Аллегории добродетелей и пороков в европейском искусстве VIII–XVIII вв.

Abstract

The struggle of the forces of Good and Evil is one of the leading themes of European art of the Middle Ages, Renaissance, Baroque. Personifications of positive and negative qualities of a person are depicted in book miniatures, monumental paintings, mosaics and sculpture from the time of the Carolingians up to the XIX century. The victory of Virtues over Vices described in the «Psychomachy» by Aurelius Prudentius Clement functioned as subjects of the art of the book of the Carolingian and Ottonian eras, sculpture of the facades of Romanesque and Gothic churches, in memorial plastic and allegorical painting of the Renaissance and Baroque. Medieval art generates several variants of the interpretation of the plot – the battle of Virtues in the form of warrior maidens with bestial monsters – Sins, allegorical embodiment of the forces of good and evil in the form of animals, genre interpretation of the theme in the form of «everyday» scenes. The Renaissance tradition refers to the personifications of good and evil forces in monumental paintings (Giotto) and memorial plastics, often as a symbolic designation, subjects of Holy Scripture are used. In the XVII century, allegories of Virtues appear in scenes of triumphs and glorification of rulers, in the festive decoration of processions (P. P. Rubens), in monumental paintings (Pietro da Cortona), in decorative and applied art.