisters of the emperors Arcadius and Honorius, who divided the Empire among themselves in 395 - Gauls of Placidia is located in Ravenna. This is a cruciform domed building (here the dome, as in the baptisteries and the mausoleum of Santa Costanza, is not visible from the outside, but is hidden under a 4 or 8-pitched roof), decorated with mosaics of exceptional quality from the first quarter of the 5th century, however, did not become a church. Now she is in the yard churches

San Vitale in Ravenna , consecrated in 547, after the capture of the city by the Byzantine emperor Justinian. San Vitale is a kind of double octahedron (plan), where, unlike all other centric buildings, a special place appears that separates the apse from the domed space - the so-called. the presbytery is the place of the presbyter, where the altar is located, and the place under the dome, surrounded by through airy two-tiered exedras, is freed for the flock. The interior of San Vitale is a classic example of Byzantine "anti-tectonics" - a masterly disguise of the work of the structure, thanks to which it seems that the high spacious dome is carried not by powerful trihedral pillars, but by thin exedra columns. A similar technique was used in the almost modern San Vitale building of Constantinople - the famous Hagia Sophia.

So, by the 6th century, the eastern and western architectural traditions had already diverged enough to make it obvious that by the time of the Justinian conquest in early Christian Italy, the basilica was becoming the usual type of church building, and the West would finally opt for this option until the end of the Middle Ages. Centric buildings in the West will rather be the exception, while for Byzantium the basilica will be the exception, and the centric building the rule.

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Sculpture

Early Christian sculpture 200-350 AD

We will not find among the monuments of Christian sculpture of this period either monumental statues or large-scale reliefs - there simply was no place for them in small house-churches and cramped tomb chambers. However, we must not forget that in parallel with the Christian at that time there was also a real monumental pagan art - first of all, the imperial portrait, gradually losing the features of a concrete human face and turning into a mask, a sign of power, an abstract bearer of a sacred function. The pagan and Christian layers in sculpture at this time almost do not intersect, with the exception of those cases when emperors, tolerant of Christians, include Christian images in their lararia - home sanctuaries. Alexander Sever was the first to do this. The hoard of Gallienus, along with the portrait of the emperor himself, includes alabaster figurines: Jonah, vomited by a whale, and the Good Shepherd.

The most common type of Christian sculpture - as in painting, of a funerary nature - is the reliefs of sarcophagi. The tradition of burying the dead in stone sarcophagi persisted until the 6th-7th centuries. and was only partially replaced by burials under the floor of the church. The front wall and ends of the sarcophagi were decorated, which could be rectangular or oval in plan. A medallion with a portrait of the deceased was often placed in the center (there are examples of sarcophagi prepared "for the future" with empty medallions in the center). The reliefs could be frieze-like, but we will not find here the usual Roman unity of time, place and action: instead of the traditional battle ( Sarcophagus of Ludovisi ) or a Bacchic procession. Before us is a series of events that are completely different in time, forming a program that, on the whole, repeats the meaning of the catacomb painting. Here is an example of such a series: Expulsion from Paradise - miracle in Cana - healing of a blind man - resurrection

Lazarus, from the beginning of the path of sinful mankind to the prototype of the Resurrection of Christ and the general resurrection. The most difficult in composition and perfect in execution can be called Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus , the city prefect of Rome, found during the reconstruction of the Basilica of St. Peter under the altar in the first years of the 17th century. In 10 gracefully framed architectural cells there are scenes of miraculous salvations (Abraham and Isaac, Job, Daniel) known to us from the painting of the catacombs, the Passion and the Transfer of the Law to the Apostles - an image of a young beardless Christ passing the scrolls with the New Testament to Peter and Paul. Such an image of Christ the young man was called Emmanuel (according to the prophecy of Isaiah about the Virgin, who is to give birth to the Baby, who will be called this name, which means "God is with us"). However, the Christian Romans probably proceeded not from an ancient prophecy, but from their own criteria of beauty - Christ the perfect Man in their eyes was a flowering ephebe youth, the bearer of the "ideal appearance" in their view. Under the feet of the Savior - an old man, stretching a cloth over his head - this is an image of the Cosmos, the universe, which will hear the Good News. The tradition of placing a figure in an architectural cell is also Roman (recall that there was a statue in each arch of the Colosseum). Sarcophagi could contain only iconic images - such are sarcophagi with chrysms, which naturally appear after 313. On one of these sarcophagi, a medallion with chrysms is carried by angels, repeating the popular theme of the Roman triumphal arch - flying goddesses of victory - victories, carrying a crown with a portrait of the emperor . By the V-VI centuries. simpler schemes appear - birds at the source of life, lambs and a cross, etc.

In addition to sarcophagi and figurines, there were many small-form monuments, primarily ivory reliefs. These are consular diptychs (a kind of "certificate" of the consul taking office), where images of pagan deities ( diptych Nikomach ) or the emperor on the throne with two consuls behind him is replaced by Christ on the throne, behind whom are the apostles Peter and Paul. Folding tablets (diptychs) with gospel scenes are no less popular - for example, Milanese diptych with Christ , not ascending, but ascending from the Mount of Olives to the cloud, where it is pulled with force by the Right Hand of the Father. Things of the 4th century differ from the later ones by the very high quality of the carving and the antique liveliness of the figures and scenes. These are reliefs of the Brescia Staurotheque - a reliquary box, covered on five sides with reliefs of exceptional variety - here is presented both the portrait genre (images in medallions of Christ and the apostles), and a kind of "still life" - a fish-sign of Christ, reminiscent of Roman "kitchen" still lifes, and the story of Jonah, Susanna , passion, etc. Such works show us that the era of the total significance of any image has come. A hundred years ago, Tertullian considered any “picture or picture” an idol, now, in any case, both in monumental and in the most intimate and insignificant things, it is the bearer of the most serious meaning.

monumental painting

Monumental painting of early Christianity

To the question of what the decoration of a Christian church should be, by the time the first Christian buildings appeared, there was no unambiguous answer. We know that during the 4th c. a serious change is taking place in relation to the images - from a restrained recognition of their right to exist (Eusebius to Constance in response to a request to send an icon of the Savior: “What kind of Christ’s icon are you looking for - true and unchanging, or that nature of Him, which He took for us, as slave-like clothes?

Eusebius of Caesarea about the first images:

“In the Palestinian city of Paneas there is a sculpture depicting Christ and a bleeding woman, placed, according to legend, by the most bleeding wife and subsequently destroyed by Julian the Apostate. In reality, we are probably talking about the statue of Hadrian with the personification of Judea at his feet or the Greek god of medicine Asclepius with his daughter Panacea: “they say that this statue is a portrait (eikona) of Jesus, and it is not strange that the pagans even in the old days, when The Savior was their benefactor, they did similar things, for we also learned that the appearance of Peter, Paul and Christ Himself was preserved in painting (tas eikonas). The ancients, it seems, had the custom, as is customary among the pagans, to give such honors to all those who were revered as liberators ”to the point of thinking about what exactly and in what order should be depicted in the church. The temple decor was, apparently, primarily picturesque, sculpture, especially monumental, immediately becomes very unpopular in the church - both because of the resemblance to pagan idols, and because of the high cost (in Ravenna and Northern Italy, there are only small stucco reliefs ). The only example of a large-scale sculptural ensemble is the so-called. Lateran fastigium - an altar barrier with wooden silver-plated statues of the apostles, destroyed already in 410 during the capture of Rome by Alaric. By the middle of the 4th century, traditional Roman painting techniques - mosaics and frescoes - became almost an indispensable accessory for any church interior.

What exactly and how should be depicted in the temple? The Roman painting tradition was primarily decorative, and even enlightened Christians for a long time believed that it was appropriate to depict in the church approximately the same as on the walls, for example, of a country villa - flowers, fruits, grape harvest scenes, birds, etc. These are mosaics of the mausoleum of Santa Costanza middle of the 4th century However, they can also be interpreted in the spirit of Christian symbolism - the vine surrounding the portrait of the deceased can be equally a symbol of the blood of Christ, and a simple decorative motif, the same with birds, fruits and green branches - potential symbols of the Garden of Eden.

The first truly meaningful images in churches should immediately be consistent with the concept of church space as a hierarchy of places. Since the era of Constantine, in the decoration of the basilica

three zones of painting are distinguished: the apse, the triumphal arch and the middle zone of the wall of the main nave - between the tiers of supports and windows. The most significant places - architecturally and symbolically - are the dome (where it is) - the image of the sky - and the apse - the place of the sacraments of the Eucharist. The earliest domed compositions - the unpreserved frescoes of the Lateran Baptistery and the dome of Santa Costanza - are still almost ornamental, with small scenes from the Scripture framed by floral decorations, the apse of the Lateran Baptistery is also occupied by acanthus scrolls, but the so-called acanthas are quickly fixed in the domes and apses. Theophany (Theophany) are dogmatic scenes in which Christ reveals His divine nature. It is clear that such images should not be built arbitrarily, but on the basis of some schemes consecrated by tradition. Christ in these scenes is depicted in the way that the emperor was traditionally portrayed - the place and

the outer frames of the most significant images of the interior of the Roman basilica are preserved intact, having received a new content in the interior of a Christian church. These are the first apse compositions in Santa Costanza - , where Christ is depicted in the pose of an emperor addressing the people with a speech, and , where Christ is depicted seated on the sphere of the world. Such an image corresponds to one of the titles of the Roman emperor - Cosmocrator. The light scale, the subtlety of color nuances, white backgrounds, the absence of a contour - everything in the style of these mosaics speaks of the still unexpired principles of Roman decorative mosaics, designed for good lighting, a flat surface and viewing from a close distance. Placed on a dimly lit, concave surface, they lose a lot. Over the next 200 years, the mosaic will have to undergo major stylistic changes in order to adapt to the new position in the interior and the nature of the lighting.

Mosaics on the domes of both Baptistery in Ravenna (Arian Baptistery and Orthodox Baptistery) (450 and 500), represent the scenes of the Baptism of Jesus (Theophany, according to the second name of the holiday) in the central medallions, surrounded by images of the procession of the apostles (and in the Orthodox baptistery - another outer ring depicting the twelve apostolic thrones ). Jesus is presented completely naked, in accordance with ancient ideas about heroic nakedness, on the shore is John pouring water on Him, and in the river is the personification of Jordan, the river god with a head adorned with a crown of crab claws.

A remarkable example of a fully preserved program gives us mosaic decoration of the small mausoleum of Galla Placidia in Ravenna (second quarter of the 5th century). This building was part of the ensemble of the palace church of the Holy Cross and was apparently dedicated to the martyr Lawrence. It was the tomb of both Galla herself, the daughter of Theodosius the Great and the sister of Arcadius and Honorius, and her son. Mosaics were made by Constantinopolitan masters brought to Ravenna by Galla Placidia. They are sustained in the best traditions of ancient painting, with a large number of tones, an exquisite range built on a combination of cold blue and pale scarlet, masterfully conveyed in a complex mosaic technique with depth

space (even in ornamental frames!) and colored shadows. The program of the ensemble is based on allegorical images of Christ (the last echo of the catacomb frescoes) - in the dome it is a cross against the background of the starry sky, surrounded by a tetramorph, in the lunette above the entrance - the Good Shepherd among his sheep in a rocky Greek landscape - such as they could depict a shepherd on Hellenistic reliefs 3rd-2nd centuries BC, and only a cruciform staff and a halo indicates His divinity. Opposite the entrance is the scene of the martyrdom of St. Lawrence, marching towards a red-hot grate with a cross and the Gospel - also symbols of Christ. This scene is an example of a rare coexistence of already completely medieval conventionality of composition and still completely antique persuasiveness in the execution of every detail. It is clear that the scene of Lavrenty's execution took place in a completely different way, we are not reporting, but a symbol, but every fold of clothing, the free, almost ballet step of the martyr, the shadows from the flames dancing on the blue wall, the neat cabinet with four books of the Gospels - all these are carriers traits of living antique illusionism. In the side lunettes, Christ is personified by the images of a source of living water, to which doves and deer are approaching - symbols of righteous souls - and by windows - sources of light, symbolizing the Light of Christ. It is these windows that are depicted four times Peter and Paul.

Galla Placidia Martyrdom of St Lawrence

But, of course, the most common dogmatic compositions are found in the apses, the main liturgical area of ​​the basilica. Unfortunately, the mosaics of the apses of Constantine's basilicas in Rome have not come down to us, especially St. Peter and St. Paul outside the walls. On the apse mosaics of the end of the 4th-5th centuries. we can only judge by the church of Santa Pudenziana in Rome and by two poorly preserved apse mosaics in the church of San Aquilino in Milan.

Santa Pudenziana , a small basilica, which, according to legend, grew out of the term hall in the house of the Roman senator Pudentius, is decorated with a beautiful mosaic depicting Christ and the apostles in Heavenly Jerusalem. Along with the high quality of painting (a variety of types of appearance, postures, gestures, rich

palette, subtly conveyed by light and shadow effects, convincing alternation of plans), a plurality of meanings also appears here, requiring a consistent reading of the image as a text, which was impossible and unnecessary in Roman pagan painting. The lower tier of the mosaic - completely "portrait" images of the apostles and Christ, as well as two women crowning Peter and Paul - they are sometimes called Mary and Martha, and sometimes - the personifications of the Church and the Synagogue - given to the first, "historical" meaning of the composition - in front of us, probably the chamber of the Last Supper, because outside the walls of the courtyard is a panorama of Jerusalem as it was in the time of Constantine, with the rotunda of the Church of the Resurrection, the colonnaded street and other sights. However, a tier above we see Calvary Hill with a standing

on it is a golden cross. This immediately takes us beyond the "literal" meaning, because before us is not just the cross of the Crucifixion, but also a monument - this is the golden cross with gems, which Empress Elena placed on Golgotha ​​at the beginning of the 4th century. To this cross across the sky, covered with multi-colored, pearly dawn-sunset clouds, four huge figures of animals of apocalyptic vision fly - an eagle, a calf, a lion and an angel, which later became the symbols of the 4 evangelists. Thus, the first plot - the Last Supper - is placed next to the vision of the Apocalypse, and automatically "moves" in our minds from earthly Jerusalem to heavenly, also described in the Revelation of John. Christ turns from a Teacher into a Judge, and the Calvary cross above His head is a direct indication that the One who was crucified on the cross will sit on the throne of the Judge. Such a gradual multiplication of the meanings of an event is a characteristic feature of the theological thought of the era, which, starting with Origen and ending with Augustine, is based on the conviction that each event of Sacred History has not one, but two, or even four meanings. Gradually, by the 8th-9th centuries, the theory of 4 meanings of the Holy Scripture takes shape.

The mosaics of Santa Pudenziana remain the most complex and perfect in terms of both style and iconography of the surviving early apse compositions. Later, in the 5th-6th centuries, the apses will be decorated mainly with images of Christ with the upcoming ones - this is mosaic c. Sts. Cosmas and Damian in the Roman Forum (526-530), rebuilt from the reception hall of the Roman city prefect. On a deep blue background, colored by bright sunset clouds, Christ is depicted in the pose of an emperor addressing the army. He is depicted high above the earth, and it can be stated with equal certainty that this is the Christ ascending or the Christ of the Second Coming. On either side of Him are the Apostles Peter and Paul in white robes, bringing Sts. Doctors Cosmas and Damian bearing martyr's crowns. In the corners of the apse are depicted St. Theodore and the founder of the church, Pope Felix IV. Thus, a kind of hierarchy is built from the center to the periphery, depending on the significance of the images. The same theme is presented in the lower case, but allegorically - a string of lambs is sent from two sides to the Lamb, standing on a stone, from which four rivers of paradise flow - to Christ. The composition became simpler, the colors sharper, the contours more rigid, the faces similar, belonging to the general oriental type, the meaning simpler and more distinct.

For the middle of the 6th c. Another theme is important - the already very significant divergence of the paths of East and West, which is clear from a comparison of two mosaics of the same time - the middle of the 6th century. and on the same subject - Transfiguration. One of them is in the monastery of St. Catherine in Sinai, the other - in c. FROMant Apollinare in Klasse in Ravenna. If in the first, Byzantine, an exclusively human figure is important for the author - it presents only 6 figures in white on a gold background - an exquisite combination inaccessible to later mosaics - then in the second, western, the same theme is presented as a kind of riddle, a rebus - in a bright - against a green background of a low, "toy" garden of evergreens, Christ is depicted as a sphere with a cross, the apostles are like lambs lost among the trees, and only Moses and Elijah - the most "unreal" of all characters - and added later at the bottom of St. Apollinaris in the pose of an orant are depicted by people. At this time, the sacred significance of human appearance for Eastern Christian culture and the symbolic, instructive function of art for Western culture are already clearly visible.

If dogmatic scenes are placed in the apses, then the painting of the nave and the triumphal arch is predominantly narrative. The experience of monumental narrative cycles was among the Romans - these are, first of all, the reliefs of Trajan's column, telling the story of the emperor's campaign against the Dacians. Around 400, Emperor Arcadius erects similar columns in Constantinople. The first surviving Christian cycle of this kind is pictorial. it mosaics in the nave of the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore (430-440) - a series of panels showing only a small part of the Old Testament history - scenes from the life of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob,

Joseph, Moses, Joshua. The narrative is built on the principle not of history, as on a continuous ribbon of the relief of Trajan's column, but of several biographies, of which the most detailed is that of Moses. In the scene of the adoption of Moses by the pharaoh's daughter, the empress's court reception scheme is used - the pharaoh's daughter herself and the ladies of the court are dressed in the fashion of the 5th century, and the 3-month-old baby Moses is presented as at least 10 years old. One of the most famous scenes is the Hospitality of Abraham, where within the framework of one composition Abraham is depicted three times - meeting the angels, giving orders to Sarah about the treat, and right there, looking out from behind his own shoulder, treating the angels. The mosaics are made in a still very free, contourless, juicy manner, with a predominance of a bright (although sometimes already golden) color spot, with rather subtle color shades, although the height at which they are located does not allow the viewer to fully appreciate them.

Mosaics of the triumphal arch Santa Maria Maggiore were made at the same time, but by a different artel, in a somewhat more ceremonial, solemn manner, corresponding, however, to their place. If the nave is given over to Old Testament scenes, then New Testament scenes are placed on the triumphal arch, moreover, those relating exclusively to the period before the birth of Christ and His early childhood - from the Annunciation to the Massacre of the Innocents. Scenes of the Adoration of the Magi, the Annunciation and others are given with a special emphasis on the royalty of the Mother of God and the Child - they are depicted in royal robes, on thrones, an apocryphal story is also drawn about the fall of idols from the walls of the Egyptian city of Iliopolis when St. families. This seemingly strange choice is explained by the fact that painting begins to play a role here that was previously uncharacteristic of it - the role of an argument in a theological dispute. The fact is that the mosaics were created shortly after the Ephesian Council of 431-432, which condemned the heresy of Nestorius, disputed the Motherhood of Mary, and argued that "it is absurd to worship a two-month-old Deity" or "to say that God ate mother's milk." It is this Infant, whose worship is approved by the cathedral, that the mosaics of the triumphal arch depict, emphasizing the royal dignity of Him and His Mother. Below, at the heels of the arch, are depicted in the form of small Roman fortified camps-castrums, the two main cities of the gospel history - Bethlehem and Jerusalem.

The two dead, known only from the watercolors of the 17th in the pictorial cycle, the basilicas of San Pietro and San Paolo Fuori le Mura date back to the time of Pope Leo the Great (440-461). In them, one side of the nave is already occupied by Old Testament scenes, and the other by New Testament scenes, but there are no direct pairs yet. Unfortunately both

cycles are known from incomplete copies of the 16th-17th centuries, and we can only assume that on the middle of the cross opposite the Crucifixion was the Copper Serpent - a parallel proposed by Tertullian. The theme of "types" in the Old Testament already quite clearly appears at the beginning of the 5th century. in the treatises Augustine, who, for example, compares the story of Jonah, swallowed by a whale, with the three-day death and resurrection of Christ, the story of Joseph the Beautiful, sold by his brothers and subsequently exalted, with the story of betrayal, death and resurrection of the Savior, etc. For the first time directly pairs of plots appear in ser. 5th c. in reliefs of wooden doors c. Santa Sabina in Rome , where the panel with the miracles of Moses was placed, apparently, next to the miracles

Christ, and the Ascension of Elijah, who used the composition of the apotheosis of the Roman emperor, corresponds to the Ascension of Christ. All R. 6th c. in reliefs of the throne of Bishop Maximian of Ravenna the story of Joseph and the Passion of Christ will also be set against each other. This is how a linear perception of history is born, which is very different from the ancient cyclic one, and the main point on this straight line becomes the Incarnation, which casts numerous shadows - "prototypes" into the past - Jonah, Joseph, the Bronze Serpent, etc.

In Ravenna in the 530s, under the Ostrogothic king Theodoric, it was decorated with mosaics Nave of the Basilica of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo . She was originally

Arian, after the arrival of the Byzantines, it was rededicated to Martin of Tours, the “hammer of heretics” (and only in the 9th century St. Apollinaris). The middle zone of the wall of the main nave is decorated with two processions - the martyrs on the right and the martyrs on the left. These are rather uniformly interpreted figures, whose faces and gestures are unified - they all carry their crowns (marks of martyrdom) to Christ on their covered hands, the golden background hides the volume, penetrating the clothes of the martyrs, and they can be distinguished from each other only by inscriptions, and sometimes - by attributes (a small lamb at St. Agnes, and a purple cloak of St. Martin, who leads the procession of martyrs). The measured procession repeats the rhythm of the colonnade of the basilica, the martyrs go to Christ, whose image is located in front of the apse, the martyrs - to the Mother of God after the Magi in oriental clothes. However, for some reason, the procession of martyrs comes out of Theodoric's palace (in reality, located, by the way, next to the basilica), and the procession of martyrs comes out of the Old Harbor - a charming landscape with a boat on stormy waves. This unexpected historical concreteness is explained by the fact that we are not dealing with a genuine mosaic of the era of the Ostrogothic king, but a reworking of the time of Bishop Agnello (560s). He

destroyed the original portrait images of the king with his retinue, and the queen with court ladies, turning them into a procession of saints.

Between the windows of the nave of Sant'Apollinare Nuovo there are figures of the prophets, and the upper zone of the central nave of the same basilica is decorated with an incomparably more complex cycle - between decorative mosaic compositions - niches and doves - panels with scenes of miracles and parables (on the right) and Passion and miracles after the Resurrection on the left . Christ in the scenes of the Passion is depicted as long-haired and bearded, with an appearance that goes back to the ideal appearance of the Greek Zeus, and after the Resurrection - Emmanuel, young and beardless (the early images of Christ were previously divided into "Zeus type" and "Apollo type"). This opposition of plots is explained by a new force, which by the 6th century already plays a real role in the formation of images - this is the liturgy itself. Before us is a set of gospel readings for Great Lent and preparatory weeks (on the right) and Holy Week and the post-Easter time (on the left).

The same principle applies in Byzantine mosaics of the eastern part of c. San Vitale in Ravenna (547, this cycle, like the mosaics of the mausoleum of Galla Placidia, can rightly be considered belonging to Byzantine art) - here the semantic and physical centers coincide - this is the altar itself, on which the transubstantiation of gifts takes place, and with the theme of communion and

the whole environment is connected with the willing sacrifice - starting from the apse, where Christ the Cosmocrator on the azure sphere of the world receives the gifts of St. Vitalius - the crown of martyrdom - and Bishop Ekklesios - the model of the church of San Vitale. In the vault of the presbytery - the premises for the altar - the Sacrifice itself is depicted - the Lamb, lifted up by angels among the scrolls of the acanthus. On either side of the presbytery there are two scenes that testify to a new, non-historical approach to depicting the event. On the right is the Sacrifice of Abel and Melchizedek. These two Old Testament righteous people are separated by many centuries, but are connected in this composition (where Abel leaves the shepherd's straw tent, however, with an antique pediment, and Melchizedek - from the basilica, personifying the church of his city of Salem), where, according to the logic of history, next to Abel should Cain's presence is again a pleasing topic,

a sought-after and accepted victim. It is interesting that both of them bring gifts (Abel - a lamb, Melchizedek - bread and wine, brought by him once to Abraham) not on a Hebrew stone altar, but on a quite correctly depicted church altar. On the left is the meal of Abraham and the three angels and the Sacrifice of Isaac – again the theme of the Eucharistic meal and the sacrifice in demand. And, finally, the program is completed by two “group portraits” in the lower part of the apse - this is the emperor Justinian himself, who conquered Ravenna in 540, with his commander Belisarius, his son and guardsmen holding shields with chrism, and on the contrary - his wife Theodora, a far-sighted and intelligent woman who has gone from a circus performer to an empress, with his wife and daughter Belisarius and court ladies. regal

spouses (and they are depicted with halos on the model of Roman emperors, they are actually canonized, of course, after death) bring their feasible sacrifices as a gift to the church - a precious dish and a bowl. Thus, by the 6th century, the liturgy itself had become such a significant force that it was able to influence, pushing aside directly antique samples, both the architecture of the building and the composition of the program. No less significant changes are taking place with the style of painting - the colors become bright and local, the contours - clear, the compositions - simple and lined up in the foreground, but the echo of ancient freedom and vitality remains in this painting - Hellenic in essence - in the purity and depth of color. , types of faces that freely become full-fledged portraits of historical characters, the refinement of decorative details.

The 6th century, the time of the “Justinian synthesis”, brings to Italy a pure Hellenic stream of Byzantine painting, which, having acquired the full measure of the conventionality of the medieval style, has not lost a living connection with Antiquity.

Miniature

Early Christian manuscripts

A book miniature for the Middle Ages is not just an illustration of the text, but an indicator of very significant phenomena - a change in the role of the image in general, the connection between the word and the image, as well as a carrier of iconographic stable schemes - after all, it is much easier to transport a manuscript than to carry entire artels of painters to look at mosaics or frescoes. Special "educational" manuscripts, "books of samples", original guides for painters, were known no earlier than the 11th century, before their functions were apparently performed by the lists of the Old and New Testaments themselves. No wonder the Christianization of any remote territory at the beginning of the Middle Ages began with the arrival of a Roman mission - preachers who brought with them always illuminated manuscripts of Holy Scripture.

The first Christian books on the technique of copying and illumination are the direct heirs of the pagan books. By the 4th-5th centuries. the predominant type of manuscript was no longer a papyrus scroll, but a parchment codex (the transition from a scroll to a codex began as early as the 1st century AD)

The rapid growth of parishes and the development of the liturgy cause an urgent need for liturgical books, primarily in the full Latin translation of the Old and New Testaments, which he completed under Pope Damasus in the 380s. bl. Jerome of Stridon (this translation is called the Vulgate - i.e. "folk" translation, the previous translation of the beginning of the 3rd century - the so-called Itala - was incomplete). Just as images of the events of Sacred History are placed on the walls of basilicas, they are also transferred to the pages of manuscripts, but in a manuscript the possibility of an accurate, almost verbatim illustration of the text is much higher. Examples of such illustrations are preserved among the pagan manuscripts of the Aeneid and the Iliad - this is a principle that came from the scrolls. So, in the so-called. Vatican Virgil 5th c. on each page there must certainly be an illustration, and if, for example, the dialogue between Dido and Aeneas takes 5 pages, then they will be depicted talking 5 times.

This type of illustration also passes into Christian manuscripts, just as many early authors (Nonnus, Dracontius, Avitus, and many others) retold the books of Holy Scripture in hexameters.

Very few early (before the 7th century) Christian manuscripts have survived, most of them in very poor condition. The earliest of them is from the turn of the 4th-5th century, the so-called. containing, apparently, 4 books of kingdoms. Only one sheet has survived, where in four cells are given in a very cursory, almost sketchy manner, illustrations made for the story of Saul and Samuel. These 4 illustrations fall within 20 verses of the text (1 Samuel; 15:13-33). They are provided with two types of signatures - a "draft" instruction for the miniaturist and a "ceremonial" explanatory inscription for the reader.

Another well-known manuscript is Greek. This is the so-called. Lord Cotton's Genesis , made in Alexandria in the 5th century. It died in a fire in the owner's library in 1731, leaving about 150 fragments and only 2 watercolor copies made shortly before the fire. These miniatures reflected both the common features of ancient painting - for example, the days of Creation are depicted as figures of angels, the Creator directs the soul-Psyche in the form of a winged man into the mouth of Adam, and

the influence of Alexandrian theology, for example, the Creator is depicted as beardless and with a crossed halo - he is associated with Wisdom, the Logos - the Word, and therefore with Christ, who was eternally with the indescribable Father. The density of illustrations is such that, apparently, there were about 330 miniatures per 300 pages. This manuscript brought to life a whole wide tradition in monumental painting and in miniature, in particular, was repeated in an abbreviated form at the beginning of the 13th century. in the mosaics of the Venetian Cathedral of San Marco.

Three Greek manuscripts of the 6th c. — , and - were executed on purple parchment, which is a sign of the imperial order. Here the image is no longer inserted into the text immediately before the desired passage, but is placed at the bottom of the sheet and consists of several scenes where we often find details that are missing in the text. So, for example, near the dungeon of Joseph the Handsome stands the wife of Potiphar, who repented of her deed, next to the scene of the seduction of Joseph, scenes of the life of a virtuous woman are depicted - raising children, housekeeping. These details are from the books of Midrashim, a Jewish commentary on the Torah, which came into the Christian manuscript from Jewish textual and, apparently, illustrated sources. Interestingly, the text is significantly reduced, and the illustrative series becomes much more detailed than it. In the gospel texts, the image plays the role of a commentary on the text - for example, the Last Supper and the multiplication of the loaves and fishes are presented as a traditional Eucharist, next to them are the prophets with scrolls who predicted the event. The miniatures of the purple codices were influenced, in addition to Jewish ones, by Greek sources - for example, in the “portrait” of the evangelist, his “Muse” also appears - the personification of Divine Wisdom, and next to Joseph, going to the brothers - the “genius of the place” - an angel hiding behind a column .

In a Latin manuscript of the 6th-7th centuries. - - miniatures already occupy separate sheets next to the text. They are divided into multi-colored registers, making it easier for the viewer to "read" the scenes. This is one of the most mysterious early Christian manuscripts - its geographical localization ranges from North Africa to Northern Italy - with undoubted Hebrew influences (for example, from such an apocryphal source, the tradition came and established itself in Christian art to depict Adam and Eve, expelled from paradise, sitting in huts, etc.). Its fate is indicative - at the beginning of the 9th century. she ends up in Tours, where she becomes a model for the fresco cycle and miniatures of the so-called. Turkish bibles, 9th c.

Finally, a Syriac manuscript from the late 6th c. - so-called. - in miniatures on separate sheets represents the main scenes of the New Testament - the Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, Pentecost, etc., along with "portrait" miniatures depicting evangelists and church fathers.

So, by the 6th c. there is a final isolation of the illustration from the text - the ancient principle of their merging and interaction gives way to the independent role of the image as a variant of text interpretation and commentary on it.

In contact with

Priest Boris Mikhailov, Rector of the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos in Fili (Moscow), Candidate of Art History.

Christian art has existed for almost two thousand years, and it began to be studied relatively recently - in the middle of the 19th century. We are talking about scientific study: collecting material, its systematization, analytical study of features, generalization and conclusions, on the basis of which the study acquires, as a rule, a more voluminous and methodologically updated character. But first it must be said that the actual scientific study of Christian art was preceded by a significant period of amateur interest in it. It is about collecting and collecting Christian antiquities.

Already in the XI-XII centuries. the first Christian shrines ended up in the pantries of the banking houses of Italy. Crusades in the early 13th century and the export from the Orthodox East of many Christian shrines contributed to this process, although, of course, most of what was brought by the crusaders retained its sacred meaning and did not find secular use.

The pre-Renaissance interest in ancient antiquity that arose in Italy led to the discovery of the catacombs, which became available to the public in the 15th century. In the XVI century. The cemetery of St. Priscilla, after which the study took on a systematic character and led to the creation of a fundamental work on early Christian archeology - the book of Antonio Bosio "Underground Rome" (1634).

In the XVIII century. Giovanni Bottari supplemented this inventory of the catacombs with the book "Sacred Sculpture and Painting, Extracted from Roman Cemeteries", the purpose of which was to make the tombs and prayer rooms an object of attention, to describe and study the meaning of hieroglyphs, to record images, inscriptions, epitaphs and other noteworthy things that could give an idea of ​​the early Christian Church. It can be seen that Christian antiquities are for this author not only a shrine, but also a source of historical knowledge.

Of great importance in the collection and subsequent study of Christian art was the European Reformation of the 16th-17th centuries, which led to the formation of the Protestant world in Central and Northern Europe. It was at this time that Christian shrines: the relics of saints in reliquaries (reliquaries), sacred vessels, revered icons, statues of saints and their vestments, altar crosses and Gospels - were not only desecrated, but also ended up in the collections (later museums) of urban and rural communities, wealthy or noble citizens as monuments of a desacralized culture.

At the end of the XVIII century. the seizure of church shrines occurred in France. As a result of the French Revolution, thousands of cathedrals, monasteries and parish churches were plundered. Hundreds of thousands of church items ended up in museums and formed the main fund for scientific research in the 19th century.

Thus, we can conclude that one of the conditions for the emergence of the science of Christian antiquities was the dechurching of religious consciousness and the formation of a new attitude towards them - no longer as shrines, but as monuments of history and culture.

In Russia, similar processes occur at the end of the 17th - beginning of the 18th centuries. and are associated with the reforms of Peter the Great, as a result of which, already at the end of the 18th century, two parallel existing cultures were formed in Russia: folk, medieval, which, in fact, was formed long ago, but from the time of Peter the Great began to occupy a different, subordinate place in the new cultural space, and the secular, humanistic culture that came to the top and occupied a dominant position.

What is culture and what are its historical types?

Orthodox culturology defines culture as "a system of life values ​​of a person and society, which reveals itself in their creative activity. Culture is what a person and society consider vital and necessary for themselves" (M. Dunaev).

Christ's Sermon on the Mount says: "Lay not up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in and steal" (Matthew 6:19-20). It defines the innermost essence of two understandings of the meaning of human life, as well as two worldviews, two different types of thinking, two types of cultures. Culturologists define them as soteriological (from the Greek "soterio" - salvation) and eudaimonic (from the Greek "eudemonia" - happiness).

The transition from the first to the second in European history was the Renaissance, which revived close attention to earthly treasures and the person for whom they began to come out on top. The ideology of the Renaissance - humanism expresses this process of turning a person into a self-sufficient value, a process when God is, as it were, imperceptibly taken out of the brackets, relegated to the periphery of cultural life.

At the level of everyday consciousness, we usually confuse humanism with humanity, but in essence these are very different things. Humanism is a very rigid ideology of a gradually emerging man-god, the devastating consequences of which both for man and for culture will be felt much later.

In Russia, Orthodox culture was influenced by European humanism as early as the 17th century, but in our country its rebirth dragged on for centuries. Secular in their forms and content, literature and art in Russia as early as the 19th century. continued to retain their religious overtones. Events, characters and aspirations of their heroes were still illuminated by the light of the Gospel.

And yet, at the end of the 18th century, the enlightened part of Russian society had an understanding that the domestic Middle Ages had become a thing of the past, that it could be the subject of not only worship, but also study, as it were from outside. So, in 1809-1810. the government equipped a special historical and archaeological expedition to sketch and describe ancient things in some cities and monasteries of Russia. The initiative belonged to the President of the Academy of Arts and the Director of the Public Library A.N. Olenin, who was interested in the monuments of Russian artistic history. Mosaics of the 11th century were sketched in Kyiv. cathedrals of st. Sophia and the Mikhailovsky Monastery, in Staraya Ladoga - frescoes of the XII century. George Church. Four large albums with drawings, drawings and commentaries were then received by the Public Library and became a rich source for acquaintance with the material and artistic monuments of Ancient Russia.

During the XVIII century. the handwritten book was actively forced out of use by the more convenient printed book. Due to this, by the beginning of the XIX century. several private collections of ancient manuscripts were formed, including liturgical ones, from monastic and church book depositories. It was church books that were usually decorated with miniatures, which, unlike icons, were not covered with drying oil, did not darken and almost did not correspond; their colors were kept as clean and fresh as they were hundreds of years ago. Thus, the facial manuscripts turned out to be an important and reliable source in the study of ancient Russian art.

Interest in the past of our fatherland was significantly spurred by the events of 1812. When the Russian troops in Paris were just preparing to return to their homeland, the first eight volumes of N.M. Karamzin. Three thousand copies were sold in one month. "Everyone," wrote Pushkin, "even secular women, rushed to read the history of their fatherland, hitherto unknown to them." Since then, interest in national history and its monuments has become an integral feature of Russian culture. By the middle of the XIX century. the idea of ​​icons as a national art took shape, which deserves a deep and comprehensive study.

The first attempt to understand the vast material of church art was made in the 1840s. THEM. Snegirev. For him, icons are not only a church shrine, but, above all, works of art that can serve as evidence of the state of art in the Middle Ages. They also have historical significance as material monuments of certain events and archaeological value.

The cultural nature of the collection of icons by F.I. Buslaev notes among the Old Believers: "Reverent before the icon as before a shrine, (they) at the same time are able to explain to themselves its artistic merits, so that their technical and archaeological remarks can provide material for the history of Russian church art."

Fedor Ivanovich Buslaev (1818-1897), professor at Moscow University, created a complete picture of the artistic life of the Russian Middle Ages and laid a solid foundation for the entire modern science about the artistic antiquities of Eastern Europe and Byzantium. An artistically gifted nature, after graduating from the university he was invited as a home teacher to the family of Count S. Stroganov and spent two years with her in Italy. “There is nothing to hide,” he recalled half a century later, “that I loved to visit Roman churches and learned and studied them in more detail than Moscow ones ... out of an insatiable desire to enjoy their artistic decoration, walk around under them high vaults, through their chapels ... admiring the graceful works of painting, mosaics and sculpture surrounding me from all sides. Then the temple turned for me into a museum of artistic rarities, and in the interests of science I enriched my stock of information with new facts on the history of art and antiquities. " His remarks about the peculiarities of Catholic worship are interesting: "I loved to be present at church rites and magnificent ceremonies, and the more I was carried away by their unusual novelty, the more clear became for me the conviction that Catholicism differs from our Orthodoxy not so much in theological dogmas, but in its indulgence of human weaknesses and whims, catching in its nets the superstitious flock with the charms of fine arts in decorating churches and various empty undertakings of clever ceremonies.<...>Artistic, pictorial and musical religion!"

In contrast to the Catholic one, “the main property of Russian icon painting,” F. I. Buslaev believed, “is its religious character.<...>The primitive attitude to the objects of church art as to a shrine passes through all the centuries of our history, dominates as early as the 16th and 17th centuries, equally in all classes, and even in later times constitutes the cherished national identity of the vast majority of the Russian population. "This is true, however, as we will see later that just by the end of the 19th century, a different attitude towards church shrines was being formed in the educated part of Russian society.

From this understanding of the originality of Russian antiquity, the main thesis of F.I. Buslaev as a scientist: the essence and significance of ancient Russian painting is not in artistic performance, but in icon-painting subjects that are bequeathed to it by church Tradition. "Beauty," he wrote, "she replaces with nobility," understanding by "nobility" the expression of spirituality, holiness, and ideal purity of thoughts. "Despite all its shortcomings, in which the ignorance and backwardness of our ancestors of the 16th century was naturally revealed, our ancient icon painting has its undeniable advantages over Western art, if only because fate saved it during this critical period from the artistic revolution known as the Renaissance, and thus contrasted the primitive purity of icon-painting principles with that depravity of morals, that stupid materialism and that senseless idealization that dominated Western art from the middle of the 16th century to the beginning of the current century. An extremely accurate description of the Italian art of the Counter-Reformation era, that religious academic painting that nevertheless overtook our culture since the time of Peter the Great's reforms.

The highest achievement of ancient Russian icon painting by F.I. Buslaev considered not iconography, as such, but the front icon-painting original: “This great monument, this huge work of Russian icon painting is not a separate icon or mosaic, not an exemplary creation of a brilliant master, but a whole icon-painting system as an expression of the activity of masters of many generations, a matter of centuries, a system carefully considered, firm in its principles and consistent in carrying out general principles in individual details, a system in which science and religion, theory and practice, art and craft are combined into one whole.

An icon-painting original is a collection of drawings arranged in the sequence of the church calendar, with a description of the features of the image and color, for many who are accustomed to dealing with the work of art itself, it is a secondary, auxiliary material that has cultural, but not aesthetic value.

If F.I. Buslaev was the founder of the Russian science of art, then his student N.P. Kondakov (1844-1925) became the founder of national Russian archeology. His main merit lies in the study of the Russian artistic heritage against the general background of Eastern Christian and Byzantine antiquity. He turned out to be a pioneer in the study of the artistic heritage of Byzantium. Long scientific trips abroad, work in the storehouses of Greek manuscripts with book miniatures as the most accessible material of ancient culture bore fruit in the form of a gradually created history of Byzantine art and iconography based on miniatures of Greek manuscripts. On the basis of this material in 1898, in his report "On the Scientific Problems of the History of Old Russian Art", he managed to correctly assess Russian art in the first centuries of its development as an "original artistic type", a major historical phenomenon that has developed through the interaction of local, Greek and Eastern elements. He defined ecclesiastical archeology as an auxiliary discipline that provides material for the history of art. Of particular importance in this case is N.P. Kondakov attached to the iconographic method of research, this "alphabet of ecclesiastical art", which, in his opinion, no researcher of medieval painting can escape. However, the content of an ancient work, regardless of its artistic form, falls into the field of view of the iconographer, and therefore the iconographic method turned out to be an insufficiently effective tool for studying church art. Hence the serious shortcomings of science of that time as a whole: almost all scientists of the 19th century. it was believed that the Russian icon began to develop from the 14th-15th centuries, and its real flowering came in the 16th and 17th centuries, although in fact it was a time of exhaustion of the liturgical art of the Church, which entered the phase of an overripe variety of forms and decline.

And gradually, at a time when the Russian science of art was taking its first steps, an icon began to fall into the field of view of the educated part of society, valued for completely different properties. In a sense, this process was initiated by the Russian pavilion at the World Industrial Exhibition in Paris in 1867, the art-historical section of which was filled with the best ancient monuments. True, Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow spoke out about the inappropriateness of sending Orthodox shrines from monastery and church sacristies to a commercial exhibition, but only pictorial copies of frescoes and icons, as well as icons from private collections, made a sensation in Paris.

Exhibitions were organized differently in Russia, where icons were exhibited not as exotic, but as art in the true sense of the word. Such was the exhibition dedicated to the VIII All-Russian Archaeological Congress in 1890. In the Historical Museum, in eleven spacious halls, icons, sewing, manuscripts and church items from official and church-archaeological museums, private collections and individual Moscow and provincial sacristies were presented. Everyone who cherished the Russian icon rushed here. Common people, people from the street, merchants, Old Believers, icon painters and clergy mixed into one crowd with aristocrats and scientists. Collectors tried not to lose sight of the best specimens, collectors-traders were looking for buyers - everything here corresponded to the unrestrained pace and scope with which the sale and purchase of church items was carried out back in the 70s and 80s. Society of Art Lovers in 1896 and 1897. arranged two exhibitions of images of Christ and the Mother of God, which, as a matter of course, presented originals and copies of a number of leading museums and private collections. Student N.P. Kondakova Professor of Kazan University D.V. Ainalov gave special lectures at the 1896 exhibition, the interest in which was so great that the Society's hall could not accommodate everyone.

At the beginning of the XX century. they began to make the first clearing of old boards and compile the first collections, already focused on the purely artistic merits of icon-paintings. Such, for example, is the famous collection of I.S. Ostroukhov, which contained real masterpieces of cleared icons of the 15th century, which then entered the Tretyakov Gallery (for example, the famous "Descent from the Cross"). On his own initiative in 1904-1905. Rublev's "Trinity" was partly revealed in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, and in 1913 the first exhibition of ancient Russian art was held, organized on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.

Since that time in Russia, the understanding of the icon as a work of art has become predominant among art historians. With this approach, in 1914, in the journal Sofia and the collections Russian Icon, one of the representatives of the new generation of art historians first expressed the following point of view: "The main trend of artistic life is found not so much in the iconographic as in the stylistic side of art."

Style, art form, art as such, which found themselves at the center of the interests of society and science at the beginning of the 20th century, are associated with the predominance of those cultural values ​​that have already been mentioned: it is not the cause of our salvation that becomes more expensive, but the enjoyment of life. The icon turns from an object of worship into an object of aesthetic experience. The historian D.P. Konchalovsky in his book "From Humanism to Christ", written in exile in 1971. all of them, from the highest spiritual to the rather base material, which, however, were skillfully ennobled by the general culture.In essence, the whole process was felt as a source of pleasure and joy; these pleasures were very diverse: scientific and artistic creativity for the elite, and for cultural and educated masses - enjoying their fruits in popularization, theater, art exhibitions, art publications and reproductions, tourism, sports, local history, up to such sensual pleasures as restaurants, cafes, bars with their sophisticated cuisine, comfort, elegant women and music Life was pleasant and easy, and it was especially pleasant to realize that with every des over a year and even a year, this pleasantness and ease increase in degree and expand to an ever larger circle of people, until - as it was dreamed of - they become the property of all.

Here is the eudaimonic mood of the era of the first decades of the 20th century. expressed, among other things, in a new attitude to art. In the field of art history that interests us, it was formulated by the patron and aesthetician K. Fiedler (1841-1895) in his program work "The Newest Naturalism and Artistic Truth": "If from ancient times they argue among themselves for the right to express the essence of artistic activity, two great principles: imitation and transformation reality, then, it seems, the resolution of this dispute is possible only by putting forward in place of both of these principles a third one - the principle of the production of reality.<...>Artistic activity understood in this way alone is free.<...>Only in this way does art follow no other laws than the laws of its own inner nature.

The understanding of art as the highest value of being is called aestheticism and is the development of the fundamental setting of eudaimonic culture, focused on human happiness as the main life value.

From the understanding of the sovereignty of art comes the main thesis of formal art history, which was made by a follower of Fiedler G. Wölfflin (1864-1945). He considered it his main task to develop a strictly scientific methodology for the study of art and developed a consistent system of approach to the study of a work of art as an "objective fact", which should be understood primarily from itself, from the plastic form, focusing on the formal structure of the work. It is no coincidence that the material of Wölfflin's first book, Renaissance and Baroque (1889), turned out to be architecture, the elements of which - composition, rhythm, spatial solutions - were amenable to precise fixation and definition. Wölfflin introduced his famous five pairs of contrasting concepts: linear and pictorial, planar and deep, closed and open form, plurality and unity, absolute and relative clarity, with which, I hope, we will also have to deal with when we move on to art-historical material. .

In Russia, the achievements of German art history were first presented before the First World War by N.I. Romanov: “I would like to show by my course,” the Russian scientist said to the university audience, “that only by trying to penetrate into the essence of the general laws of art, we can feel the mysterious charm of art as a self-sufficient beautiful phenomenon, the roots of which go back to historical soil, but the flower rises above historical facets into the realm of the universal.<...>It is necessary to study not only the history of artists (Kunstlergeschichte), but also the history of art (Kunstgeschichte), the change of artistic styles and its causes.

The formation of a new stage in the domestic science of art came at a very unsuitable time for free academic studies. Initiative groups of the early 1920s, such as the seminar on the theory and history of art at the Rumyantsev Museum, did not last long, and state institutions, like the State Academy of Artistic Sciences, in the early 30s. turned into ideological institutions. And yet, something has been done.

So, in 1921, one of the most talented scientists P.P. Muratov (1881-1950) proposed to distinguish three points in a work of art: theme, concept and composition. The theme does not yet make the artist, the composition is already art. The concept, the initial moment of creativity, which is an element of the picture, is the moment of origin of the art form, the dynamic aspect of its internal formation. From this thesis follows, firstly, the understanding of the artistic form as a process that reveals its unity with the culture that gave rise to it and thereby overcomes the limitations of the formal method of research. And secondly, the understanding of the artistic form as the dynamic development of its irrational core reveals the secret of connoisseurship, which at that time received recognition, distribution and became an effective tool for scientists in dating and attributing a work of art.

Art history is called art science, and its artistry really lies in the fact that an art historian must possess certain qualities of an artist, a connoisseur culture, an attunement to the “internal ringing” of an artistic subject, to that invisible rhythmic flow that forms a form and is characteristic of a particular artist, for example only for Rembrandt, but not for any of his students.

With this approach, young scientists began to study ancient Russian art. During the Soviet period, the most active phase of the study of ancient Russian painting falls, especially in the field of practical work, which, however, is not without serious contradictions. During the summer, autumn and winter of 1918-1919. The Commission for the Preservation and Disclosure of Ancient Painting cleared the previously inaccessible iconostases of the Annunciation Cathedral in the Kremlin and the Trinity Cathedral in the Trinity-Sergius Lavra, the Vladimir Icon of the Mother of God from the Assumption Cathedral in the Kremlin, the frescoes of the Assumption Cathedral in Zvenigorod, the frescoes of the Dmitrovsky and Assumption Cathedrals in Vladimir, ibid. icons of the Bogolyubskaya (XII century), Maksimovskaya (XIV century), Vladimir (XV century) Mother of God, the Assumption of the Mother of God and St. Kirill Belozersky from the iconostasis of the Cathedral of the Kirillo-Belozersky Monastery. In 1919, an expedition took place to Yaroslavl, Kostroma, Tolga, Novgorod, in 1920 - to the Northern Dvina and the White Sea, in 1921 - to the Vologda Territory. And everywhere exciting discoveries and finds. The commission for the acceptance of church property under the Narkompros for the period from 1918 to 1922 registered 15 thousand objects of art in the Kremlin churches alone, and in total, not counting Moscow, about 30 thousand. However, along with this, as a result of the confiscation of the property of the Church, thousands of thousands of icons were stolen, destroyed, sold abroad, many temples destroyed, devastated, left without supervision. It is not known what blocked: the discovery of ancient Russian art or its destruction. And if in the 20s. scientific work was still glimmering, then in the 30s many "Old Russians" found themselves behind bars or out of work, state institutions were closed, and scientific work curtailed.

The situation changed after the war: the State Institute of Art Studies was opened, classes at Moscow State University were resumed, the largest museums returned from evacuation. However, there was nothing to think about a full-fledged study of religious art. The traditional interpretation of the icon as a work of ancient Russian painting was allowed. Academic and university science has regained its ranks. The issues of collecting, restoring and storing monuments, their dating and attribution, the involvement of archival material and the achievements of foreign art history, new hypotheses and the creative overcoming of established ideas - all this became the work of the young generation of scientists, who came to science mainly in the 60s and significantly enriched it. achievements in the 70s and 80s.

Deep immersion in the material, understanding of the fundamental significance of its religious specificity caused a breakthrough in the 90s. It became obvious to specialists that practically all Orthodox art is connected with worship to varying degrees. Interest in this topic increased from year to year and formed into one of the main trends in the science of medieval art. Thus, the secular science of the liturgical art of the Church, which consciously evaded the content side of its subject at the beginning of the 20th century, at the end of the century recognized its scientific significance.

But, of course, an adequate comprehension of Christian art is possible only in the bowels of the Church. After the dogmatic Definitions of the Seventh Ecumenical Council of 787 on the nature of Christian art and icon veneration, the Church had no need to return to this issue. It arose in response to a tangible crisis in church art in the 19th century. and in the face of aggressive pseudo-religious and non-aesthetic practices of the 20th century. Just as in the ancient Church, when heretical storms threatened to sink the ship of the Church, Ecumenical Councils were convened to raise the sails of an undamaged dogma, so in the 20th century it became necessary to testify to the world about the heavenly nature of the art of the Church that was turned down.

This task was brilliantly performed by our compatriots: N.A. Berdyaev (1874-1948), prot. S. Bulgakov (1871-1944), priest P. Florensky (1882-1937), prot. G. Florovsky (1893-1979), prot. V. Zenkovsky (1881-1962), prot. A. Schmemann (1921-1983), G.P. Fedotov (1886-1951), N.A. Struve and a number of other scientists who found themselves in exile and defeated a formidable enemy with a small army.

A special place among them is occupied by Leonid Aleksandrovich Uspensky (1902-1987), a nobleman who was mobilized into the Red Army in 1918, he then followed the path typical of forced emigrants: going over to the side of the Whites, serving in the Kornilov artillery, leaving the Crimea, the Gallipoli camp , work in Bulgaria, France, salt factory, road construction, coal mine, vineyards. Since 1929, he began to study painting at the Russian Academy of Arts in Paris, became close to members of the stavropegic brotherhood in honor of St. Photius, who remained faithful to the Moscow Patriarchate, the theologian V.N. Lossky and artist G.I. Circle, together with which in the late 30s. left painting for the sake of icon painting. Since 1944 he became a teacher of icon painting at the Theological Institute. As a result, his fundamental work “The Theology of the Icon of the Orthodox Church” appeared, the value of which is so great that if a person were to find himself with this book on a desert island, then all the most important things about Orthodox art could be learned from it. This is the only work that should be recommended as a reference book for a serious acquaintance with the liturgical art of the Church.

Magazine "Prihod" №№ 5,6 2004

In the 1st century A.D. e. With the spread of Christianity, a seed fell on the soil of ancient culture, which gave rise to a new art, special in its nature and external form. In Christianity, as you know, images appeared very early, with the aim of symbolically expressing the love of Christ (images of the good shepherd), Reproduction of the Cross as a symbolic sign or later - as an image of the Savior suffering on the cross, and then pictures of biblical events helped the Christian to imagine Christ, Calvary Events. Since then, for twenty centuries, the Christian religion and art have been side by side.

According to the self-consciousness of Christians, the nature of the Church is different from that of the earthly world. Its essence is spiritual, sublime, and its mission on earth is the salvation of the world and its reorganization for the coming Kingdom of God. This transcendent nature of the essence and purpose of the Church imparts special forms to all external manifestations of her life, not at all similar to “worldly” images. Starting with the appearance of the temple and ending with the smallest items of church use. Therefore, special, symbolic forms are used in church art. The singularity of forms seems to remind a person that there is another world with its own special laws, and our earthly life is only a prelude to eternal life.

With the adoption of Christianity in Russia, stone monumental architecture began to develop. The main type of the temple was the cross-domed, which arose as early as the 6th century. in Byzantium. In plan, this temple forms a square, which is divided inside by four pillars into naves (spaces between rows from east to west), forming a cross in plan. On these pillars, connected in pairs by arches, a “drum” (cylinder) was erected, ending in a hemispherical dome. The ends of the spatial cross were covered with vaults. The upper part of the wall in the form of a semi-cylindrical vault was called zakomara. Inside and outside the temple had a cross-domed composition. In the west was the main entrance to the temple, in the east in a semicircular ledge (apse) was the altar. In the western part there were choirs - a balcony for the prince and his family during worship.

The temple is a symbol of the earthly sky, an ark (ship) of salvation for believers amid the storms of the sea of ​​life. The cross in plan is a symbol of Christianity.

The dome of the temple, the head is held by Christ the Pantocrator (Almighty). The neck of the temple (light or deaf drum) is held by the apostles, disciples of Christ. The four pillars symbolize the four gospels. The temple is strictly oriented from west to east. The main sanctuary is turned to the east - the altar in the apse - a symbol of the cave where Christ was born, Golgotha, where he was crucified, the heavenly throne - paradise, where he was resurrected. The altar is separated from the worshipers by an ambo - an elevation, and from the 14th century. solid partition of the iconostasis.

With the adoption of Christianity from Byzantium, new types of monumental painting came to Russia - mosaics and frescoes, as well as easel painting (icon painting).

A mosaic is an image or pattern made from pieces of colored smalt (colored opaque glass), stone, marble, mounted on a layer of cement or mastic. Of the mosaic works, the images of the Mother of God Oranta in the altar apse and the chest image of Christ the Almighty in the central Cathedral of St. Sophia of Kyiv are especially significant. The Mother of God Oranta is one of the iconographic types of the Mother of God in a prayer pose, with her hands raised up. The people of Kiev called this image the “Indestructible Wall” and considered it the protector of the city from enemies.

The walls of the temple were decorated with frescoes. A fresco is a painting with water-based paints on freshly applied, damp plaster. Plots of fresco painting - scenes from the life of Christ, the Mother of God, images of holy preachers, martyrs.

The murals of the temple were supposed to convey the main provisions of the Christian doctrine, to serve as a kind of "gospel for the illiterate." Mosaics and frescoes of St. Sophia of Kyiv allow us to imagine the system of painting of a medieval temple. The mosaics covered the most important in a symbolic sense and the most illuminated part of the temple - the central dome, the space under the dome, the altar (Christ the Pantocrator in the central dome and Our Lady Oranta in the altar apse). The rest of the temple is decorated with frescoes (scenes from the life of Christ, the Mother of God, images of preachers, martyrs, etc.).

In addition to mosaics and frescoes, many icons hung on the walls of temples. The remarkable Russian philosopher E.N. Trubetskoy (1863-1920) is the work “Speculation in Colors”, which gives a holistic historical, theological and at the same time artistic interpretation of the ancient Russian icon. Trubetskoy writes: “Icon painting expresses the deepest that is in ancient Russian culture; moreover, we have in it one of the world's greatest treasures of religious art."

An icon (from Gr. eikon - image, appearance, image, portrait) in Orthodoxy means a picturesque image of Christ the Savior, the Virgin, angels, saints, as well as plots of sacred history.

An ancient icon is an integral part of Christian church life. The icon was considered as a visible symbol of the invisible world, it was called "speculation in colors." A strict system for writing icons (iconographic canon) was developed. According to legend, the oldest Christian icons appeared either miraculously (“The Savior Not Made by Hands”), or were painted from life (the image of the Mother of God by the Evangelist Luke, the image of the first Christian saints by artists who personally knew and remembered their appearance). Therefore, the Orthodox Church never allowed icons to be painted from living people or according to the imagination of the artist and demanded strict adherence to the icon-painting canon, which fixed those features of icon-painting images that separated the “higher” (divine) world from the “lower” (earthly) world. The convention of the letter was to emphasize in the appearance of the faces depicted on the icon their unearthly essence, spirituality. For this, the figures were painted flat and motionless, a special system of depicting space (reverse perspective) and temporal relations (timeless image) was used. The conditional golden background of the icon symbolized the divine light. The entire image on the icon is permeated with this light, and the figures cast no shadows, for there are no shadows in the Kingdom of God.

The heyday of ancient Russian art is associated with the name of the greatest artist - Andrei Rublev, who was a monk of the Trinity-Sergius and Spaso-Andronikov monasteries. He participated in the painting of the Annunciation Cathedral of the Moscow Kremlin, created the most beautiful manuscript with miniatures - the Gospel of Khitrovo, painted the Assumption Cathedral in Vladimir (the Last Judgment fresco), painted the iconostasis of the Trinity Cathedral of the Trinity-Sergius Monastery. But even one - the only unique icon of the "Trinity" would be enough for the immortality of the name of Andrei Rublev.

The content of Andrei Rublev's "Life-Giving Trinity" is the divine life in endless mutual sacrificial love. The subject of the silent conversation of the three angels is God's eternal advice about the salvation of the world and man. The colors and lines of Rublev's brush sound like the strings or the voice of a singer. The strength of his work is not only in the extraordinary talent of the artist and craftsman, but also in his inherent special gift of visual disclosure of the content of Orthodox dogmas, the ability to capture the eternal beauty of Divine Truth in unforgettable images.

So, church art is subordinated to the highest goal - to sing the Christian God, the exploits of the apostles, saints, church leaders. If in pagan art the “flesh” triumphed over the “spirit” and affirmed everything earthly, personifying nature, then church art sang the victory of the “spirit” over the flesh, affirmed the lofty feats of the human soul for the sake of the moral principles of Christianity.

Religious fine arts, including Christian painting, of course, were not limited to icon painting (although for quite a long time these concepts almost coincided). For many centuries, the Bible served as a source of plots for all genres of fine arts (painting, sculpture, arts and crafts, etc.). The great European masters often turned to the Gospel and found in it themes and plots that have an enduring universal meaning.

The image of Christ, his earthly path, full of trials and suffering, his sermons and, finally, death on the cross for the salvation of mankind, the images of the Mother of God, Christian martyrs received timeless philosophical depth in works of art. In addition, using the images of biblical heroes, the artists spoke with their contemporaries about the most important problems of their time.

So, for example, many Renaissance artists were attracted by biblical stories and Christian motifs. So, for example, Micheangelo Buonarotti owns the painting of the vault of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican and the statue "Moses", depicting the biblical Old Testament prophet who gave people the ten commandments. The Last Judgment fresco on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel is one of the greatest works of world art. Michelangelo also oversaw the construction of St. Peter - the main Catholic church in Rome.

At the same time, the Italian painter, sculptor, architect, scientist, engineer Leonardo da Vinci worked with Michelangelo. "The Last Supper" - a fresco in the refectory of the monastery of Santa Maria delle Grazie in Milan is one of the most famous works of the great painter. The whole work is built on the finest calculation: the figure of Christ - the logical center of the narrative - occupies the main place in the composition. The master placed Christ against the background of the window, thus separating him from the apostles. The apostles are depicted at the moment when Christ pronounces the words: "One of you will betray me." Leonardo for the first time interpreted the well-known religious theme as universal, relevant at all times - the exposure of betrayal.

The words of Christ, spoken in silence, cause a storm of emotions in the disciples. Young Philip (to the left of Christ) reacts especially impulsively to words, turning to the Teacher with a bewildered question. Jacob Sr. spread out his hands in indignation and leaned back a little. Foma raised his hand up, as if trying to realize what was happening. Another group (to the right of Christ) is imbued with a different spirit. She is characterized by restraint of gestures. Judas in a sharp turn convulsively squeezes a purse with pieces of silver and looks at Christ with fear.

Another Italian painter and architect of this time, Rafael Santi, became famous for his images of the mother of Christ - the Virgin Mary, who in Catholicism is called the Madonna. One of the best works artist - "Sistine Madonna", which was intended for the monastery of St. Sixtus. Before us, as if suddenly arose in the sky because of the canopy pulled back by someone, a wonderful vision. Surrounded by a golden radiance, solemn and majestic, Mary walks through the clouds, holding the Christ child in front of her. Left and right kneeling St. Sixtus and St. Barbara. In the image of the Madonna, touching purity and innocence are combined with determination and heroic readiness for sacrifice.

Let us turn to the domestic art of the 19th century, the “golden age” of Russian culture, and consider the interpretation of the plot of The Last Supper by Nikolai Ge. The painting was painted by the artist in 1863. It depicts a simply furnished room. Here Christ and his disciples gathered for the last meal. In the twilight of the room, Christ himself, John, Peter, Judas are clearly visible. Judas is opposed to all. The black deed of treason is embodied by his dark figure, illuminated from the back. Light unites a group of like-minded people. With this interpretation of the biblical story, Judas turns out to be not only the personification of evil, but also the antipode of light, goodness, and fidelity. United by light, they resist the idea of ​​evil, betrayal, darkness.

The most important image of religious art is the image of Christ. It should be noted that in the Russian art of the New Age there were two trends, each of which had its own specifics. The first direction is religious painting for the church interior. The second is secular painting on gospel subjects. In Russian secular painting of the XIX century. the image of Christ was the embodiment of the highest morality, moral stamina, infinite love for people. His self-sacrifice, fidelity, devotion to the idea especially attracted artists. Christ was the personification of the moral problems that faced the Russian intelligentsia. As an example, one can name the paintings “The Appearance of Christ to the People” by A.A. Ivanova, "Christ in the Desert" by I.N. Kramskoy, "What is Truth", "Golgotha" and other paintings by N.N. Ge.

The appeal of artists to eternal themes, plots and images, perhaps, is a kind of search for a foothold in the modern world. Of course, this search is by no means necessarily carried out only in religious ideas, plots and forms. But this search, diverse in terms of style and figurative solution, is creatively fertilized by a religious beginning. Sacred and secular are combined in it and constitute a significant layer of modern artistic culture.

MHK lesson in 10th grade

Topic : The Artistic Culture of the European Middle Ages: Mastering Christian Imagery.

The purpose of the lesson: To expand students' knowledge of the culture of the Middle Ages.

Lesson objectives:

to acquaint students with the origins and nature of the culture of the Middle Ages;

develop cognitive activity;

to cultivate a moral and aesthetic perception of the world of art, an interest in art and its history.

Equipment:

presentation

Textbook, ed. Rapatskoy L.A. MHC. 10 cells - M., VLADOS, 2014. - 375 pages.

Lesson type : lesson learning new material

The date:

During the classes.

Lesson stages

Teacher activity

Student activities

1. Organizational stage

Greeting students.

Guys, today at the lesson we will get acquainted with the artistic culture of the Middle Ages.

Teacher greeting.

Checking readiness for the lesson:

T- notebook;

R- a pen;

At- textbook;

D- a diary.

2. Motivation

Conversation

slide 1

Teacher:

In each era, one or another type of art dominates.

What do you think medieval art is associated with?

Yes, indeed, but it is associated primarily with architecture. Define the term architecture.

Name the types of architectural buildings of the Middle Ages

Sample student responses:

Inquisition, enlightenment, crusades, etc.

Sample student responses:

Architecture - art and science, and (including them ), as well as the very set of buildings and structures that create a spatial environment for human life and activity

Sample student responses:

A house is a human dwelling, a feudal castle, a city fortification, a temple.

3. Study of new material.

slide 2

Teacher's story

slide 3

Anchoring

2. Byzantine art

Teacher's story

slide 4

slide 5

slide 6

Slide 7

Slide 8

Slide 9

slide 10.

Anchoring

3.Romanesque art

Teacher's story

slide 11

Anchoring

4. Gothic art

slide 12

Slide 13,14,15, 16

Slide 17

Slide 14.15.

Fixing:

Lesson plan:

1. General characteristics of the Middle Ages

2. Byzantine art

3. Romanesque art

4. Gothic art

Teacher's story

The Middle Ages are rightfully called the "youth of European culture". Tribes of barbarians, Gauls and Germans, invaded Europe and under their onslaught inAncient Rome fell in 476.

Young nations began to build their lives anew, abandoning ancient pagan beliefs and adopting Christianity.

On the lands of the Eastern Christian world, which went down in history asByzantium from the 5th c. the foundations of a new artistic style began to form, in which the traditions of Hellenism played the main role.

We have already said that in the territory of the Roman Empire in1 in. n. e. Christianity was born - it is a religion of consolation . The name comes from the name of Jesus Christ, who is perceived in different ways: as God, as a God-man, as the Son of God.

Over centuriesOrthodoxy as one of the directions of Christianity was the state religion of Byzantium. The presence of a strong imperial power led to the fact that the church was perceived as an integral part of the state structure. The interaction of church and state is enshrined in the laws of Justinian 1 in the 6th century. and was called a symphony - the union of two equal forces.

Culturologists call the Middle Ages a long period in the history of Western Europe between Antiquity and New Time. This period covers more than a millennium from the 5th to the 15th centuries.

Within the millennial period of the Middle Ages, it is customary to distinguish at least three periods.

It:

R the early Middle Ages, from the beginning of the era to 900 or 1000 years (up to the 10th - 11th centuries);

-- High (Classical) Middle Ages. From the X-XI centuries to about the XIV century;

- Late Middle Ages, XIV and XV centuries.

The teacher asks the students (optional) to read the notes in the notebook

Let us turn to the medieval artistic culture, born in line with the Orthodox religious traditions of Byzantium.

“The great empire that ruled the world, the twelve-century nation, decrepit, exhausted, is falling; half the world falls with it, the whole ancient world with a semi-pagan way of thinking, tasteless writers, gladiators, statues, the burden of luxury ... " - this is how N.V. presented the era of the collapse of Ancient Rome. Gogol.

However, not all traditions disappeared with the collapse of Rome. The Roman legacy fueled the vanity of the Byzantine kings for a long time to come. The splendor of the palaces and temples of Constantinople is a direct proof of this.

Byzantine art VI centuries can be considered the first identity of Christian spirituality. The rise of culture in this era is associated with the period of the forty-year reign of the famous emperor Justinian. Coming from simple peasants, he was elevated to the throne by the will of his uncle.In the reign of Justinian, Byzantium became a powerful empire, the size of which was not inferior to that of the Ancient Romans.

30 churches were erected in Constantinople, including St. Sophia (532-537).

APPENDIX №1

Unique mosaics have also been preserved from Justinian times. This unique art has been known since antiquity.

From the middle IX century and until 1204, the artistic culture of Byzantium is experiencing a "second golden age" , in which it is customary to single outtwo periods: Macedonian ( IX - first half XI century) and Komninsky (end XI – XII centuries), named after the reigning dynasties. At this time, Orthodoxy finds responses from other peoples. Enlighteners Cyril and Methodius made a huge contribution to the spread of Christian doctrine.

The cross-domed temple acquired a classically perfect form.

APPENDIX №2

Question to students:

1. What can you say about the art of Byzantium?

2. What is an icon and how was it created?

APPENDIX №3

Question to students:

What is the Romanesque style in art? When did it arise?

Gothic art is entirely associated with the city. Urban life gives rise to new types of civil buildings, such as the exchange, customs, court, hospitals, warehouses, markets, town hall.

Architecture plays a leading role in the synthesis of the arts.

The basis of the Gothic temple is a cross rib vault. The design of the Gothic temple acquired a skeletal, frame character.
Characteristic decorative elements also appear: a perspective portal,creeping flowers or crabs (leaf ornament on the edges of Gothic architectural details),vimperg (decorative pediment above a portal or window), capitals of columns with leafy ornaments, a rose (the central stained-glass window of the facade), a number of chapels framing the apse.

When decorating the temple, frescoes are less often used, the leading role goes to stained-glass windows.

13th century - century of stained glass in France .

During the Gothic period, there is a flourishing of monumental sculpture and high relief (high relief). A canon of sculptural compositions is developed (their location in a certain part of the building).

National art schools at this time have their own characteristics .

gothic in france is divided into periods: early - the end of the XII-XIII centuries; mature or “radiant” - second half of the 13th century; late or “flaming” - XIV-XV centuries.German gothic architecture developed later than the French. The High Gothic period here falls on the end of the 13th - beginning of the 14th centuries, late - the end of the 15th - beginning of the 16th centuries.

In northern Germany, the main building material is brick. Brick Gothic is generally characteristic of Northern Europe.

Cologne Cathedral - a vivid example of flaming Gothic .

Gothic in England appeared early - in the XII century. and continued until the end of the 16th century. But the construction of cathedrals in England is connected not with the city, but with the monasteries. There is a flattening of the main facade in width.

Question to the class - tell us about the Gothic style in art

Write the lesson plan in a notebook

Listen to the teacher's story

Write the date in a notebook

Making notes in a notebook

Making notes in a notebook

Making notes in a notebook

Making notes in a notebook

Making notes in a notebook

Sound recordings made during the teacher's story

Quote Analysis

Making notes in a notebook

Making notes in a notebook

Making notes in a notebook

Answer the teacher's questions

In the course of the story, they make notes in a notebook.

Answer the teacher's questions

Students take notes

Answer the teacher's question

4.Final consolidation

About the relationship, what types of art can be said about the Romanesque and Gothic styles?

Right.

Painting and sculpture are subordinated to architecture.

Table execution

APPENDIX №4

- (architecture, painting, sculpture).

Architecture

Execute the table:

5. Reflection

Incomplete sentence method:

"Today in class I... "

Conducting reflection, grading

Conduct reflection

6. Homework

Today at the lesson we continued our acquaintance with the artistic culture of the Middle Ages and, on the basis of a comparative analysis of the architecture of that time, we got an idea of ​​​​the styles of the Middle Ages.

write down homework

Textbook, ed. Rapatskoy L.A. MHK, 2014

Orally answer the questions pp. 161-162.

Write down homework

APPENDIX №1

Treasures of Byzantium. Hagia Sophia

Hagia Sophia was conceived by Justinian as a symbol of the absolute triumph of Christianity and a symbol of the absolute power of the Byzantine Empire. And for a long time - not even years, but centuries - this outstanding example of human genius remained unsurpassed by anyone. The task solved during the construction of the cathedral was too far ahead of its time - no one else at the beginning of the 6th century encroached on such complex engineering projects.

Of particular difficulty was the huge dome conceived by the emperor - they had not yet been built, but he wanted just such! As if hovering over the vast expanse of the central hall, it was supposed to symbolize the vault of heaven.

The huge inner space of the cathedral is now immersed in twilight and for the most part partially covered with forests. Sophia needs care, and special care, very thorough care. She is a very important person... In addition, archaeological research is constantly being carried out in the cathedral - Hagia Sophia has not yet revealed all its secrets, but more on that later.

Pay attention to the columns themselves - more precisely, to the way they are installed. The columns were fixed to the marble bases with metal connecting structures, simply inserted into them - this provided a flexible connection and prevented the columns from breaking in the event of an earthquake.

The builders of the cathedral generally had to improve the project on the go, constantly making some adjustments to the construction process - because the building was spreading before our eyes, and the reason for this was the colossal size and weight of the dome.

During the existence of the cathedral, it was repeatedly restored, and first of all, the restoration was aimed at preserving the building itself - because the walls were moving apart, huge cracks formed in them.

Sofia has always been decorated with magnificent mosaics. Mosaic art reached its peak in Byzantium, and, of course, its best examples were created in the capital city of Constantinople. Once upon a time, the cathedral greeted its visitors with the dazzling radiance of its golden mosaics - all those huge expanses of walls and domes that today we see painted over with yellow paint.patterns painted on it, were once completely covered with golden mosaics.

The mosaics suffered from natural disasters - earthquakes and leaks, and many of them fell victim to the barbaric sacking of the cathedral in 1204 by the Crusaders.

But back to the mosaics - today, thanks to him, archaeologists have an invaluable source of information in their hands. But even what has survived to this day is quite enough to understand that the interior mosaic decoration of the cathedral was not just beautiful, it was dazzling. In the absolute truest sense of the word, golden mosaics completely covered the domes and vaults of the galleries. Moreover, over the long centuries of the existence of the cathedral, the iconographic program has repeatedly changed - and today, even on the remnants of former luxury, we can see with our own eyes how the art of Byzantium changed and developed.Initially, under Justinian, the mosaic decoration was as simple as possible - black crosses on a gold background. Ornamental and figurative images began to appear later - under Justin II, at the end of the 6th century. And this is very clearly seen in the decoration of the side galleries of the cathedral - the images seem to be layered on top of each other. Early Byzantine art was mostly symbolic - images of people were not used, that is, it already initially carried an iconoclastic program. By the way, many of the mosaics with images of people that appeared later suffered during the iconoclasm in the 8th-9th centuries, so they have not survived to this day.

The most valuable mosaics are preserved in the apse and the upper galleries of the cathedral - you can climb there by stairs located at the northern end of the narthex.

In the middle of the southern gallery, a carved marble fence will block your path - this is the imperial gate. Only the emperor, his entourage and members of the retinue could enter inside - therefore it would be quite logical to assume that we will find the best mosaics here. And the very first mosaic that we will meet on the way - Deesis - definitely belongs to the category of masterpieces.

The mosaic suffered greatly from those who like to steal stones as a souvenir - half of the image thus left in an unknown direction, only the upper parts of the figures were preserved. But just look what a mosaic it is!!!

3

APPENDIX №2

CROSS-DOME CHURCH

The most complete expression of the idea of ​​the proportional relationship of the various parts of the temple found in the Byzantine cross-domed churches of the 9th and subsequent centuries.

In plan, the cross-domed temple forms either an equal-ended cross, or a cross, in which the lower end, corresponding to the western wing of the temple, is longer than the other three ends. The upper end of the cross, corresponding to the eastern wing, ends, like that of the basilica, with a semicircular or rectangular altar apse in plan. In those places where the longitudinal central nave intersects with the transverse nave, four support pillars are installed on which the dome rests.

The plan of the cross-domed church symbolizes not only the cross, but also a man with outstretched arms in the form of a cross (that is, a man in a prayer pose, traditional for Christian antiquity). The ratio between the western part of the central nave and its eastern part in many cases corresponds to the ratio between the lower part of the human body (to the chest) and the upper part (from the chest to the top of the head). The wings of the transept are equal in length, which corresponds to the equality of the length of both human arms. The ratio of the transept wing to the western wing of the central nave corresponded to the ratio of the outstretched arm to the lower part of the body (from the chest to the feet).

The shape of the cross was used in temple architecture as early as the 5th century.

In the second half of the 9th century, the cross-domed church became the predominant form of temple architecture in Byzantium. The wide spread of this type of temple was facilitated by its great technological simplicity in comparison with the grandiose domed basilicas.

Often the plan of a cross-domed church is a square divided into nine spatial cells (compartments) by four pillars of the dome: the four ends of the cross are inscribed in the square.

After the fall of the Byzantine Empire, the traditions of Byzantine church architecture were preserved to some extent in the Ottoman Empire. Turkish Muslim architecture has experienced a powerful influence of Byzantine architecture (to be convinced of this, it is enough to compare the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul and the Blue Mosque located next to it). The construction of Christian churches in the post-Byzantine period continued in the territories occupied by the Turks, but the cross-domed architecture ceased to be predominant in this period. In the XVIII-XIX centuries, buildings of the basilica type with three naves, topped with a low dome, became widespread.

The revival of interest in the cross-domed architecture of the Byzantine model is observed throughout the 20th century. The largest Greek architect G. Nomikos built more than 200 churches in the neo-Byzantine style, including many cross-domed churches and domed basilicas. One of the most famous works of the architect is the Cathedral of St. Nektarios of Aegina on about. Aegina (1973-1994), conceived as a smaller copy of Sophia of Constantinople.

APPENDIX №3

ROMAN ART

The term "Romanesque art" appeared at the beginningXIXcenturies. This is what European art was calledX- XIIcenturies. Scientists believed that the architecture of that period was strongly influenced by the so-called "Romanesque" architecture (fromlat. romanus- Roman). Later, the views of researchers on medieval art changed, but the name "Romanesque art" was preserved.

The formation of Romanesque art in various countries and regions of Europe was uneven. If in the north-east of France the period of the Romanesque ended at the endXIIcentury, then in Germany and Italy the characteristic features of this style were observed even inXIII century.

Work in a notebook .

The term "Romanesque" originated inXIXcentury, so designate the style of European artX- XII centuries.

In a harsh, disturbing, but creative eraXI- XIIcenturies, the first pan-European style, Romanesque, is established, which is inherent primarily in the leading art of this era - architecture. The architecture of the Romanesque style was distinguished by a defensive, fortified character - it had massive walls, narrow windows, and high towers. This feature was caused by frequent wars, harsh living conditions and a desire to isolate themselves from the outside world. The buildings of this period were characterized by severe simplicity, clarity of volumes, impressiveness, heaviness, solidity, isolation, and lack of decorations. Created primarily for the rural landscape, they are in perfect harmony with the natural environment.

The main and most significant structures of the Romanesque style were the monastery-fortress, the temple-fortress, the castle-fortress. The main type of religious building was the cathedral. The Romanesque church, elongated in plan in the form of a Latin cross, personified the model of the world and reflected the Catholic idea of ​​the "Way of the Cross" of suffering and atonement for sins.

In Romanesque architecture, towers became widespread: narrow, tall ones with hipped peaks guarded the temple from the east and west sides.

An important element of Romanesque architecture was the column, its capital decorated with sculptural ornamentation.

But the leading beginning of Romanesque architecture was the wall.

If there are smooth walls, then they can be decorated. How? (painted)

The walls of Romanesque churches were decorated with frescoes and mosaics. Unfortunately, the painting of the Romanesque period has practically not been preserved.

During the Romanesque period, monumental sculpture first appeared. Sculptural images - reliefs - were located, as a rule, on portals (architecturally decorated entrances).

If the temple was the fortress of a god, then the castle was the fortress of a knight. Romanesque stone castles with powerful defensive walls were impregnable fortresses. Castles were erected by the river on a hill surrounded by a moat with water, a drawbridge was thrown over the moat.

GOTHIC ART

The name "Gothic art" (from ital. Gotico- "Gothic", by the name of the Germanic tribe ready) arose during the Renaissance. "Gothic" in those days meant "barbarian" as opposed to "Roman": Gothic was called art that did not follow ancient traditions, which means that it was not of interest to contemporaries.

The notion that Gothic art is formless and unworthy of attention only changed inXIXcentury, when the Middle Ages ceased to be considered the "dark ages" in the history of mankind. However, the name "Gothic" was preserved for European art of the late Middle Ages. In various European countries, Gothic had its own characteristics and chronological framework, but its heyday falls onXIII – XIV century.

The term "Gothic art" originated during the Renaissance. So designate the style of European artXII – XV centuries.

"A Brief Description of Romanesque Architecture"

It is difficult to find suitable words and comparisons to describe the impression of a Gothic cathedral. Who knows about these cathedrals by hearsay, considers the main feature of the Gothic high-altitude. Indeed, the cathedrals are high and reach for the sky with countless arrows of towers and turrets, pointed arches. Gothic cathedrals are not only tall, but also very long. For example, Chartres Cathedral is 130 meters long. To get around it, you need to overcome the path of half a kilometer.

Unlike the Romanesque church with its clear, easily visible forms, the Gothic cathedral is boundless, often asymmetrical, heterogeneous in its parts: each of its facades with its own portal is individual.

Stone remained the main building material, even architects and builders at that time were called masons. They gathered in artels and built, moving from city to city, exchanging skills and knowledge. This is probably why Gothic architecture is distinguished by great stylistic unity, and it does not have such an abundance of schools as in Romanesque.

Gothic cathedrals differed significantly from the churches of the Romanesque period: the Romanesque church is heavy and squat, the Gothic cathedral is light and directed upwards. This is due to the fact that in Gothic architecture they began to use a new design of vaults. If in a Romanesque church massive vaults rest on thick walls, then in a Gothic cathedral the vault rests on arches, and those, in turn, on pillars. This design made it possible to reduce the thickness of the walls, increase the internal space of the building. The walls began to serve as a support for the vault, which made it possible to make many windows and arches in them.

In the Gothic cathedral, the flat surface of the wall disappeared, so the wall painting gave way to a stained-glass window - an image made up of colored glasses fastened together, which was placed in the window opening. Huge windows - sometimes narrow and high, sometimes round (the so-called Gothic roses) with colored glass and the most complex interlacing of frames.

Inside and outside the cathedral was decorated with many statues and reliefs.

The characteristic features of the early Gothic were embodied in the main cathedral of the capital of France - Notre Dame de Paris (Notre Dame Cathedral). The majestic Norte Dame de Paris was founded in 1163 (the first stone of the future cathedral was laid by Pope AlexanderIII), but its construction continued for several centuries - untilXIVcentury. Three entrances lead to the temple - portals framed by arches going into the depths; above them are niches with statues - the so-called "royal gallery", images of biblical kings and French kings.

For many years the cathedral stood dilapidated, until the famous novel by Victor Hugo appeared in 1831, which marked a revival of interest in historical heritage, and Gothic art in particular, and drew attention to the deplorable state of the great architectural monument. The king, by his decree, instructed to restore the temple. Since then, the constant concern of the authorities is the preservation of the cathedral in its original form.

How do you understand such a term as "synthesis of arts"?

The synthesis of arts is an organic unity, the interconnection of various types of art within the framework of a single work of art.

About the relationship, what types of art can be said about the Romanesque and Gothic styles? (architecture, painting, sculpture).

Chief among them is...? (architecture)

Right. Painting and sculpture are subordinated to architecture.

Based on the knowledge gained, students, under the guidance of a teacher, conduct a comparative analysis of the Romanesque and Gothic styles.

The result of the work is a comparative table

APPENDIX №4

"Features of styles of medieval art"

ROMAN STYLE

GOTHICK STYLE

church architecture

The buildings of the cathedrals are heavy and squat, they were huge structures - because. their main task was to accommodate a large number of people during worship.Characteristic features: thick walls, large supports, smooth surfaces.

The Gothic cathedral has a light construction, directed upwards. An innovation in the architecture of the Gothic period is the system of arches. The walls ceased to play a bearing role, which means they did not need to be made thick and massive

secular

architecture

During the Romanesque period, secular architecture changed.Locks became stone and turned into impregnable fortresses. Behind the fortress wall of the castle there were numerous outbuildings. As a rule, the castle was surrounded by a deep moat. The bridge thrown over the moat to the main tower, in case of danger, was raised and closed the entrance gate of the tower.

The centers of social life of the medieval city weretown hall (city government building) and a cathedral (a large Christian church). The town hall was a large building with a hall for meetings. The cathedrals had to accommodate the numerous urban population. Preachers spoke before the cathedrals, professors and students held discussions.

Painting

As a rule, biblical scenes were depicted on the vaults and walls of the temple, which had to be considered while moving around the temple. The murals of the Romanesque period had an instructive character.

In the Gothic cathedral, wall painting gave way to stained glass - an image made up of glasses fastened together, which was placed in the window opening.

Sculpture

During the Romanesque period, monumental sculpture first appeared in Western Europe. Sculptural images - reliefs - were located on the portals of churches. The reliefs were usually painted - this gave them greater expressiveness and persuasiveness.

Inside and outside the cathedral was decorated with many statues and reliefs.

The sculptural and pictorial decoration of the cathedrals, made on religious and secular subjects, carried a system of views and ideas that people of the Middle Ages should be guided in their daily lives.

In the history of the literature of ancient Christian art, there are completely different views on it, differing from each other partly in their fundamental foundations, partly only in some more or less important details. Two extreme directions stand out especially sharply here: but for one of them, ancient Christian art is entirely a product of pagan creativity, both in terms of technology and content: the other, narrowing the scope of ancient Christian art to the last degree, allows only occasional minor manifestations of it. and lays all the blame for this poverty on the very foundations of Christianity, which, as it were, are in conflict with the requirements of the aesthetic sense and thus serve as a brake on the development of art. Both of these views stem from a misunderstanding of the essence of art and the essence of Christianity.

Art, in the broadest sense of the word, has the fine as its subject. But in the definition of the concept of elegance, we encounter an infinite variety, explained from different points of view on it: the exact definition does not exist until now. Kant completely excluded the beautiful from the realm of logical concepts; Baumgarten, having laid the foundation for aesthetics as a science, combines the concept of grace with the concept of sensual perfection; Lessing considered the elegant in formal integrity, Winckelmann in the human form, but the latter at the same time admitted that the highest beauty lies in God and that the concept of human beauty is the more perfect, the closer it is connected with the concept of the highest essence; Goethe found the elegant in the attractive expression of the important - the serious; Hegel considered it a sensuous manifestation of an idea; Schlegel closed it in the subjective realm, on the contrary, Herbart reduced the elegant to the objective beauty of form.

It is very natural that, under the influence of such a variety of views on the fine, the view on the nature of ancient Christian art, on its significance and relation to the basic idea of ​​Christianity, changed more than once. Without accepting the assessment of the above definitions, since this would lead us too far, we retain Hegel's definition, although not in the abstract form in which it appears in this representative of philosophical idealism. The graceful gives us pleasure because we see here the combination of “important” and “beautiful”, in other words, because here they are combined into one inseparable whole - strength, order and harmony; here, through the prism of the image of fantasy, the highest divine idea shines through. If the whole world - the cosmos - is, in a broad sense, a reflection of this idea, then so is every individual being. Hence, the concept of grace is closely related to the concepts of "true" and "good", although it cannot be identified with them. Already Plato in antiquity defined the graceful as a permanent property of the true and good. Absolutely agree with him and blessed. Augustine attributed it to the same source from which the concepts of true and good flow. “Everything beautiful,” he says, “comes from the beauty that lies in the soul; and its original source, according to Augustine, lies in God. Dante and Schiller also approached this concept of the elegant. “Only through a pure striving for what is true, good and beautiful, proceeding from the inner movement of spiritual power, does the ethereal divine spark of heavenly beauty ignite; this spark, like a secret torch, is reflected in the work of the artist and the poet's imagination, and thus ascends like a whole rainbow of rays to the originator of all that is beautiful. An artist, if he really creates something elegant, must have inner excitement in his soul: this is eternal love, connecting heaven and earth ... it ignites in the soul that lamp that illuminates our entire inner world, like a ruddy dawn that illuminates a blooming and fragrant landscape . The “bliss” that comes from here has a criterion in itself: it is the purer and fuller, the more perfect its moral character. If, therefore, the “beautiful”, in its essence, does not coincide with the good, then, on the other hand, it cannot be separated from it; so that any aesthetic pleasure that the sounds of music give us, exemplary works of sculpture, painting and poetry, must be morally pure - must elevate us above ordinary reality and "as it were, return us to the primitive state of innocence." And so the beautiful is the point of our contact with heaven, the glorious ideal world in the lower spheres of earthly existence, or, as Plato says, “the subject of a constant reminder of the lost homeland of the soul.”

The essence of art lies in the unity of the idea and the sensual image. Mechanical imitation of nature alone does not constitute art. There is no art without an ideal, and the higher and more perfect it is, the more the correspondence between the idea underlying it and the form or image accepted for expression. Unity, the mutual penetration of the ideal and the real, is in the proper sense the task of all branches of art. Therefore, it is absolutely fair to say that any truly artistic work is a reflection of human essence, where spirit and body form one harmonious whole, or, as Schelling puts it: "an idea is reflected in a work of art, as in a mirror." And if so, then from here you can to some extent determine the difference between the art of antiquity and Christian. The first of them, with all the perfection of technology, is devoid of that idea of ​​holiness, under the influence of which all the beautiful works of Christian art were created, charmingly affecting the religious feeling. Only when the light of faith penetrates the inside of a person can a proper understanding of the secrets of nature and higher being be possible. The reconciliation of these two elements - the natural and the supernatural - is a characteristic feature of Christian art: here they find a central point - two natures - divine and human, and are combined into one whole: this is the unity of grace. Classical art only aspired to it, but never reached it; it stands immeasurably higher than the unity that Plato and the whole mass of ancient philosophers thought about. A clear proof of this is the exemplary works of the classical period of Spanish and Italian painting, for example. the Madonnas of Murillo, Raphael, Sassoferrato, also Holbein and others. Only an inveterate naturalist can put them in parallel with ancient works, in which the human element, the human form, human sensations always turn out to be predominant. Modern European museums now have at their disposal an enormous wealth and variety of monuments of ancient classical art, so that we have every opportunity to compare them along with the monuments of Christianity. And yet, what do we see? At the highest stage of its development, classical art achieved only that it was able to embody the natural manifestations of the human spirit, within its earthly relations, and was mainly directed towards the expression of organic strength, organic charm. Venuses - Medicean (in the Palazzo Uffizi in Florence) and Capitoline (in the Capitoline Museum in Rome), in which ancient art reached its highest perfection, are nothing more than an expression of the Greek ideal concepts of female beauty; the imagination of their creators did not rise further than this. Laocoön (in the Vatican Museum in Rome), dying along with his two sons from the strangulation of a snake, and the Dying Gladiator (in the Capitoline Museum) are only images of organic suffering brought to the last degree. Apollo Belvedere (in the Vatican) - the personification of male beauty; the Farnesian group (in the Neapolitan Museum) and the statues of Hercules are symbols of extraordinary physical strength, etc. In a word, here we find a fairly detailed reproduction of all kinds of manifestations of material strength, we can also see the manifestation of morality, but not Christian, but such as it is was in the view of the classical Greek, namely, closed in the sphere of material relations. This is not the art of Christianity. Its essential difference from the ancient one is that here the center of gravity is transferred to the spiritual realm of human essence, which is explained by the nature of the Christian worldview, although at the same time the material realm, as a necessary element for expressing an idea, retains all its significance here. "Christian art", - this is how the well-known specialist Professor Schnaase speaks about it, - "has its own characteristics, unknown to the classical world. They ... stand in connection with that mighty Christian power, which is visible in all the facts of Christianity, which are subject to the activity of artists. Deep penetration into the meaning of what is depicted, and not free, unrestrained by any bonds, creativity, governs the work here. The heroic strength, the proud consciousness of the most perfect individuality, which distinguishes ancient art, here gives way to other qualities: here, on the contrary, we see a completely calm arrangement of figures, softness, sincerity, concentration and depth of feeling, universality, etc. Therefore, we do not share the views Goethe, who, during his stay with Princess Golitsyna, came to the conclusion that the pure is at odds with the fine arts, that while the former strives to move away from the sensible world, the latter, on the contrary, are enclosed in the sphere of sensible elements and here find their natural region". Such an idea follows from an incorrect view of the mutual relationship of nature and art, as well as on. Goethe obviously assumed that Christianity, as a "phenomenon of the spirit", is in conflict with nature and not only does not put up with it, but, on the contrary, requires its complete suppression. Therefore, all Goethe's efforts to "bring nature and spirit, reality and ideal to unity," turned out to be a brilliant illusion as a result. “I leave it to others,” he said at last, to reconcile the nature of man with himself and with the higher essence. It is true that human nature is fallen nature; but at the same time, a reflection and a symbol of the “divine” has been preserved in it, therefore its significance cannot be humiliated. Christian art strives to spiritualize this nature, elevate it to the level of the ideal, while classical art, on the contrary, sought to subjugate the spirit of this nature. The Greek world did not know the highest idea of ​​humanity: Plato only aspired to it as a personified virtue, which at the same time was supposed to be the highest ideal of beauty; Goethe did not know it either, when he, quite in the spirit of the classical Greek, considered heaven and earth to be two opposite spheres between which there is no intermediate bridge. This bridge was formed in Christianity, where the ideal was united with reality, the higher uncreated spirit became engaged to nature. There may, of course, be different views on the inner character and essence of this unity of the "heavenly with the earthly"; but in any case there can be no doubt about the significance of this idea in the field of aesthetics. The actual confirmation of all this, as we said, is represented by exemplary works of painting; the works of the Spanish school of Murillo deserve special attention in this respect. The Dresden Madonna, which owes its origin to the brush of this artist, is, in our opinion, such a characteristic phenomenon, the equal of which we do not know. It does not shine with either the elegance of external forms or the luxury of costume, although both fully satisfy the requirements of pictorial technique: nevertheless, there is some kind of magical power in this picture that is capable of capturing the observer; and the more you peer into this image, the more its charm is revealed, the more this inner force seizes the observer. Strength lies not in its most external form, but in the idea and its artistic expression. Under the cover of an unpretentious form, the deep Christian mystery of redemption is revealed here; with amazing accuracy, the artist reproduced here both the general ideal-humane character of the atonement, and the especially humble attitude of the Blessed Virgin to this great act. With one stroke, he managed to reveal to the observer the all-encompassing breadth of the new covenant, its meek loving character and significance for humanity ... "Thus the infinite idea is married to the finite form."

From this beginning, it is also explained why in the world of classical art revolved mainly in the field of plasticity ( sculptures), but in the Christian world it joined painting. There is no doubt that for immediate consciousness, the preference for one kind of art over another was based on a natural desire to break any connection with paganism, which found its main support in plastic art. The religious ideas of the Greek were bound to such an extent by the external plastic form that he believed in this form the entire importance of the subject; he could not sacrifice his aesthetic sense, brought up under the influence of artistic works of art, to a religious idea. Strictly speaking, he did not even have an abstract idea of ​​a deity; and therefore he was religious insofar as the religious idea was expressed in his favorite aesthetic images. And consequently, the higher the external form stood aesthetically, the more sympathy among the people the religious idea associated with it found. This feature of the Hellenic character was no secret to the priests and other prominent representatives of paganism: and therefore, at the time when their religious system was clearly beginning to decline, they resorted to the help of plasticity, which to some extent could support the attention of the people to the decrepit cult. The priestly plan was a success... Here lies the immediate reason for the aversion of the ancient Christians to plastic art. , as a phenomenon of "spiritual power", did not want to resort to the help of external artificial measures for its propaganda; his tool was in his inner strength: “Do not take with you neither gold, nor silver, nor copper,” the Savior said to the disciples who went to preach; here "spirit upon spirit" was supposed to act, and not an external force and "not the charm of art."

On the other hand, in the very nature of plastic arts, regardless of its practical application in the pagan world, there is an internal reason why Christians preferred painting to it. Plasticity, first of all, goes to private individual phenomena, pulls them out of the long chain of world phenomena and fixes them in one immovable moment of existence, or, as Fischer puts it, “represents them as an object of tactile vision, in full and perfect corporality. Therefore, she prefers those phenomena that are capable of directly and immediately making a strong impression. A man in his full natural beauty without any external cover is her favorite subject. And from here plastic art is subject to one essential and important limitation, namely: it reaches its highest development only in certain epochs and, moreover, among those peoples where, thanks to climatic and historical conditions, bodily beauty flourishes and is valued. Such was the Greek world. In Christianity, on the contrary, the “spirit” comes to the fore; aesthetic pleasure here finds its limits in the spiritual idea and moral rules that protect the aspirations of fallen nature; and material nature is here, in the words of Professor Kraus, an aeolian harp, a musical instrument, as an instrument of the spirit. This character of Christianity is more consistent with the art of painting, which provides enough scope for expressing all kinds of human relationships - to God, the world, nature, etc., as well as for expressing his sincere moral and religious aspirations. In this sense, painting in a number of fine arts (architecture, sculpture and painting) undoubtedly occupies the first place. We are not talking about the fact that it is not subject to the conditions of nationality to such a strong extent as plastic art, and fully corresponds to the universal character of Christianity.

These are the common features that determine, on the one hand, the mutual relationship between Christianity and art, and on the other hand, the relationship of Christian art to pagan art.

It goes without saying that everything that has been said applies to Christian art in general; here we have in mind the predominantly ideal side and the expression of this ideal in the brilliant works of modern times. But before he had time to create a whole system of fine works that would meet the requirements of his spirit, an intermediate period of hesitation had to pass, which stands at the boundary that separates Christianity, as a system, as a cult, in the best sense of the word, from paganism. In their inner character, the works of art of this period are also different from pagan ones, just as Christianity itself is different from paganism. But the same cannot be said about their form. Comparison of the monuments of ancient Christian art that have survived to this day, most importantly, in the Roman and partly in the Neapolitan catacombs, as well as in Italian museums, especially in the Lutheran one in Rome, with pagan ones preserved there, leaves no doubt that that the former were influenced by the ancient mode of representation. This dependence is only temporary and is explained by the natural conditions of life of the ancient Christian society. The independent activity of the first Christians was aimed primarily at the inner side of Christianity: here it was required - to establish and protect the Christian dogma from a perverted understanding; As for the outer shell of dogma, its complete formation is already the second completely consistent step in the historical development of Christianity. The first Christians were content with the simplest form, so that only faint allusions to the external rites of Christianity are scarcely found in the church writers of the first two centuries. The same is true for Christian art. Neither the Savior himself, nor the apostles established certain rules regarding the church's use of art: it was left to the order of the church. And when the need for this application began to manifest itself, the Christians took advantage of the form that had already been developed in the classical world. It happened very simply and imperceptibly. Although pagan art at the time of the advent of Christianity experienced the last period of decline, nevertheless, its area at that time was still too wide. Not to mention strictly religious art, which embraced all spheres of the idolized world, even in ordinary life it was used everywhere. All items of common use, all household utensils bore the imprint of this art. On vessels, lamps, women's jewelry, coins and medals, weapons, etc. You can still see distinct images of Jupiter or only lightning, which served as a symbol of this deity, Juno, the snake, the three graces, Romulus and Remus, the peacock, the she-wolf, etc. Moreover, art was applied everywhere to decorate houses. The excellently preserved frescoes in the so-called palace of Nero - in Rome, in the house of Tiberius on the Palatine Hill, excellent mosaic floors with various images, examples of which can be seen in the baths of Caracalla and in the Lateran Museum in Rome, are obvious proof of this. Pompey is especially rich in these jewels. In all the houses of more or less prosperous Pompeian citizens, fresco decorations on the inner walls and ceilings and mosaic floors are open. The plots of the images are borrowed mainly from pagan mythology. These Pompeian frescoes, which have survived to this day with amazing freshness - partly in their original place, partly in the Naples Museum, where they are collected in huge numbers, vouch for the fact that the artistic, the need for classical Greeks was unusually strong even during the period of the emergence of Christianity and found satisfaction in the common custom of imposing the stamp of art on the whole home furnishings. It is very natural that this pattern of domestic life did not leave its mark on early Christianity. Christians in everyday life came into close contact with the pagan world, were briefly familiar with its customs, while some sucked them in with their mother's milk, and therefore could not, of course, suddenly renounce those innocent, in essence, habits that were established by worldly practice. . And so, if, on the one hand, the ancient Christians stood in opposition to pagan plasticity; which served as the bearer of the idea of ​​paganism as a cult, on the other hand they had no serious motives to fight against "everyday" art. From here they transferred with them to the pagan "modes of representation" and enriched them with a content unknown to paganism. Here, therefore, the same thing happened as in the field of ancient Christian science. The ancient Christians attended oratory schools, studied pagan jurisprudence, got acquainted with philosophy, and eventually applied the knowledge gained here to Christian science. Christian art followed the same path. But both there and here, only an innocent form was transferred into Christianity, into which the Christian content was embedded. In this respect ancient Christianity was incomparably purer than medieval Italian art; in the first one can only observe imitation technique, the second, on the contrary (for example, the works of Nicholas of Pisa) are often completely imbued with the spirit of ancient art.

This dependence of Christian art on pagan art is a natural result of the general course of the history of art. The basic principle of historical progress in art is that none of its forms is itself apart from the connection with the previous forms. The previous form is always inherited by the next generations, processed and improved by them in application to the requirements of the artistic idea. Out of this reworking comes a new form, which over time suffers the same fate - until, finally, it reaches complete harmony, complete unity with the idea that spiritualizes it, both in general and in particular. In this inheritance and processing of forms, we already have a coherent history of art, and not individual manifestations of it, not particulars, but the whole. The history of painting is subject to the same law of succession. Therefore, we have the right to talk about the dependence of Christian art on classical art; but one should not overstep the boundaries of moderation, as we see, for example. at Raoul Rochette. In various places in his writings (especially in Trois mimoires sur les anliquiles chreliennes. Paris. 1839. the named author claims that the Christian art of the first centuries, the remains of which have been preserved in the Roman catacombs, “is nothing more nor less than an echo of pagan art”; Christian artists, in his opinion, were so strongly dependent on pagans that they borrowed from them “models for biblical subjects”; if they tried to do without this outside help, they turned out to be so weak that their works can only be called mere allusions to a well-known plot, but by no means artistic reproductions of it.” He supports this idea by pointing to some ancient images in the catacombs of Callistus (mem. 1), to the formulas and symbols of tombstones (mem. 2) and other objects found in catacombs (mem. 3) .

Putting it all together, we find:

1) that with a correct view of and art, it is not only impossible to admit any contradiction in these concepts, but, on the contrary, they are in close harmonic connection with each other;

See also Tableau des Catacombes Paris 1837. Disours sur les tures imitatifs, qui constituent I'art du christianisme. Paris 1834

We do not intend to analyze all the arguments of Raul-Rochette, we will indicate in the note under the line only one of them, which seems to the author to be especially strong. In the past century, the Italian scientist Botarri published, among other things, the Pretextates discovered in one crypt of the catacombs - almost under the very church - "Domine quo vadis" - on the Appian Way - images with pagan subjects: Pluto, Mercury, the abduction of Proserpina, the feast of Vibia (which Bottari explained in the sense of a funeral commemoration, according to a pagan rite) and Jupiter - in the pose of a judge in front of five women (which indicates, as it were, a well-known scene with wise virgins and a groom). These images, found in the Christian catacombs, made a strong impression on the French archaeologist and served as the main motive for exaggerations in his system. Meanwhile, all this argumentation has received value due to the mistake and oversight made in the study of these catacombs. The error is as follows. On the walls in the same crypt there are inscriptions: “Fata divina, dispater, aereсura (not abraсura, as Garrucci reads: vetri ornate: sn. Early inscriptions 2579), mercurius nuntius … and on another wall … ncenti. hoc o … quetes, quot vides. Plures me. antecesserunt. omnes. expecto manduca vibe (vm. bibe) lide et beni (vm. veni) at me. cum vibes (vm. bibes). benefit. hoc. tecum feres nimiines (vm. nimines) antistes sabazis vincentius hic est qui sacra. Deum. mente pia (colui) t. It is clear, on the one hand, that this inscription reveals the compiler's inclination towards a pagan tendency, but, on the other hand, it is also clear that we are not dealing here with a strictly Christian catacomb, but with one that happened to happen next to the Christian catacombs and belonged to one of the parties of those numerous Gnostic-syncretic sects, whose religious confession was a mixture of Syrian, Phrygian, Roman and Christian ideas: this is confirmed by many data given by Gurucci (Les mysteres du syncretisme phrygien Extr du t. IV des mélanges d`archeology Paris 1854) Mixing Christian concepts with pagan ones was a fashionable phenomenon in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Syncretists often depicted a supper or a feast on the tombs, partly in a pagan, partly in a Christian way. But that at the same time they cared little about the Christian idea, this is proved by the (pagan) inscription found above the heads of those participating in the supper: bonorum judicio judicati (ch Piper. Sumbol.u. Mythol.der chr Kunst. t. II p. 204-207). So, the main argument of Raul-Rochette turns out to be untenable. At the same time, his theory must also be subjected to significant limitations.

Christ Readings Nos. 1,2 1878