СЦЕНЫ НАСИЛИЯ НА РАСПИСНЫХ ИЗРАЗЦАХ XVIII-XIX ВВ.

Abstract

The paper considers scenes of violence on Russian smooth painted tiles. Usually that genre scenes represent an armed warrior who kills his vanquished enemy. Related to that subject are solitary figures of mounted and foot soldiers, armed with swords, sabers, rapiers, bows and pistols. Weapons and horses became an attributes of heroic plot. The main visual source for scenes of violence on tiles was engravings from folk bibles. A variety of plots, from executions and suicide attempts to everyday scenes of a peaceful nature could be interpreted as a warrior’s victory in battle. Text clichés (mottos, that were borrowed from emblematic collections) were used as signatures on tiles, what created the narrative background: challenge to a duel or victory celebration. One can understand from the text of the Motto that the protagonist with whom the viewer of the tile could solidarize is the murderer, not the victim. Popular interest in the horror element and the popularity of the heroic plot lead to the appearance of curious ornaments: for example, the image of a warrior with a severed enemy’s head