Biblical subjects in Russian art of the 20th century. About art and its management

Biblical scenes in painting

Completed by a 6th grade student

gymnasium No. 587

Nikitin A. A.

Saint Petersburg

For two thousand years, the whole world has been brought up on fairy tales and legends, songs and parables taken from the Bible.

The Bible has reached us through the centuries. They banned her and burned her, but she survived. It took 18 centuries to compile the Bible. Over 30 authors worked on it. 66 books of the Bible were written on different languages people who lived at different times.

Great artists of the world depicted biblical scenes in their paintings.

In the history of fine art of past centuries, the brilliant Dutch artist Rembrandt, perhaps more than anyone else, was able to deeply moving, truthfully reveal the inexhaustible wealth of the inner world of man.

Dutch painters were the first to see a person as he is in life, and reflected in art various aspects of his everyday existence. Some of them approached the solution of a more complex task - to reflect the beauty and significance of spiritual world ordinary person

It would seem, turning to the biblical and gospel themes, Rembrandt moves away from depicting the society of his time. In fact, his biblical and evangelical heroes are in many ways reminiscent of his contemporary ordinary people, invariably attracting the sympathy of the artist. In his mind, biblical heroes serve as vivid personifications of the beautiful human qualities. The artist sees in them spiritual greatness, internal integrity, stern simplicity, and great nobility. They are not at all like the petty, self-satisfied burghers of his contemporaries. Genuine human passions are increasingly reflected in the artist’s canvases; more and more often, theatrical drama, a “terrible” event will be replaced by the true drama of life.

These new features clearly appear in the Hermitage painting “The Descent from the Cross,” painted in 1634.

Night. Mournful silence. A silent crowd of people surrounded the huge cross on which Christ was crucified. They came to Golgotha ​​to pay their last respects to their teacher. In the cold light of torches, they remove his dead body from the cross.

One of the men, climbing the ladder, pulls out the nails with the help of which Christ was crucified on the crossbar; others take his sliding body into their arms; women prepare a bed for the remains by spreading a large heavy cloth on the ground. Everything is done slowly, in respectful and sad silence. The experiences of those gathered are different: some faces express bitter despair, others express courageous grief, others express reverent horror, but each of the people present is deeply imbued with the significance of the event. The sorrow of the old man who accepts the dead Christ is boundless. He holds it with noticeable effort, but very carefully, cautiously, touchingly touching his cheek to the lifeless body. Maria is exhausted from grief. She is unable to stand, loses consciousness, falls into the arms of the people who carefully surrounded her. Her emaciated face is deathly pale, her eyelids are closed, her weakened hand, outstretched forward, droops helplessly.

The picture captivates with deep penetration and life truth. Only the exaggeration of some movements and gestures reminds us of Rembrandt's baroque hobbies.

Throughout the 40s, Rembrandt several times addressed the theme of the holy family. One of the best solutions to this theme is the Hermitage painting “The Holy Family”, created by the artist in 1645. The gospel scene gives the viewer many associations with everyday folk life contemporary with Rembrandt. Silence and peace are disturbed only by the usual sounds of life at home. Burning wood crackles, and the quiet, monotonous sound of a carpenter's ax is heard. The room is shrouded in gentle twilight; Light gently pours in from different sources, tremblingly sliding across Mary’s face, illuminating the cradle, giving the image a touch of spirituality. The child moved slightly, and the woman, obeying the subtle maternal instinct, breaks away from the report, lifts the curtain and looks at the baby with concern. She is the very sensitivity, the very alertness. Essentially, the great humanity and soulfulness of the picture is created with just one glance. The bright sublimity of the captured moment is also reflected in the fact that angels silently descend to the mother and boy.

In 1660 Rembrandt creates famous painting"Assur, Haman and Esther." The plot of the film was based on a biblical myth known as “The Feast of Esther.” Haman, the first vizier and friend of the Persian king Assur, cruelly slandered the Jews before the king, hoping to achieve their extermination. Then Queen Esther, who came from Judea, stood up for her people. Having invited Assur and Haman to the feast, she told about the vizier’s slander, and the treacherous face of the man whom he considered his friend was revealed to the king.

The artist depicts the moment of the feast when Esther finished the story and a deep, painful silence reigned. The queen's beautiful eyes are sad. Without looking at her hands, Esther mechanically wrinkles her handkerchief. She is still completely at the mercy of what she has experienced. It was painfully difficult for her to utter words of reproof; like the king, she believed the vizier and treated him as a friend. Assur was shocked by what he heard and bitterly disappointed. His big eyes fill with tears. At the same time, noble anger awakens in him, and he powerfully clutches the scepter.

Haman is depicted in deep shadow and alone. An invisible abyss separated him from the king and queen. The consciousness of doom presses him like an unbearable burden: he sits hunched over, head down, eyes closed; the hand holding the cup lies powerless on the table. He is oppressed not even by the fear of death, but by the grave consciousness of moral loneliness. He understands that Assur and Esther will never forgive him, no matter how hard it is for them to condemn their friend.

If in paintings dedicated to the history of Haman, the result of the conflict is irreconcilable condemnation, no matter how difficult it may be for those who pass the sentence, then humane forgiveness and deep repentance of a person who has made a bitter mistake are told famous work Rembrandt “The Return of the Prodigal Son”. The work was written by Rembrandt in the year of his death. Forgotten by his contemporaries, completely alone, he creates his last brilliant creation.

Again a great human tragedy. After long wanderings in a hostile, uncomfortable world, the prodigal son comes to his abandoned father with a plea for forgiveness. Full of shame and repentance, he is on his knees, ragged, with a convict’s shaved head, trampled sandals, showing the viewer his rough heels. For the first time in many years, feeling the warmth of human affection, he clung to his father, hid his face in his chest, trying to lose himself in his father’s arms. The old man expresses neither surprise nor indignation; He forgave his son a long time ago and had been waiting for this meeting for a long time. In the look of his downcast eyes one can read both silent reproach and sorrowful humility. He gently bent over his son, placing his weak, senile hands on his back. Again Rembrandt embodies his idea that the harsh trials of fate bring people together. Above delusions, insults, and vanity are love, trust, and mutual understanding.

But still, in this meeting there is more grief than joy: the tragic mistake of the son left too deep a mark in the lives of both. Not only the son is broken, but also the father. It is enough to pay attention to the facial expression, the sadly bowed head, the hunched figure, the drooping senile shoulders to feel it

“The Return of the Prodigal Son” is, as it were, the result of Rembrandt’s wise thoughts about the world and people. His pessimistic attitude to reality in the last years of his life, on the one hand, and his unbroken faith in man and his moral height, on the other, resound with equal force in the last work of the brilliant artist.

There are few personalities in the history of art as mysterious and controversial as Bruegel. He did not write articles or treatises, left no correspondence and, with the exception of two or three close-minded people, did not know any friends. Bruegel left no portraits of his wife, children, or friends. It is believed that he sometimes portrayed himself among his own characters - but there is no evidence of this. His portraits, engraved by his friends, bear no resemblance to each other.

The Renaissance idea of ​​the importance of the human personality did not fit into Bruegel’s artistic concepts. In his drawings and paintings, he often hides faces altogether, depriving the figures of any individuality. A similar trend can be seen in the depiction of biblical characters. He moves them somewhere to the side, hiding them among ordinary people. This is how we see Mary and the Lord in the village square, John the Baptist with Christ in the crowd of people, and the “Adoration of the Magi” is generally hidden behind a curtain of snowfall.

Bruegel's man has freedom of choice and bears responsibility for his own misfortunes. A person is forced to make the choice between good and evil, between faith and unbelief constantly, throughout his life - just as his ancestors were forced to make this choice, as many other people do today. Hence - another feature of Bruegel's works, which makes them similar to icons, but is very rarely found in modern art - the combination of temporal and spatial layers. In such paintings as “Procession to Calvary”, “Census in Bethlehem”, “Massacre of the Innocents”, “The Sermon of John the Baptist”, “Conversion of Paul”, “Nativity”, the engraving “Assumption of Our Lady”, biblical characters are present among Bruegel’s contemporaries leading their daily normal lives , biblical scenes are played out against the backdrop of Flemish urban and rural landscapes. For example, the figure of the Savior bent under the weight of the cross is almost lost among the many other impressions of any of the people depicted in the picture, and these people make their moral choice, not realizing that they see God before them.

The years of Bruegel's creative maturity pass during a period of aggravation of contradictions between the Netherlands and the monarchy of Philip II, in the conditions of a menacingly growing revolutionary situation. The anti-feudal movement merges with the national liberation struggle against the rule of Spain. In 1561-1562, Bruegel created paintings united by a premonition of impending historical cataclysms, “The Triumph of Death” (Madrid), “The Fall of the Rebel Angels” (Brussels), “Mad Greta”, “The Battle of the Israelites with the Philistines”.

During his life, Bruegel was a resident of two very rich cities - first Antwerp, and later Brussels.

Antwerp's growth rate was equal in Europe; it became the new financial and economic center of the Western world. About a thousand foreigners lived in this “bazaar” city with the largest seaport; they were treated with suspicion. In a situation where people were not united by either faith or a single church, when Catholics, Protestants, Lutherans and Anabaptists lived in the same neighborhood, a general feeling of insecurity and anxiety grew. This is how a “multicultural society” was formed, where problems of communication arose especially acutely, primarily on religious grounds.

Antwerp was a symbol of peace. A tower that casts a shadow - contrary to all the laws of nature - not on the ground, but on the sky.

Bruegel wrote "The Tower of Babel" at least three times. The Tower of Babel (1563) and the “Small” Tower have survived Tower of Babel(c.1563). The gigantic structure was captured twice. Never before have artists been able to convey so vividly the monstrous size of the tower, the scope of construction, surpassing everything previously known to man.

In Bruegel's later works the mood of pessimistic reflection deepens. In the famous “The Blind” (1568), the gospel parable is used to embody the idea of ​​blind humanity, having lost the will to fight and passively following fate. The leader, leading the chain of blind cripples, falls, the rest, stumbling, uncontrollably follow him; their helpless gestures are convulsive, the stamp of destructive passions and vices sharply appears on their faces, frozen with horror, turning them into deathly masks. The intermittent and uneven rhythm of movement of the figures develops the theme of imminent death. However, as before, the serenely harmonious nature of the background appears as a contrasting alternative to human vanity, with its idyllic peace as if suggesting a way out of the tragic impasse.

The paintings of Caravaggio (1573-1610) caused heated debate, as they were striking in their unusualness. The character of this artist was also extraordinary - impudent, mocking, arrogant.

Among Caravaggio’s paintings there are no festive scenes - such as “The Annunciation”, “Betrothal”, “Introduction to the Temple”, which the Renaissance masters loved so much. He is attracted to tragic themes. On his canvases people suffer and experience cruel torture. Caravaggio observed these hardships of life. In the painting “The Crucifixion of St. Peter” we see the execution of the apostle, who was crucified on the cross upside down. “The Conversion of Saul” shows the merciless persecution of Christians, their death under the heel of a horse and Saul’s moment of insight. On the way to Damascus, he was suddenly blinded by a heavenly ray, and, falling from his horse, he heard the voice of Christ: “Saul, why are you persecuting me?” After his epiphany, Saul becomes one of the most devoted disciples of Christ - the Apostle Paul.

Caravaggio shows the scene of the “Entombment” as a folk drama. The lifeless body of Christ is carefully supported by the disciples. The frozen hand of the Savior hangs from the gravestone above the black space of the grave.

In Caravaggio's paintings on gospel subjects, the everyday appearance of the characters is striking. In the gospel scenes, he shows the life of ordinary people. Caravaggio's contemporaries testify: he despised everything that was not copied from life. The artist called such paintings trinkets, children's and doll's things.

Icon painting appeared in Rus' in the 10th century, after in 988 Rus' adopted the Byzantine religion - Christianity. By this time, in Byzantium itself, icon painting had finally turned into a strictly legalized, recognized canonical system of images. Worship of the icon has become an integral part of Christian doctrine and worship. Thus, Rus' received the icon as one of the “foundations” of the new religion.

For centuries, icons were the only objects of painting in Rus'. The common people were introduced to art through them.

Depicting events from the life of Christ, Mary, the apostles, icon painters

They found motives that touched the soul of every person, tried to express their ideas about good and evil.

The icon painter in his work followed certain rules For example, he could not come up with the plot himself. But this does not mean that the painter was deprived of the opportunity to create. He could add some details, “read” the church plot in his own way, and choose color combinations. By these details one can distinguish the style of Andrei Rublev from the style of Theophanes the Greek or Dionysius.

The question of whether this or that work belongs to Rublev is now the subject of lively scientific discussions. The only reliable work of the artist is the Trinity icon. All other works are more or less likely attributed to the famous master.

According to Christian doctrine, God, being one in essence, is threefold in persons. The first person of the Trinity is God the Father, who created heaven and earth, everything visible and invisible. Its second person is God the Son, Jesus Christ, who took human form and descended from heaven to earth for the salvation of people. The third person is God the Holy Spirit, who gives life to all things. It is incomprehensible to the human mind how one exists in three persons, therefore the doctrine of the Trinity is one of the main tenets of Christian religions and as such is an object of faith, but not a subject of comprehension.

The true appearance of the deity is unknown to man - “no one has seen God” (John 1:18). However, sometimes, as Christian tradition says, God appeared to people, taking on a form accessible to man. The first person to see God was the righteous old man Abraham. God appeared to him in the form of three angels. Abraham guessed that, under the guise of three wanderers, he assumed the three faces of the Trinity. Filled with joy, he sat them down under the shade of the Mamre oak tree, ordered his wife Sarah to bake unleavened bread from the best flour, and ordered the servant boy to slaughter the tender calf.

It was this biblical story that formed the basis for the iconography of the Trinity. She is depicted as three angels with wandering staffs in their hands. Angels sit solemnly at a table laden with dishes. In the distance you can see the Chambers of Abraham and the legendary Oak of Mamre. Pious Abraham and Sarah offer refreshments to the winged strangers.

Vikon Rublev is struck by the extraordinary simplicity, the “laconicity” with which the biblical event is reproduced. From the Old Testament story, the artist chose only those details that give an idea of ​​where and how the action took place - the mountain (symbol of the desert), the chambers of Abraham and the Oak of Mamre. It is in vain to look for such courage in approaching the sacred text in earlier icons. Ancient Russian painting, which previously followed the sacred text without reasoning, setting as its task to give a visible image of everything that the Bible and the Gospel tell about, in the person of Rublev, neglected the letter of the Holy Scripture and tried to reveal its philosophical meaning. From an illustrative art, icon painting has turned into a cognitive art.

In Russia in the 14th - 15th centuries, the doctrine of a trinity deity, representing “one force, one power, one dominion,” became a religious symbol of the political unity of the country. It is no coincidence that the motto of Moscow at the turn of the century was: “We live in Trinity, we move and we are.” Rublev’s “Trinity” is also imbued with the same idea, which has become, as it were, a moral symbol of the new Rus'.

So, despite the fact that biblical stories tell about days long past, artists turn to them in order to reflect contemporary reality through well-known plots.

List of used literature:

1.

Rose-Marie Hagen R. “Pieter Bruegel the Elder.” – “Art Spring”, 2000

2.

Andronov S. A. “Rembrandt. On the social essence of the artist” – Moscow, “Knowledge” 1978.

3.

Platonova N.I. “Art. Encyclopedia” - “Rosman-Press”, 2002

February marks the 185th anniversary of the birth of Nikolai Ge, a Russian painter and draftsman, master of historical and religious paintings. Criticism and especially the church did not always accept his interpretation of gospel subjects, too naturalistic for Russian art, but quite traditional, as the collections of the Great Collection of Fine Arts ASG show, for Western Europe.

The future artist Nikolai Ge was born in 1831 in the family of a Voronezh landowner. Unusual surname is a derivative of Gay - the artist’s grandfather was French and emigrated to Russia at the end of the 18th century, most likely fleeing the revolution.

At three months the child was left without a mother - in the year of his birth, cholera was rampant in the central provinces of Russia. At the insistence of the father, his nanny, a serf, took over all care of the baby.

Nikolai Ge's ability to draw was discovered in high school, but not daring to disobey his father, he studied first at Kiev and then at St. Petersburg universities at the Faculty of Mathematics. However, he devoted most of his time to drawing within the walls of the Hermitage. In 1850, Ge left the university and entered the Academy of Arts, where he studied for seven years. Big Golden medal, received at the end of his studies, gave him the opportunity to travel to Europe at the expense of the Academy.

One of the main merits of Nikolai Ge, according to critics, is that he was the first among Russian artists to grasp the new realistic direction in biblical subjects. Ge worked painfully: he created option after option, rarely brought them to the end, and was never satisfied with what he had done. And the very fate of his paintings was dramatic.

In 1861, Ge began writing “The Last Supper,” and in 1863 he brought it to St. Petersburg and exhibited it at the autumn exhibition at the Academy of Arts.

Nikolay Ge
Last Supper. 1863
Canvas, oil. 283x382 cm.
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg

Today the painting is considered a powerful work, reflecting the specifics of the artist’s perception of the biblical myth. In a small room with high ceilings and stone walls in one of the houses in the city of Jerusalem, there is an ordinary couch on which Jesus leaned. Young John is at his feet, and the other apostles stand behind him. Gray-headed Peter (it is believed that Ge portrayed himself in him) is at the head of the table. Several more fuzzy dark figures are visible behind him. On the right, near the wall, there is a lamp that very brightly illuminates the entire figure of Peter (most of all his face), the white tablecloth of the table, the bowed head of Christ and the eyes of the apostles, filled with anxiety and confusion. The lamp itself is not visible: it is covered by the dark silhouette of Judas, whose appearance we guess, but do not see.

The composition reveals biblical symbolism: the table is illuminated with the righteous light of kindness and wisdom - an artistic personification of the community of spiritual food for the apostles. This light illuminates Christ, the confused glances of the apostles directed at Judas, and it also falls on Peter, guarding the gates of heaven. All of them are indignant and confused by Judas’s act, which obscured the light of their reason. And only Jesus is calm and sad.

The picture made a strong impression on the public. The official press saw in it “the triumph of materialism and nihilism,” and censorship prohibited the reproduction of this picture in copies. However, “The Last Supper” by Nikolai Ge was acquired by the Russian Emperor for his personal collection. The Academy awarded Nikolai Ge the title of professor, bypassing the title of academician. Ge was elected Full Member Imperial Academy arts Thus, his work received recognition from the sophisticated metropolitan public.

Nikolai Ge does not deviate from the religious theme and from 1869 to 1880 painted the painting “Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane.” He is criticized and forced to believe in his mediocrity, but after some time the author remakes the canvas, and then the critics fall silent. This painting is recognized as one of the masterpieces of the great artist.

Nikolay Ge
Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. 1880s
Canvas, oil.

Ge shows the viewer Christ, who is ready to spread his hands. He knows his purpose, but it is quite difficult for him to fully agree with it. There is very little time left before the crucifixion, Jesus is tired, and in the Garden of Gethsemane he is tormented by doubts and struggling with his fears. His robe was disheveled just like the soul of great sinners. On the savior’s face we see anxiety, but not despair. Completely alone in the dark forest, he turns to the Father and knows that he is heard and forgiven.

This canvas will long time exhibit at closed exhibitions. Both good and bad will be said about him. Nikolai Ge will understand that this is real success.

The painting "Calvary" became one of latest works Nikolai Ge and, according to critics, remained unfinished. The author tried to put a deep moral meaning into his work.

Nikolay Ge
Golgotha ​​(The picture is not finished). 1893
Canvas, oil. 222.4x191.8 cm.
Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow, Russia

In the center of the picture are Christ and two thieves. Each character in the picture is endowed with his own character traits. Thus, the author conducts a dialogue with the viewer, subtly hinting at what is happening and talking about the mood of each of the characters. The Son of God is overcome by despair and wrings his hands. His eyes are closed and his head is thrown back. A criminal with his hands tied peeks out from behind Jesus. He opened his mouth slightly, and his eyes naturally widened in horror. On the right stands a young man, formerly a robber, now a martyr, who sadly turned away. The author deliberately contrasts his characters.

On the left, a despotic hand appears in view, giving the signal to begin the execution. The figure of Jesus radiates hopelessness, he anticipates a long and painful death, a cross has already been laid at his feet. Nikolai Ge showed with utmost precision how Christ was betrayed and sent to a shameful execution. Using all visual means, the artist emphasizes that the Son of God was executed unjustly. The task that the author set for himself was to convey to the viewer that Christ, by his act, atoned for the sins of the entire human race and gave people a chance for salvation by sacrificing his life.

Ge was reproached for his neglect of form and abuse of contrasting colors. Perhaps this was the only technique capable of expressing the artist’s feelings. Not afraid to cross the boundaries of artistry, ignoring norms and conventions, Nikolai Ge achieved amazing results in depicting the physical and moral torment of a person, depicting them with extraordinary strength and authenticity.

In addition to Nikolai Ge, other Russian painters also turned to dramatic religious subjects, in particular Alexander Ivanov (1806-1858) and Nikolai Kramskoy (1837-1887). However, the pioneers in this iconographic vein were Western European masters. The theme of the betrayal of Jesus by Judas and the passion of Christ in general is especially popular among the old masters in XVII century in the Baroque era, since these subjects made it possible to depict strong emotions in paintings: suffering, pain, repentance, torment and doubt.

Thus, the Great Collection of Fine Arts ASG contains paintings by French and Flemish masters of the 17th century, with the help of which you can trace the plot chain from “Praying for the Cup in the Garden of Gethsemane” to “Christ’s Way of the Cross on Calvary.”

Many artists have taken on the plot of “The Prayer for the Cup,” solving it with varying degrees of success. Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane was painted by Andrea Mantegna (1455), Giovanni Bellini (1465-1470), El Greco (1605) and other less eminent masters, in particular, Karel Savary - a Flemish painter, the dates and circumstances of whose life are not known. The ASG collection contains a composition by Savary, executed on copper, where Christ is depicted praying on the night before his arrest in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Karel Savarye

Flanders, XVII century.
Copper, oil. 68.5x87 cm.
BSII ASG, inv. No. 04-2418

In the center is a kneeling Jesus. He put his hand to his chest and looks to the heavens, praying to God for salvation from the upcoming torment. With the answer, angels fly to Christ, one of whom carries in his hands a crucifix and a cup filled with suffering, which the Son of God will have to drink to the dregs. The Savior’s disciples are sleeping, and in the distance the guards and Judas are already walking.

Next in the series of tragic events follows “The Kiss of Judas” - a plot that does not leave anyone indifferent, since it is dedicated to one of the most painful themes of humanity - the betrayal of one’s neighbor. Perhaps the most famous work This subject is depicted in the world today in a fresco by Giotto (c. 1267-1337). On it Judas is dressed in a cloak yellow color, which until then was considered one of the most joyful and regal flowers. Here, by the will of the artist, a negative connotation is assigned to him. In the picture of the circle French painter 17th century Michel Corneille the Elder (1642-1708) from the ASG collection, the traitor Judas is dressed all in black.

Michel Corneille the Elder, circle

France, approx. 1700
Canvas, oil. 38.5x47 cm.
BSII ASG, inv. No. 04-2771

In the center of the canvas is Jesus in a red robe. He obediently allows Judas to kiss him as a sign to the soldiers following him that this is the one they should take into custody. On the right side we see soldiers armed with spears and halberds, they hold raised torches and lanterns. The composition also included a plot with the cutting off of a servant’s ear (lower left corner of the canvas). It is mentioned in all four Gospels, although only John names its participants: “Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it, and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear; The servant's name was Malchus." Thus, an artist from the circle of Corneille the Elder contrasts the betrayal of Judas with the loyalty of another disciple of Christ, ready to fight for the life and freedom of his teacher.

After this identification kiss, the physical suffering Jesus, where one of the most difficult will be the Way of the Cross - the path of Christ from the house of Pilate to Mount Golgotha, where he will be crucified. During this journey, Jesus was scourged and mocked by soldiers, who crowned his head with a crown of thorns. And here we will return again to the work of the Fleming Karel Savary, who painted the painting “The Way of the Cross to Calvary”, also choosing for it a copper plaque of exactly the same size as for the “Prayer of the Cup”.

Karel Savarye

Flanders, XVII century.
Copper, oil. 68.5x87 cm.
BSII ASG, inv. No. 04-1309

Looking at this multi-figure composition, it is difficult to immediately identify the figure of Christ with his burden. Attention is drawn to the rider on a white horse, watching the progress of this sad procession, as well as the riders in metal armor following him. Christ is depicted in the center, he fell to the ground, having lost his strength. People, trying to help, support his cross, and Saint Veronica wipes the sweat from the Savior’s face with a simple towel, on which miraculously his face was imprinted. On the right is the Mother of God, mournfully watching the torment of her son and the disciple of Christ, John, supporting her. In the distance is Golgotha, to the base of which Jesus has already reached. There were a lot of people on the mountain, waiting for the martyr doomed to execution to reach them.

The theme of the Passion of Christ is eternal in fine arts. Masters of different schools turned to her and historical eras. In the Great Collection of Fine Arts of the ASG there are works by other masters who devoted their works to this topic, for example, the painting “The Way of the Cross to Calvary” by the workshop of France II Franken. All this only proves the great interest of artists of all centuries and countries in moral and spiritual problems.

Svetlana BORODINA
Alina BULGAKOVA

The scene of the Annunciation is described in the Gospel of Luke: he tells that the Archangel Gabriel appeared in the house of Mary and told her that she would give birth to the Son of God from the Holy Spirit  OK. 1:26-38.. In the visual arts of different centuries, Mary and the archangel were depicted in different poses, interiors and using different symbols. And this is not even the main thing - what is more important is how the feelings of the characters depicted changed over time in the paintings. Early Christian artists wanted to show the greatness of Mary; in medieval and Renaissance painting, the Virgin personifies humility and purity, and in the art of the Late Renaissance and Baroque, she experiences surprise and fear. Archangel Gabriel, who in the 12th-14th centuries almost stood still before Mary, later quickly flies into her house. Using the example of ten works, we find out how the perception of this subject has changed in art over the course of fifteen centuries.

Mosaic on the triumphal arch at Santa Maria Maggiore (5th century)

At the turn of the 420-430s, the Archbishop of Constantinople Nestorius taught that “only flesh can be born from the flesh” and the Son of Mary is only a man in whom the Word of God is embodied, but not God himself. In 431, the Third Ecumenical Council was held in Ephesus, declaring that Mary was the Mother of God and declaring the teachings of Nestorius to be heresy. Mary was revered before, but her cult became especially strong after the resolution of the council. Next year, work begins in Rome on the mosaics of Santa Maria Maggiore, one of the first city basilicas dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The scene of the Annunciation decorates triumphal arch, and it was important for its authors to show the greatness of Mary. The Virgin is dressed like a noble girl, wears a tiara, earrings and a necklace, and is surrounded by a retinue of angels. The spindle she holds in her hands hints at Mary’s chosenness. The apocryphal Proto-Gospel of James, written in the 2nd century, says that seven girls from the family of King David (it was among his descendants that the Messiah would appear) were chosen to work on the veil of the Temple. Among them was Maria. To decide who should spin what, lots were cast. Mary received purple and crimson - the most valuable fabrics. She took her work home, where the Archangel Gabriel appeared to her.

Annunciation at the Well (second half of the 12th century)

Theologians who wrote about the Annunciation often speculated about how Mary felt at that moment, and only a few were interested in the experiences of the Archangel Gabriel. Among the latter is the 12th-century monk Jacob Kokkinovathsky, author of six homilies.  Homilia- a sermon with an explanation of the passages of Holy Scripture read. about the life of the Virgin Mary. Gabriel was pretty frightened by the task entrusted to him. At first he entered Mary's house unseen and was amazed by her virtue - so much so that he could not find the right words. Deciding that he would scare her less on the street than at home, Gabriel decided to wait for Maria to go get water and tell her the news at the well (alas, this did not help and Maria was still scared).

The meeting at the well is illustrated by one of the manuscript miniatures. Mary stands with her back to Gabriel. Hearing his voice, she turns her head, raising one hand in fear and holding the jug with the other. This scene is often found in Byzantine and ancient Russian art, in paintings dedicated to the Annunciation.

"Ustyug Annunciation" (1130-40s)

Creator of the “Ustyug Annunciation”  The traditional name of the icon is erroneous: in the 18th century it was believed that it was brought to Moscow from Ustyug, but in fact the icon was painted in Novgorod. I used rare iconography for this plot. The Archangel and the Virgin Mary stand opposite each other. With her head bowed, Mary listens to Gabriel. At first glance, there is nothing unusual in such a composition, however, if you look closely, you can discern an image of the Infant God on Mary’s chest. This image directly says that it is with the Annunciation that the earthly life of Christ begins and it is at this moment that he becomes human in order to then perish. His impending death is symbolized by his clothing: he is wearing a loincloth, like on the Crucifixion. Jesus is depicted as a youth: this iconography  It is called “Emmanuel” according to the prophecy of Isaiah that the son of the Virgin would be named Emmanuel, which means “God with us.” (Isa. 7:14) reminded that the origin of Christ was originally divine, in contrast to the teachings of Nestorius.

At the top of the icon, on the clouds, we see the image of the Lord Old Denmi  Lord Old Denmi- a symbolic iconographic image of Jesus Christ or God the Father in the image of a gray-haired old man.. This image is borrowed from the Book of the Prophet Daniel: “I saw at last that thrones were set up, and the Ancient of Days sat down; His robe was white as snow, and the hair of His head was like pure wool; His throne is like a flame of fire, His wheels are like blazing fire.”  Dan. 7:9. In the “Ustyug Annunciation” the Holy Spirit is also depicted: it is symbolized by a ray of light emanating from the figure of the Old Denmi.

Simone Martini. "Annunciation" (1333)

Medieval Annunciations are rarely complete without two attributes: flowers, most often lilies, standing in a vase, and a book that Mary is reading. We see these images in the late Gothic “Annunciation” by the Italian artist Simone Martini - to the lily the artist adds an olive branch symbolizing peace, which is handed to Mary by an angel. The fact that Mary knew how to read and knew the text of the Old Testament was mentioned by Saint Ambrose of Milan back in the 4th century. However, until the second half of the 9th century, this information did not overly impress the authors of iconography dedicated to Mary. The earliest depiction of the reading Virgin Mary that has survived dates back to the second half of the 9th century: it is a carving on an ivory casket, probably made in Metz. At the same time, just 120 kilometers from her, the monk Otfried of Weissenburg writes a poetic summary of the Gospel and for the first time mentions that at the moment of Gabriel’s appearance, Mary was reading psalms. Since then, Mary meets the archangel reading more and more often, and by the 13th century the book becomes a permanent feature of the Western European Annunciation, and the spindle belongs to the Byzantine tradition. In the same 13th century, a flower appears standing between the archangel and Mary. This symbol recalled that the Annunciation took place in the spring: “Nazareth” translated from Hebrew means “flower”. Later it turns into a lily, symbolizing not only the season, but also the purity of Mary.

Robert Campin. "Annunciation" (1420-30s)

An angel enters an ordinary burgher's house of that time. Maria is absorbed in reading and does not notice him. In a ray of light there is a figurine of Christ flying through the window. Archan-gel has not yet had time to speak to the Virgin, and Kampen seems to use this pause to show the viewer the interior of the room. There are lilies on the table, a polished bronze washbasin in the corner, a book wrapped in cloth. All this hints at Mary's purity. The newly extinguished candle probably recalls the radiance that emanated from the newborn Jesus and eclipsed the candle flame. Perhaps this is Kampen’s way of emphasizing the humanity of Christ. In general, Campin’s painting is an example of how difficult it can sometimes be to decipher Dutch painting of the 15th century by choosing a specific meaning of a particular object. For example, the bench of the Mother of God, decorated with small carved lions, may symbolize the throne of Solomon, with which Mary was compared and which was also decorated with lions, and the lions themselves - Jesus. Or maybe Kampen painted the bench only because such furniture was in fashion in those years.

Piero della Francesca. "Annunciation" (1452-1466)

Piero della Francesca. Annunciation

Piero della Francesca. Lowering of Judas Cyriacus into the wellBasilica di San Francesco, Arezzo / Wikimedia Commons

The Annunciation could be an independent plot, and part of a cycle dedicated to the Mother of God, and the first scene in the depiction of the life of Christ. In Piero della Francesca, the Annunciation unexpectedly becomes part of the story of the discovery of the cross on which Jesus was crucified. Mary and the angel are placed in a classical architectural space (in Renaissance painting it replaces conventional images of buildings in Gothic and Byzantine art). The tiers of the building divide the composition into two registers: earthly, in which the angel addresses Mary, and heavenly, with the image of God the Father.

The laconic composition is almost devoid of details, so the rope hanging from the beam by the window attracts attention. On the one hand, this symbol recalls the instruments of passion  Instruments of Passion- instruments of the martyrdom of Jesus Christ., on the other hand, with the help of this image, Della Francesca connects the Annunciation with the scene of the torture of Judas Cyriacus, which is depicted in the upper register. According to apocryphal legend, in the 4th century, the Roman Empress Helen, mother of Constantine the Great, who made Christianity the state religion of the Roman Empire, initiated excavations in Jerusalem to find the cross on which Jesus was crucified. The Jews refused to help Helen in her search, and then she ordered one of them, Judas, to be put in a dried up well. A few days later, Judas began to beg for his release and promised to help him find the cross. Rescued from the well, he prayed to God - and saw the place where the cross was: so he believed in Christ. However, the devil appeared to him and accused him of betraying him, unlike Judas Iscariot. The rope on the beam reminds us of Iscariot and the rope with which he hanged himself. The empty loop, which was not useful to the believing and saved Judas Cyriacus, indicates the salvation that follows the coming of Jesus into the world.

Annunciation with Unicorn (1480-1500)

The Middle Ages spoke of many fantastic beasts and attributed amazing traits to real animals. Theologians found parallels between the descriptions of some animals and events from the life of Jesus: for example, the sacrifice, Eucharist and resurrection were symbolized by a pelican feeding its chicks with its own blood, and a lion, which was born dead and came to life on the third day from the breath of a lioness. Another symbol of Christ was the unicorn, which only an immaculate virgin could catch. In the 15th-16th centuries, the plot of hunting a unicorn became popular - especially in Germany. Corresponding illustrations appear in manuscripts and engravings, on altars, tapestries and dishes.

Mary, depicted on the wing of the altar, sits in the garden. Gabriel drives the unicorn towards her. The Archangel is accompanied by four dogs, symbolizing the virtues: truth, mercy, peace and justice. Images of unicorn hunts often turned into naive enumerations of what the Virgin Mary symbolizes: a locked garden, an enclosed well  A locked garden and a locked well- images of the bride from the Song of Songs, which in the Middle Ages was considered a prototype of Mary., burning bush  Burning bush- a bush on Mount Sinai from which God spoke to Moses. The burning but not burnt bush symbolized the purity of Mary., fleece of Gideon  According to the Old Testament, Gideon, one of the judges of Israel, was convinced that the Lord had chosen him when the fleece he left overnight remained dry the next morning, although the whole earth around was wet with dew, and the next morning, on the contrary , lay wet on dry ground., closed gates  Closed Gate- an image from the vision of the prophet Ezekiel, also considered an anticipation of the Annunciation. The Lord had to pass through these gates. and Aaron's rod  Aaron's rod miraculously blossomed overnight - in this story they saw an allusion to the birth of the Savior from a virgin.. The secular nature of the scene displeased the church, and in 1545, at the Council of Trent, such images were prohibited.

Jacopo Tintoretto. "Annunciation" (1576-1581)

In most depictions of the Annunciation, Mary is calm. She is not afraid at the sight of the archangel and humbly accepts the role assigned to her. Tintoretto's Annunciation is alarming and chaotic. The picture is painted in dark colors, Gabriel bursts into the house, accompanied by a whirlwind of putti  Putto(Latin putus - “little boy”) - a winged boy.; the dove, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, swoops down sharply, and Mary recoils in fear. There are no flowers or garden here, and the house resembles ruins: twigs of straw are coming out of the chair, boards and Joseph’s carpenter’s tools are carelessly piled behind the door. Behind the chair we see an old manger. To increase the tension, Tintoretto uses sharp perspective and a strange angle: the viewer seems to be looking at everything that is happening from above. The dynamic composition, jerky movements and contrasting lighting anticipate the painting of the Baroque era, which preferred intense, dynamic, emotional scenes to the restrained Annunciations of previous centuries.

Alexander Ivanov. "Annunciation" (1850)

Archangel Gabriel was sent from heaven to earth to inform Mary of her destiny. Belonging of Mary and Gabriel to different worlds the artist emphasizes by depicting them on different scales. The Archangel is not just taller than Mary - their figures are incommensurate with each other. At the same time, they are combined compositionally: the angel’s hand falls into the circle of radiance emanating from Mary.

Ivanov's Annunciation is unexpectedly monumental - especially considering that it is watercolor on paper. At the end of the 1840s, the artist conceived a series of paintings on biblical subjects, and this watercolor sketch was supposed to subsequently become a fresco (but it never did). At this time, Ivanov was reading the book of the German theologian David Strauss, “The Life of Jesus.” Strauss believed that gospel miracles were mythologized legends, often based on Old Testament stories, and drew parallels between Old and New Testament stories. That is why Ivanov was going to write next to the scene of the Annunciation the appearance of the Trinity to Abraham.

Bill Viola. "Cheer" (1995)

Turning to eternal stories, contemporary artists often think about their place in the history of art. Contemporary American artist Bill Viola in his video work quotes not the gospel story at all, but the painting “The Meeting of Mary and Elizabeth,” painted in 1529 by the Italian artist Jacopo Pontormo. We are talking here, however, not about the Annunciation itself, but about the plot that follows it - the meeting of Mary with Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. Having learned from Gabriel that her elderly relative Elizabeth is also pregnant, Mary goes to her. Elizabeth immediately understands that Mary will give birth to the Son of God, and thus becomes the first person to know about the coming birth of Jesus.

Early Netherlandish Painting.

The plot of “Esther before Artaxerxes” reflects the biblical story, which tells how the wife of the Persian king Artaxerxes, Esther, whose Jewish origin the king did not know, came to the ruler in the best clothes in all the splendor of her beauty without an invitation, to ask him not to exterminate the Jewish people . The king sat on the throne and looked menacingly at his wife, who dared to appear to him without being called. Esther lost consciousness from fear, the king rushed to her and touched her with his rod, which meant her immunity and mercy from the king. When the queen told about her origins from captive Jews resettled from their homeland by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar and expressed her request for pardon for the Jewish people, Artaxerxes not only signed a decree pardoning Jews throughout the vast kingdom, but also allowed them to deal with their enemies. The Jews rejoiced and killed seventy-five thousand people, killing entire families. In memory of the feat of Esther, who saved her people, the holiday of Purim was established.

Esther before Artaxerxes.
A. P. Ryabushkin. 1887 Paper on canvas, oil. 107x221 cm
State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg
Inv. number: Ж-1826
Admission: In 1930 from the Academy of Arts
Art catalog

In 1887, Ryabushkin created a sketch on the biblical theme “Esther before Artaxerxes,” which “caused a sensation.” This work testified to the search for “historical accuracy in the depiction of settings and costumes”, the desire to “avoid the accepted theatricality in the development of mise-en-scenes and images.” A. Rostislavov, in his book about the artist, shared his impressions of this work, left in the Academy’s funds. He wrote: “And suddenly, a very special, whole composition of its own, vibrant, oriental bright colors, a seriously developed perspective from an originally taken point of view, a completely new, originally conceived poses of figures, without the usually conventional protrusion of the main ones to the fore. Particularly striking was the realistic figure of Artaxerxes, and the completely newly designed costumes, which had never been seen in academic sketches. Everything was drawn boldly, deftly and vividly. ... People crowded in front of the sketch, the students admired ... The living pulse of a real artist beat in Ryabushkin, for whom templates are unbearable and who knew how to act convincingly with his techniques.” Aksenova G.V. “Clairvoyant and lover of truth of past lives”: A.P. Ryabushkin

Esther before Artaxerxes.
Unknown artist.
Khabarovsk Art Museum
Regional collection of the Khabarovsk Territory

Esther before Artaxerxes.
Anton Pavlovich Losenko (1737-1773). Early 1760s.
gogol.ru

Tobius and Archangel Raphael

The adventures of Tobias (or Tobius) and his companion and guardian - the archangel Raphael - are told in the book of Tobit. The Book of Tobit is one of the so-called “deuterocanonical” books of the Old Testament, that is, those books that are not in the Hebrew text of the Bible, but are found in the Septuagint ( Greek translation Old Testament, made in the 3rd century BC). The Orthodox Church does not place them on a par with the canonical books of the Old Testament, but recognizes them as edifying and useful.

The story begins in Nineveh during the expulsion of the Jews to Assyria in the 8th century. BC, where Tobit, a devout Jew, lived with his wife Anna and their son. He cared for his fellow tribesmen who were in need, and took care of the proper burial of those who met their death at the hands of the king. For this he was brutally persecuted, his property was confiscated, and he and his family decided to flee.

One day, when he lay down to rest in the yard (that is, outside the house, since he was, according to Jewish law, “unclean”, since on that day he was burying one of the dead), sparrow droppings fell on his eyes, which caused the formation of eyesores. and he went blind. Feeling that death was near, Tobit ordered his son Tobiah to go to Media to get some money there (at one time he deposited 10 talents of silver with the Israeli Gabael, who lived in Ragah of Media).

Tobias first of all began to look for a companion for his journey and met the archangel Raphael, who agreed to accompany him. (Tobias mistook the angel for an ordinary mortal. The distinctive feature of an angel - wings - was a late Christian convention, borrowed from the ancient Roman image of the winged goddess of Victory.)

Having received the blessing of blind Tobit, the couple set out on their journey, mourned by Anna, Tobiah's mother. The young man's dog followed on their heels. Having reached the Tigris River, Tobiah went down to the water to wash himself, when suddenly a big fish who wanted to devour him. On Raphael's instructions, he grabbed her and gutted her, separating her heart, liver and bile. The Archangel explained that smoking made from its fried heart and liver drives out demons, and the bile of this fish cures thorns.

Upon arrival at his destination, Tobiah collected the money; then, on the advice of an angel, they went to a relative, whose daughter, Sarah, became Tobiah's bride. But Sarah, unfortunately, was bewitched by a demon, which had already caused the death of seven of her previous husbands. Nevertheless, the wedding of Tobias and Sarah took place, although not without fears. The demon was successfully exorcised using the liver and heart of a caught fish, which were placed in a censer and smoked. Then the couple in their bedroom offered a prayer of thanks.

When they returned to Nineveh, Tobiah used bile to restore his father's sight. The Archangel, when Tobias offered him a reward for all that he had done for him, revealed himself, and father and son fell on their knees before him. Although this story in the form in which it has come down to us dates back to the 2nd century. BC e., it includes elements of distant folklore - Assyrian and Persian. Among the folk tales of Europe there are also those that resemble it, for example, Andersen’s “The Traveling Comrade”. Artists illustrated most of the episodes, especially "Tobiah and the Angel" - both dressed as pilgrims and accompanied by a dog.

The "big fish" was considered a crocodile whose liver and heart were used in ancient magic as a talisman to ward off demons. When Tobiah is shown pulling out a fish, it is depicted as no larger than a trout. The cure of Tobit's blindness is usually presented as a kind of anointing, although Rembrandt and others northern artists, who wrote after him, depict cataract surgery. This is explained by the use of the word in the Dutch Bible to refer to "whiteness" in the eyes of Tobit.

The concept of a guardian angel was common in Renaissance Italy, and the plot of Tobias was used by the family to document their son's journey; in this case, Tobias is depicted as looking like the son of a family.

The cure of Tobit's blindness was the subject of paintings commissioned by victims of this disease, hoping that their sight would be restored to them. nearyou.ru

Tobius with an angel.
Anton Pavlovich Losenko. 1759 Oil on canvas, 105x135.
, Moscow. Inventory No. 15173.
Received in 1931 from the State Russian Museum.
nearyou.ru

Return of Tobiah (Tobiah).
N. N. Ge. Between 1864 and 1867

Tobius with an angel.
Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich (1757 - 1825). Wood, oil. 12x9 cm
State Tretyakov Gallery

Tobius and Archangel Raphael.
V.L. Borovikovsky. Wood, oil. 282 x 72
Icon. North door of the iconostasis. Not finished
Received: in 1906 from the Trinity Church at the Smolensk Cemetery (St. Petersburg)
State Russian Museum
Inv. No. Ж-3188

Catalog 138-145. Iconostasis from the chapel of St. Michael the Archangel of the Trinity Church at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg. 1824-1825.
The wooden church in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity at the Smolensk cemetery in St. Petersburg was built in the first half of the 1820s on the site of a wooden church in the name of St. Michael the Archangel, where previously there was a wooden church in the name of the Smolensk Icon of the Mother of God (1756-1792). Trinity Church had three chapels: the main one - in the name of the Holy Trinity; the second - in the name of the Holy Archangel Michael; the third (under the arches) - in the name of the Saints. martyrs Sergius and Bacchus. The icons and carvings of the iconostasis, intended by the Borovikovskys as a gift to the church under construction, were executed at the expense of the artist. The work began in 1824, but four of the six icons remained unfinished and were in his studio after the artist’s death.
http://www.tez-rus.net/ViewGood36678.html

Ruth

Ruth (Hebrew: Ruth) is the famous biblical righteous woman, after whom the “Book of Ruth” is named. Her life relates to recent years the troubled period of the Judges. A Moabite by origin, she became attached to her husband (a Jew from Bethlehem) and after his death did not want to part with her mother-in-law Naomi (Naomi), accepted her religion and settled with her in Bethlehem. The righteousness and beauty of young Ruth were the reason that she became the wife of the noble Boaz (Boaz) and became the great-grandmother (foremother) of King David.

Ruth sitting by the tree.
Favorsky Vladimir Andreevich. Frontispiece for the book of Ruth. 1924
State Tretyakov Gallery, Moscow
www.artsait.ru

Meeting of Ruth and Boaz.
Marc Chagall. 1957-1959
www.artsait.ru

Samson and Delilah

Samson is a hero of Old Testament legends (Judges 13-16), endowed with unprecedented physical strength; the twelfth of the “judges of Israel,” whose strength lies in his hair. The culprit behind Samson's death is his beloved, the Philistine Delilah from the Sorek Valley. Bribed by the “lords of the Philistines,” after several unsuccessful attempts, she finally finds out his secret and cuts off the hero’s hair, depriving him of his strength.

Samson quenches his thirst from a donkey's jawbone. (Samson quenching his thirst with water flowing from the jaw with which he beat the Philistines)
Chernov Ivan Potapovich. 1800 Oil on canvas. 215 x 158.8.
Based on a biblical story.
For this painting in 1800 the artist was awarded the title of academician.
Received in 1931 from the State Russian Museum (formerly the Museum of the Academy of Arts). Inventory No. 15164.
State Tretyakov Gallery
http://www.tez-rus.net/ViewGood22172.html
Since 2011, the painting has been shown for the first time in the permanent exhibition of the Tretyakov Gallery

Samson destroys the Philistine temple.
Zavyalov Fedor Semenovich. 1836

Samson and Delilah.
Kivshenko Alexey Danilovich. 1876 ​​Oil on canvas. 145 x 199.5.
Chuvash State Art Museum, Cheboksary

Samson, bound by the Philistines after losing his hair.
P.D. Baskakov. 1849 Oil on canvas. 133 x 164
Old Testament. Book of Judges, 16, 19-20
Bottom right signature and date: P. Baskakov 1849
Received: in 1940 from the collection of Yu. E. Kulbis through the Financial Department of the Dzerzhinsky District (Leningrad). Inv. No. Ж-8659
State Russian Museum
For this painting in 1849 Baskakov received a silver medal of the first dignity. Exhibited that same year at the annual academic exhibition.

Biblical images and subjects in European art.

The Bible, the book of books, has reached us through the centuries. They banned her and burned her, but she survived. For more than two thousand years, the whole world has been brought up on legends and parables taken from the Bible. Biblical images and stories became the basis for many types of art. Great artists of the world depicted biblical scenes in their paintings. Biblical heroes serve as vivid personifications of wonderful human qualities: spiritual greatness, inner integrity, stern simplicity, great nobility.The Bible is the most important treasury of spiritual and cultural heritage. It embodies the ideals of goodness, justice, selfless service to humanity, and faith in the value of the human person. The Bible suggested to artists, sculptors, and architects the most important, vital images for them, the optimal artistic solutions. Biblical themes permeated creativity greatest masters world culture. Biblical themes provided material for imagination, for expressing one’s own attitude to the world through the plots of the Bible.The heroes and plots of Sacred History continue to inspire artists over the past two millennia.

Christian themes are an inexhaustible source of creative searchesin different types of art and for different peoples,although every nation has its own vision, its own worldview and, accordingly, its own results of creative embodiment in the formoriginal national culture.

General initial ideas of Christian church art in artistic development different parts Christian world have significant differences. These differences were the result of state, political, and then church-theological divisions between East and West. Catholicism and Orthodoxy turned out to be, after all, two different types of culture. The veneration of Jesus, the Mother of God - the Virgin Mary - has acquired a more exalted character in Catholicism. If in Orthodoxy the Mother of God is, first of all, the Queen of Heaven, patroness and comforter, then for Catholics the Virgin Mary - Madonna - is the embodiment of truth, wisdom, beauty, youth, happy motherhood. This difference was later reflected in iconographic images.

Orthodox Jesus Christ is the Pantocrator, the Almighty, reigning in glory in heaven after earthly torments and the Resurrection. In Catholic images, the earthly torments of Christ are captured more poignantly and expressively than the triumph of the Resurrection. And the picturesque images themselves in Catholic churches do not have the same sacred (sacred) meaning as orthodox icon. In a Catholic cathedral, in essence, there are not icons, but paintings. Therefore, during the Renaissance, it was in Catholic centers that a convergence of secular and church painting was able to occur - great artists such as Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael - both for the church and in secular genres they painted in a similar manner. But the Orthodox Church observed its canons in icon painting more strictly.

Even more differences emerged in church music. The Eastern Church resolutely prohibited the use of any musical instruments in worship. There is an organ in the Catholic Cathedral.

In the cities of Western Europe from the 13th to the 17th centuries, the cathedral is dominated by architecture, sculpture, painting - represented mainly by stained glass and altar paintings, choral and organ music represent an inextricable unity.

In the 19th century, spiritual issues and biblical stories became especially firmly entrenched in the fabric of European, Russian and entire world culture. If we were to just try to list the names of poems, poems, dramas, stories that over the past two hundred years have been devoted to biblical issues, then such a listing would take a very long time, even without characteristics and quotations.

Appeals to biblical images took place already in the first years of the existence of a new form of art, cinema.

So, despite the fact that biblical stories tell about days long past, artists turn to them in order to reflect contemporary reality through well-known plots.

Paintings by I. Bosch and A. Ivanov.

Two main feelings fueled Ivanov’s creative inspiration - boundless love for art and compassion for humiliated people, deprived of life, and the desire to help them. Ivanov was convinced that the purpose of art is to change life.
Russian artist Alexander Andreevich Ivanov lived and studied in Italy for twenty-eight years. There, in 1833, he conceived, in his words, a “world plot” capable of spiritually transforming not only art, but also the entire modern society. Ivanov decided to show humanity at a turning point and main point his story and chooses as his theme the events described in the first chapter of the Gospel of John.

He begins to develop sketches for the future large painting “The Appearance of Christ to the People,” which researchers will later call “an extended philosophical poem,” “an immortal metaphor.”
In total, during the time he worked on the painting (according to art historians, Ivanov worked on it for 20 years), an entire art gallery was created: about four hundred preparatory studies and sketches. These are complete, brilliant landscapes and portraits.
Seriously and with great diligence, Ivanov searched for a landscape for his painting. He painted sketches of a rocky shore, uneven soil, trees, a swamp over which a gray fog spreads, and distant mountains shrouded in a blue haze. He painted endless expanses, outlined only at the very horizon by a chain of blue mountains, and a single stone, showing its shape, structure, heaviness, color - gray, purple, red. Ivanov learned to transmit the illumination of objects to outdoors- morning, afternoon, evening. I learned to convey the air itself, and this is a great skill.
Art critics pay attention, first of all, to the compositional mastery with which Ivanov the director turns many clearly individualized characters to a single sublime goal.
The participants of the film are united in groups. In the center of the composition is John the Baptist performing the rite of baptism in the waters of the Jordan River. He points the crowd to the approaching Christ.Although the Jews were baptized by John, John’s baptism did not have remission of sins; John preached only repentance and led to the remission of sins, that is, he led to the baptism of Christ, from which there was remission of sins. The prophet, who, according to legend, spent a long time in the desert, away from people, preparing himself for a high appointment, is dressed in a yellowed camel skin and a light cloak made of coarse fabric. Lush long hair, falling in disarray over his shoulders, and a thick beard frame his pale, thin face with slightly sunken eyes. High clean forehead, firm and intelligent look, courageous, strong figure, muscular arms and legs - everything reveals in him an extraordinary intellectual and physical strength, not broken, but only inspired by the ascetic life of a hermit. Holding a cross in one hand - an indispensable iconographic attribute of John the Baptist - with the other he points the people to the lonely figure of Christ, which has already appeared in the distance on a rocky, sun-scorched road. John explains to those gathered that the walking man brings them a new truth, a new creed.

On the left side of the picture, behind John the Baptist, a group of apostles is depicted: young John the Theologian, followed by Peter, then Andrew the First-Called and Nathanael. Opposing this group is a group of people descending from the hill, led by the Pharisees.
The picture is constructed in such a way that the people in the foreground seem to be looking into a giant mirror, which reflects nature with the figure of Christ protruding against its background. He seems to bring with him a covenant of calm and peaceful harmony that reigns in the natural world.
In addition, human characters, temperaments and states of mind are represented in all their diversity on the canvas: here are those already converted to the Christian faith, and pagans, and hesitant, and frightened, and doubting people. “Slave and master” stand out in the foreground. About the face of the slave, the artist himself said this: “Through habitual suffering, joy appeared for the first time.” Ivanov believed that there could be no happiness on earth until slavery was abolished, and when he said this, he was thinking not only about the slaves of antiquity or millions of Russian peasants. He also meant the internal slavery that sits in a person living in an unjust world.
For the slave's head, the artist made a huge number of sketches to create that one accurate image. He wrote smart proud man and a pathetic one-eyed old man discovered in a poor shack on the outskirts of Rome. He painted the model Mariuccia and a prisoner with a brand on his forehead and a thick rope around his neck. And no one else's face in the picture expresses this complex feelings. There is joy, mistrust, hope, mockery, and a kind smile, perhaps for the first time illuminating his ugly features.
In the foreground is John the Baptist. From an artistic point of view, it is also a very bright and expressive image. He calls not only to greet Christ coming from afar, but also predicts a path of salvation for everyone around him. Ivanov himself believed in this path: “If my peers and I are not happy, then the next generation after us will certainly carve out a high road for themselves to Russian glory...”.
It is interesting that in the depths of the central group Ivanov captured himself - in the image of a wanderer, in a gray wide-brimmed hat and with a staff. And among those who descend from the hill, the figure of a man in a brown tunic with a bare head immediately stands out. It reveals the features of the writer N.V. Gogol, with whom Ivanov was friends.

"The Garden of Earthly Delights" - Hieronymus Bosch's most famous triptych, which got its name from the theme of the central part, is dedicated to the sin of voluptuousness. The original title of this work by Bosch is not known for certain. Researchers called the triptych “The Garden of Earthly Delights.” In general, none of the currently available interpretations of the picture is recognized as the only correct one. Most theories about the meaning of the painting were developed in the 20th century.

The left wing of the triptych depicts God presenting Eve to a stunned Adam in a serene and peaceful Paradise. In the central part, a number of scenes, variously interpreted, depict a true garden of pleasures, where mysterious figures move with heavenly calm. The right wing depicts the most terrible and disturbing images of Bosch’s entire work: complex torture machines and monsters generated by his imagination.

The Garden of Earthly Delights is an image of Paradise, where the natural order of things has been abolished and chaos and voluptuousness reign supreme, leading people away from the path of salvation.

Instead of the figure of Christ that is supposed here, the earthly life of people is depicted here in all its sinful “splendor.” Heaven and hell are depicted on the sides. Thus, the viewer’s gaze is not directed from the left edge to the right, which created the impression of an endless series of torments (Creation of the world - the sacrifice of Christ - the Last Judgment), but from the center to the edges, and its moral can be expressed in the words “What you deserve is what you get” . And it is not clear whether Bosch approves of pleasures in this world or condemns them.

The loving couple secluded themselves in a bubble; a young man hugs an owl; another man stands upside down, between which a bird is building a nest. The first plan is occupied by “various joys”, in the second there are people riding on various animals, in the third they are flying on winged fish or by themselves. But, according to dream books of that time, cherries, strawberries and grapes mean different forms of debauchery, a scene with bunch of grapes in the pool - a symbol of communion; the pelican picked up a cherry (a symbol of sensuality) in its beak and teases people with it; in the middle, in the tower of Adultery, in the middle of the lake of lust, deceived husbands sleep among the horns. Steel-colored glass sphere - symbols from the Dutch proverb "Happiness and glass - they are short-lived." And in the right wing we find Satan with legs in the form of hollow trees and a body in the form of an open eggshell, a hare taller than a man, unnatural chimeras, a tavern inside a monster - all this is in addition to the “usual” picture of punishments...

At first glance, the central part represents perhaps the only idyll in Bosch’s work. The vast space of the garden is filled with naked men and women who feast on gigantic berries and fruits, play with birds and animals, splash in the water and - above all - openly and shamelessly indulge in love pleasures in all their diversity. Riders in a long line, like on a carousel, ride around a lake where naked girls are swimming; several figures with barely visible wings soar in the sky. This triptych is better preserved than most of large altar images by Bosch, and the carefree joy floating in the composition is emphasized by its clear, evenly distributed light over the entire surface, the absence of shadows, and bright, rich color. Against the background of grass and foliage, like strange flowers, the pale bodies of the inhabitants of the garden sparkle, seeming even whiter next to the three or four black figures placed in this crowd. Behind the rainbow-colored fountains and buildings surrounding the lake in the background, a smooth line of gradually melting hills can be seen on the horizon. Miniature figures of people and fantastically huge, bizarre plants seem as innocent as the patterns of the medieval ornament that inspired the artist.

the main objective the artist’s goal is to show the pernicious consequences of sensual pleasures and their ephemeral nature: aloe digs into naked flesh, coral firmly grips bodies, the shell slams shut, turning the loving couple into its prisoners. In the Tower of Adultery, whose orange-yellow walls sparkle like crystal, deceived husbands sleep among the horns. The glass sphere in which lovers indulge in caresses, and the glass bell sheltering three sinners, illustrate the Dutch proverb: “Happiness and glass - how short-lived they are.”

It may seem that the picture depicts the “childhood of mankind”, the “golden age”, when people and animals lived peacefully side by side, without the slightest effort receiving the fruits that the earth gave them in abundance. However, one should not assume that according to Bosch’s plan, a crowd of naked lovers was supposed to become the apotheosis of sinless sexuality. For medieval morality, sexual intercourse was proof that man had lost his angelic nature and fallen low. At best, copulation was viewed as a necessary evil, at worst as a mortal sin. Most likely, for Bosch, the garden of earthly pleasures is a world corrupted by lust.

Left wing.

The left wing depicts the last three days of the creation of the world. Heaven and Earth have given birth to dozens of living creatures, among which you can see a giraffe, an elephant and mythical animals like the unicorn. In the center of the composition rises the Source of Life - a tall, thin, pink structure. Precious stones sparkling in the mud, as well as fantastic beasts, are probably inspired by medieval ideas about India, which has captivated the imagination of Europeans with its wonders since the time of Alexander the Great. There was a popular and fairly widespread belief that it was in India that Eden, lost by man, was located.

In the foreground of this landscape, depicting the antediluvian world, there is depicted not a scene of temptation or expulsion of Adam and Eve from Paradise, but their union by God. Taking Eve by the hand, God leads her to Adam, who has just woken up from sleep, and it seems that he is looking at this creature with a mixed feeling of surprise and anticipation. God himself is much younger than in other paintings; he appears in the guise of Christ, the second person of the Trinity and the incarnate Word of God.

Right wing (“Musical Hell”)

The right wing got its name because of the images of instruments used here in the most strange way: one sinner is crucified on a harp, below the lute becomes an instrument of torture for another, lying prone “musician”, on whose buttocks the notes of the melody are imprinted. It is performed by a choir of damned souls led by a regent - a monster with a fish face.

If the central part depicts an erotic dream, then the right wing depicts a nightmarish reality. This is the most terrible vision of Hell: the houses here not only burn, but explode, illuminating the dark background with flashes of flame and turning the water of the lake as crimson as blood.

In the foreground, a rabbit drags its prey, tied by the legs to a pole and bleeding - this is one of Bosch’s most favorite motifs, but here the blood from the ripped open stomach does not flow, but gushes, as if under the influence of a gunpowder charge. The victim becomes the executioner, the prey becomes the hunter, and this perfectly conveys the chaos reigning in Hell, where the normal relationships that once existed in the world are inverted, and the most ordinary and harmless objects Everyday life, growing to monstrous sizes, turn into instruments of torture. They can be compared to the gigantic berries and birds in the central part of the triptych.

On a frozen lake in the middle ground, another sinner balances precariously on a huge skate, but it carries him straight to the ice hole, where another sinner is already floundering in the icy water. These images are inspired by an old Dutch proverb, the meaning of which is similar to our expression “by thin ice" Just above are people depicted like midges flocking to the light of a lantern; on the opposite side, “doomed to eternal destruction” hangs in the “eye” of the door key.

The diabolical mechanism, an organ of hearing isolated from the body, is composed of a pair of gigantic ears pierced by an arrow with a long blade in the middle. There are several interpretations of this fantastic motif: according to some, this is a hint of human deafness to the words of the Gospel “he who has ears, let him hear.” The letter “M” engraved on the blade denotes either the mark of a gunsmith or the initial of a painter who, for some reason, was especially unpleasant to the artist (possibly Jan Mostaert), or the word “Mundus” (“Peace”), indicating a universal meaning masculinity, symbolized by the blade, or the name of the Antichrist, which, according to medieval prophecies, will begin with this letter.

A strange creature with a bird's head and a large translucent bubble absorbs sinners and then throws their bodies into a perfectly round cesspool. There, the miser is condemned to forever defecate with gold coins, and the other, apparently a glutton, is condemned to continuously regurgitate the delicacies he has eaten. At the foot of Satan's throne, next to the fires of hell, a naked woman with a toad on her chest is embraced by a black demon with donkey ears. The woman's face is reflected in a mirror attached to the buttocks of another, green demon - such is retribution for those who succumbed to the sin of pride.

External doors.

The World is depicted in gloomy tones on the third day after God created it from the great void. The earth is already covered with greenery, surrounded by waters, illuminated by the sun, but neither people nor animals can be found on it. The inscription on the left wing reads:"He spoke and it was done"(Psalm 33:9), on the right -“He commanded and it appeared”(Psalm 149:5).

List of used literature.

1. World artistic culture / P.A. Yukhvidin M. “New School” 1996

2. Gospel images and plots in artistic culture / E.M. Cetina M. “Frinta”, “Science” 1998

3. Platonova N.I. "Art. Encyclopedia" - "Rosman-Press", 2002