DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2022.4.37895

Abstract: The object of this study is the representation of the plot of the knight's novel "Iwein or the Knight with the Lion" in Western European art of the XIII-XIV centuries. The subject of the study is the features of the visual language of secular medieval art, which manifested themselves in various visual representations of this plot. The purpose of this work was to identify similarities and differences in the structure of various iconographic programs created on the basis of this novel in the period under review, to analyze the dependence of the visual interpretation of the text on the functional purpose of the monument (illuminated manuscripts and monumental murals), as well as to compare the existing visual representations of the history of Yvaine with the structure of the literary plot itself. The main research methods in this work are the methods of iconographic and iconological analysis, involving the identification of relationships between the images of the iconographic program of monuments and literary subjects on which these programs are based. The novelty of the work consists in identifying the structural features of the iconographic programs of the monuments under consideration, their similarities and differences from the programs of the religious content of the era under consideration, which is important for understanding the overall picture of the development of the visual language of Western medieval art of the XIII-XIV centuries. As a result of the conducted research, it is concluded that the considered secular programs are significantly inferior in their structural complexity to programs of a religious nature, most of them represent a visual interpretation of the plot intended to demonstrate and glorify the traditional lifestyle of the knightly estate and entertainment, and only one of the considered iconographic programs of this period has a complicated structure closest to the basic one It can be considered, as well as the text of the poems of Chretien de Troyes and Hartmann von Aue, in the context of understanding its religious basis.

DOI: 10.7256/2454-0625.2017.9.24372

Abstract: Temple programs of the Romance epoch widely represented the Christ in Glory (Majestas Domini) image in portals and apses of temples and little parish churches. That image could be either a part of a more massive iconographic scheme or a concise piece drawn on the portal tympan or apse conch. The subject of the research is the structure and symbolism in the image of Christ in Glory in Western European temple decoration of the XIst - XIIth centuries. The object of the research is the representation of that image in various Western European monuments of that period. The main research method used by the author of the present article is the method of iconographic analysis that implies comparison of the program of monuments themselves and associated texts from the Bible, texts of masses and liturgic manuscripts. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author defines liturgic symbolism of this composition with reference to particular objects and including it into the general interpretational picture for each program. Such approach allows to achieve better understanding of the visual language of the Roman temple decoration in general and each program in particular. As a result of this research, the author concludes that at least starting from the Carolingian epoch the image of the iconographic scheme 'Majestas Domini' in temple programs does not only symbolically depict the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer but also becomes the key to understanding complex iconographic programs directly related to the visual representation of evangelistic themes. 

DOI: 10.25136/1339-3057.2017.4.25015

Abstract: The research subject is the representation of the image of the Lord in the iconographic program of the apse mosaic of the oratory of abbot Theodulf at Germigny-des-Prés. The research object is the iconographic program of the apse of the oratory at Germigny-des-Prés. The author of the program, abbot Theodulf, was the abbot of Fleury-sur-Loire, a poet, a theologian and the closest fellow of Charles the Great. His aniconic ideas played an important role in defining the way of representing the Divine Presence within the space of the church he had built. Based on the method of iconographic analysis, the author analyzes the Old Testament images of Theodulf’s mosaic and compares them with the Holy Writ. The article considers the modern ideas about the disputable iconographic program of the apse mosaic of the oratory and offers another variant of interpreting Theodulf’s program that supplements the existing interpretations. The author shows that the unseen by a human eye Glory of the Lord surrounded by cherubs is the key object of the program and a part of the composition, which symbolically means also the beginning of the Eucharistic canon.