Images Of Saints Research Articles

Figürliche Reliefs frühchristlicher Zeit in Kleinasien (4.-6. / 7. Jahrhundert n.Chr.)

In Asia Minor, only a relatively small number of reliefs with biblical depictions or images of saints from the early Christian period (fourth to sixth / seventh centuries AD) have been preserved. They represent an exceedingly small percentage of what was likely actually produced, with a substantial amount considered to be lost. This makes it difficult to classify the art based on geographic region, in comparison, for example, to the proliferation of the Roman grave reliefs of the second and third centuries. Nevertheless, Asia Minor was of an area of great importance for the theology of early Christianity. Numerous churches from the Early Byzantine period have been preserved or at least documented. Many were large and magnificent buildings, showing excellent masonry techniques, and some had unusual shapes. The churches were richly adorned with capitals, barrier plates, and ambons, as well as floor mosaics. Although only a few remnants of wall paintings and mosaics are preserved today, it can be assumed that most of churches possessed them. While there are portrait sculptures and busts of excellent quality, very few reliefs are based on the Bible. They are almost all very simple pieces, in terms of craftsmanship, with a few exceptions. The existence, not only, of the customary iconography, but also rare and unique character depictions of the reliefs of biblical scenes, illustrates the reach of the Byzantine Church in even the most remote areas of that region, shedding light on Late Antique art in Asia Minor as the heartland of the Byzantine Empire.

РИТМЫ ЗЛА В АНГЛИЙСКОЙ ПСАЛТИРИ XIV В

In medieval iconography, one of the main properties of evil is its multiplicity and changeability. As we know from the works on medieval demonology published by Alexander Makhov, such fluidity of forms was often equated with disorder and contrasted with an orderly hierarchy of the sacred. The author demonstrates that this applied not only to demons, but also to figures of non-Christians, primarily Jews and Romans in scenes of the Passion of Christ. The author of the present article takes the case of the Fitzwarin Psalter, one of the most extraordinary manuscripts illuminated in England in the 14th century. He shows that the variations of forms and colors in the figures of demonized enemies of Christ were sometimes organized in the rhythmic sequences which gave disorder a partial ordering. However, even in images of saints, in which symmetry and hierarchy dominated for a long time, variations were constantly introduced. They complicated (made more “live”) the static composition and led the viewer’s gaze. These observations suggest that many of the transformations of markers of otherness that researchers have long noted should be seen not only as visual figures of evil, but also as particular instances of the desire for varietas characteristic of medieval aesthetics in general

Первый этап росписи церкви Андрея Стратилата в новгородском Детинце

The article begins with the history of St. Andrew Stratelates Church in Veliky Novgorod. It is shown that today’s church dedicated to St. Andrew was originally built as a chapel of the Boris and Gleb Cathedral in Novgorod Detinets. The St. Andrew Stratelates Church now stands alone in the south-eastern part of Novgorod Detinets, but until 1682 it was the south-ern chapel of the Boris and Gleb Cathedral. Its earliest part was erected at the former location of cathedral’s staircase tower. The initial church, as the paper suggests, was constructed to com-memorate the capture of Swedish Landskrona fortress in 1301 by the army of Prince Andrey III Alexandrovich. It was later rebuilt by Euthymius II, the Archbishop of Novgorod, likely in 1441, simultaneously with rebuilding the Boris and Gleb Cathedral “on its old foundation”. Then the paper turns to the description and analysis of what remains today of the initial iconographic pro-gram of the original St. Andrew Stratelates Church, namely a composition with nine images of saints in the lower part of the northern wall, which belongs to the earliest period of painting. On the right we see the Apostle Peter, an Archangel (Michael?) and the Apostle Paul being blessed by Christ. In the background stand a few praying figures: St. Andrew Stratelates, the patron saint of the church, as well as the Holy Equal-to-the-Apostles St. Prince Vladimir Svyatoslavich, passion bearers princes Boris and Gleb, and two unidentified holy women. The composition was likely to be created after 1494, when the Boris and Gleb Cathedral in Novgorod burned again. Although the origins of the mural remain unknown, a connection with the capture of the Landskrona for-tress is a likely possibility. Indeed, St. Andrew Stratelates Church was first constructed in 1302, i. e., a year following the capture of Landskrona, and it was initially integrated into the Boris and Gleb Cathedral which speaks for itself in view of military overtones of the cult of Boris and Gleb.

Типология национального образа святого в неожитийных повестях Бориса Зайцева «Преподобный Сергий Радонежский» и Ивлина Во «Елена»

The paper conducts analysis and compares the images of saints in neohagiographical texts by Evelyn Waugh and Boris Zaytsev. It shows that the key moment in both novels is the subject of vocation. The image of St. Sergius and the image of St. Helena are similar not only in terms of Christian values but in “northern” type of temperament, which is expressed in such personality traits as restraint, emotional distance, asceticism. B. Zaitsev's neohagiographical text is based on the role of tradition in the Orthodox picture of the world; in E. Waugh's neohagiography the personal-subjectivist factor plays the main role. The mythological and folklore-literary contexts turn out to be significant for the image of the saint in Waugh’s story, while in Zaitsev's story it is the historical one. The key role in neohagiographical texts also belongs to the model of space with the underlying opposition centre — periphery. Cultural and civilizational factors define the principles of creating the images of saints. Helena in Waugh's understanding is a spiritual symbol of England — “queen of the seas”, — her individual symbol is an isle; St. Sergius in Zaytsev's interpretation is a representative of the “terra firma”, his symbol is a forest. St. Helena by Evelyn Waugh is the embodiment of English national character traits, western culture; St. Sergius by Zaytsev is the embodiment of Russianness, eastern culture.

ТИПОЛОГИЯ НЕМЕЦКИХ ANDACHTSBILDER И ИХ СВЯЗЬ С ВОТИВНОЙ ТРАДИЦИЕЙ

This article provides the author’s typology of a specific and underresearched genre of sacred art – Andachtsbilder, which in some cases was influenced by the iconography of votive images. From the fourteenth century onwards, pocket or home sacred images were used in Germany for piety. They were called Andachtsbilder, literally – “prayer images”. Commonly, they were images of saints and could be engravings, miniatures, or even appliqués. Andachtsbilder’s motifs were usually associated with the images of the Holy Family or mystical allegories, but there was another type of Andachtsbilder, in particular, images representing a scene of some miracle. Their prototypes were often originally votive objects (wax, silver, etc.) or votive images (Votiftafel), i.e. images created as a vow to God or saints. Some of the votive objects appeared on the votive images (Votiftafel). Further, the most famous votive images could be copied onto Andachtsbilder. Votive images copied onto Andachtsbilder, according to my hypothesis, could have a magical function, like the wellknown Schluckbildchen. The paper presents a cross-section of the main Andachtsbilder typologies and provides examples of images that migrated from votive practices into the practice of domestic, “pocket” piety. The cultural and anthropological analysis of these phenomena follows

Captions to Images of Saints: Spelling of Proper Nouns

Captions to Images of Saints: Spelling of Proper Nouns

Глагольные средства выражения восприятия «незримого» в агиографических текстах XX–XXI веков

The article focuses on the potential of perception verb usage for creating the images of saints and godliness devotees. An integrated approach was applied to studying hagiographic texts of the 20 th – 21 st centuries, which comprise the research material. Special attention is paid to the verbs that directly nominate the process of obtaining information about the surrounding world (exteroceptive sensations). The analysis also involves the verbs that are etymologically related to the verbs of perception. The author introduces the structure of meaning of the verbs denoting perception and their corresponding subdivision into subgroups. The verbs employed in the description of the saints' and ascetics' abilities to comprehend the world intuitively, to foresee the forthcoming events in the lives of people, country, and the Church are analyzed, the peculiarities of their use are revealed. The subgroups of verbs denoting these processes in the studied texts have been identified. The contextually stipulated changes in the meanings of verbs are characterized. Lexicographic sources have been used to determine the meanings, which are actualized in the texts, and those not recorded in the dictionaries. The impressive semantic potential of the analyzed verbs is demonstrated. This makes it possible to use them for nominating the outstanding abilities of saints and ascetics, which distinguish them from ordinary people.

Devotion to Saints as Busts on Pillars: Solving the Enigma of Non-Stylite Stylites in Psalter Vat. gr. 752

The eleventh-century psalter Vat. gr. 752 has four images of saints on pillars, of which only two are of a well-known stylite saint, St Simeon the Elder, while the other two are attributed to Saint...

“Like a doll …”

Abstract In the 1990s there was a growing and renewed interest on the practice of clothing images of saints after, as Richard Trexler put it, the negligence demonstrated towards it by art historians until then. In 2018, following the publication of new and unprejudiced studies about it, the presence of two dresses belonging to statues of the Virgin Mary in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s exhibition “Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination” testified to the impact clothed images had on fashion creators and, according to David Morgan, the Church’s ritual and performative life. While focusing on the miraculous image of Nossa Senhora da Lapa from Quintela, Portugal, this article aims to acknowledge the many roles played by its clothes and jewels, assessing the complexity of this phenomenon and aiming for a wider understanding of how the faithful engaged with devotional sculpture.

Wizerunki świętych kobiet w wybranych utworach hagiograficznych dla dzieci i młodzieży po 1989 roku

The Mother of God – as the mother of Jesus and the embodiment of boundless love, goodness and fidelity – is the prototype for the presented models of holy women in contemporary hagiographical works for children becomes. These values constitute the core of all portraits of holy women, regardless of the accepted divisions and their different ways of achieving holiness. They can be found in brides and mystics, virgins and martyrs, teachers and educators, mothers and wives. And it is they who, besides sacrifice, mercy and the ability to look at God and listen to Him, determine the consistency of the portrait of a holy woman. Serving man meant serving God, going beyond one's own egoism, temporal hedonism, and materialism. The spirituality of future saints was shaped by the religious atmosphere of the family home, personal sensitivity and reading. These models were still united by the beauty, delicacy, frail health, serene disposition, and smile shown to people. Some can be treated as special signs, appearing in early childhood, which already then suggested their otherness as well as the gifts received, e.g. bilocation or the surrounding light and shine. The images of saints and the blessed in contemporary hagiographical works for the young reader are in line with the poetics, but they also force us to reflect on the awareness of goals, victory over weaknesses and the power of love.

ЦЕРКОВЬ МЕДХАНЕ АЛЕМ В АДИ КЕШО И СЛОЖНОСТИ ДАТИРОВКИ СКАЛЬНЫХ ПАМЯТНИКОВ РЕГИОНА ТЫГРАЙ (ЭФИОПИЯ)

ЦЕРКОВЬ МЕДХАНЕ АЛЕМ В АДИ КЕШО И СЛОЖНОСТИ ДАТИРОВКИ СКАЛЬНЫХ ПАМЯТНИКОВ РЕГИОНА ТЫГРАЙ (ЭФИОПИЯ)

Mikhail of Tver versus Michael of Chernigov: Images of Saints in Regional Policy of Memory

The subject of the study are regional strategies of memory policy, in particular the use of religious images to legitimize regional identity. The purpose of the article is to analyze the specifics of the use of such a symbolic resource as images of saints in the regional commemorations practices of the Saratov region in the 19th — 21th centuries. Based on the functional (M. Halbwax) and structural (P. Bourdier) approaches, the use by religious institutions of an archaeological find with the name of Prince Mikhail for symbolic competition in the 19th century is analyzed, as well as the mainstreaming of this competition in the post-Soviet regional space.

Hair-Snakes. To the Issue of the Semantics of Byzantine Phylacteries with “Hystera”

Introduction. The article is devoted to analyzing the specific type of Byzantine phylacteries (amulets), which are a vivid manifestation of folk beliefs that combine pagan, magical and Christian components. The author talks about the so-called “coils” – pendants with the image of a head with reptiles instead of hair or simply in combination with snakes. Many of them have a magical inscription mentioning “hysteria” (uterus), which can be understood as this particular organ, as well as various harmful entities. For this reason, there is a problem of correlation of the image and the magic inscription. But the article attempts to interpret the serpentine composition in the context of its functional purpose. Methods. In historiography, there are many opinions about what the images could represent on this type of monuments. At different times, researchers saw in the image of a head with snakes Medusa Gorgon, the dragon-Satan, Russian Aphrodite – goddess Lada, Abrasax, Sophia of Ophites, Moses’ brazen serpent, Eve and the devil, the seven-headed serpent and seven deadly sins, sisters-Likhoradkas, the dragon from the Apocalypse, the serpent of Aesculapius transformed into Satan. In addition, the composition was recognized as a “portrait” of the demon and his machinations elevated to the image of Khnubis and was considered the personification of the hysterical uterus itself. Analysis. In the article, the meaning of the serpentine composition is considered in the comparative analysis with other images on amulets. This is possible due to the presence of stereotypes and general principles in the construction of magical drawings applied to the amulets, as well as the general meaning that is associated with the functional purpose of the phylacteries. In different types of the images on amulets, semantic emphasis is placed on reproducing the desired action. For this, phylacteries were made and used, and magical texts, signs, images of saints, the Mother of God and even Christ himself were applied to the amulet. Results. The symbolism of the serpentine composition is revealed within the same sign system. The drawing combining a head (face) and wriggling snakes clearly represents the desired effect – the outcome, the flight of illnesses or the forces of the evil symbolized by reptiles from a person.

Flowers Disguised

Abstract Since the late twentieth century, Latina artists have used Catholic images, such as depictions of altars and the Virgin of Guadalupe, to speak both for themselves and for women’s issues at large. Maria Tomasula seems far from that norm, since she focuses on tightly constructed, dramatic still life, painted in the traditional European illusionistic manner. She reveals, however, Catholic influences and feminist messages in her flower paintings. This article aims to unveil the woman’s voice in the works of still life by Tomasula, as communicated through embedded Catholic symbolism and references. It will examine how her works evoke the home altar tradition as well as images of saints in martyrdom to speak for the Mexican American woman. This article also applies the concept of the abject, as espoused by Kristeva to denote a woman’s realm, to Tomasula’s art. Tomasula’s still lifes thus ultimately delineate a woman’s space and her discrete experience.

Images of saints in the wall paintings of Saint Sophia in Kiev

Στη μελέτη παρουσιάζονται τα πρώτα αποτελέσματα της έρευνας που διεξάγεται για την αποκατάσταση του τοιχογραφικού διακόσμου της Αγίας Σοφίας Κιέβου, και επιχειρείται η ταύτιση των πολυάριθμων αγίων μέσω της εικονογραφίας τους και σε συνδυασμό με τα χαράγματα που εντοπίζονται στον χώρο. Συνεπώς, είναι σημαντικό να κατανοηθούν οι αρχές που υπαγόρευσαν την επιλογή και την κατανομή των αγίων στον χώρο. Διαπιστώνεται ότι, ενώ κάποιες από αυτές τις αρχές ακολουθούν την τρέχουσα βυζαντινή παράδοση, άλλες απηχούν ιδιάζουσες ιδέες για τους νεοφώτιστους Ρως.

Soundless Screams: Graffiti and Drawings in the Prisons of the Holy Office in Palermo

The discovery of graffiti in the early years of the twentieth century by the folklorist Giuseppe Pitré left by prisoners of the tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition in Palermo has been followed by more extensive investigations in recent years. These images and words have added a concrete and particular dimension to Sicily’s position at the crossroads of the Mediterranean. As well as images of saints and naval battles are to be found inscriptions not only in Italian, Sicilian and Latin but also in English and Hebrew. This article cross references this visual and textual evidence with the relevant archives of the tribunal in order to provide a powerful microhistory of suffering and resilience in this most inhospitable of environments. The result adds a new dimension to our understanding of the prison’s organization, judicial proceedings and the impact of the inquisition on the lives and consciences of those people from all over Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, who found themselves unwilling denizens of what must have been perhaps the most international community of prisoners in the early modern Christian world.

The Decorations in the Left Aisle of Santa Maria Antiqua within the Context of the Political History of the Iconoclastic Era.

The topic under consideration is a fresco of the left aisle of the Church of Santa Maria Antiqua in the Roman Forum. It depicts a row of holy men flanking Christ sitting on His Throne dating back to the time of the Pope Paul I (757-767). The author focuses on images of saints on the fresco, their hierarchy, and their garments. It is revealed that the holy men on the right hand of Christ are venerated saints of the Roman Church and those on the left hand are mostly Eastern holy bishops, great theologians and champions of orthodox faith who fought against various kinds of heresies. They have never been really popular in Rome. The author has come to the following conclusion: the saints on the left and the saints on the right represent together the united and undivided Church fighting against the heresy of Iconoclasm. The main weapon of the Western Church being its firmness in the orthodox faith, the main weapon of the Eastern Church was its theological erudition.

О святых на кресте-мощевике из Благовещенского собора Московского Кремля. Историко-генеалогический комментарий

О святых на кресте-мощевике из Благовещенского собора Московского Кремля. Историко-генеалогический комментарий

‘Almost Every Miracle is Open to Carping’: Doubts, Relics, Reliquaries and Images of Saints in the Long 12th Century

Many of the great surviving monuments from the middle ages, the cathedrals, churches and objects made for them or for private devotion, testify to the importance of Christian faith in medieval culture. Devotion to the saints was a facet of that belief, vividly recorded in the surviving relics, reliquaries and images of saints as well as in hagiographic literature. Yet medieval sources also contain references to doubts about the nature and power of saints and their relics. The overcoming of doubt or incredulity was a widely used trope in hagiography. However, if we take medieval doubts seriously, they should prompt us to consider whether the images and objects created to celebrate particular saints might sometimes have been designed to bolster dubious claims or help to authenticate disputed material within a rich discourse about both individual saints and relics and about the nature of holy bodies more generally.

Hortuli animae iz let 1516 in 1548 v Narodni in univerzitetni knjižnici v Ljubljani: predreformacijski molitvenik in njegova luteranska transformacija

The collection of rare prints at the National and University Library of Ljubljana contains two small printed prayer books entitled Hortulus animae. One is from 1516 and the other from 1548, and both are embellished with numerous woodcut illustrations. On closer inspection, the similarities between the booklets soon vanish: the older one belongs to the golden age of pre-Reformation prayer books of the first two decades of the sixteenth century, and the second one to the Reformation. Nevertheless, both examples have so far been ignored by scholars. The Latin prayer book dated 1516 was published in Mainz by Johann Schöfer. It belongs to the important and numerous group of pre-Reformation prayer books, among which Hortulus animae was most successful. This type derives from books of hours, with adjustments to central European devotional practices. Hortulus animae is a compendium of diverse devotional texts designed to equip Christians for every situation in which they might need divine assistance. An important role was also played by numerous illustrations, as proven by some prayers that explicitly demand recitation before a specific image (the prayers of St. Gregory the Great and St. Anne). The importance of these booklets is confirmed by the importance of some of the artists that provided illustrations, such as Albrecht Dürer, Hans Burgkmair the Elder, and Hans Holbein the Younger. The illustrations in the Ljubljana prayer book were all executed by a single master, which was not common for this type of publication. His name and his other works are unknown, although the quality of his woodcuts surpasses many in other series used at this time. The special value of this prayer book also lies in numerous traces left by its owners, the most impressive being the drawing of the coat of arms on the back cover. The second Hortulus animae with German text was published in Wittenberg in 1548 by the important Protestant publisher Georg Rhau. The texts, partly written by Martin Luther and Philipp Melanchthon, show crucial differences from their pre-Reformation predecessor. Although richly illustrated with Lucas Cranach’s pre-Reformation woodcuts for a Wittenberg relics collection book from 1509, their meaning did not remain the same. Luther was very aware of the power of images, specially over the less educated. His teachings are perfectly expressed in this prayer book. The images of saints are limited to Christ’s family, the twelve apostles, and John the Baptist, and several points in the text are equipped with a warning against idolatry. The smaller group of illustrations depicting specific Reformation subjects was contributed by a younger anonymous artist known only by his monogram, A W. Each in its specific historical context, both prayer books are therefore a valuable document of pre-Reformation and Reformation piety in central Europe of the first half of the sixteenth century.