2. Eco U. Open work. Form and uncertainty in modern poetics. St. Petersburg: Symposium, 2006.
3. Weawer W. La matematica dell" informazione // Controllo Automatico. Milano: Martello, 1956.
4. Moles A. Theorie de l'information et perception esthetique. Paris: Flammarion, 1958.
Information and the sense of music message of the XX century
There is shown the specific of communication process in the works of the XXth century composers.
In the comparative analysis of two vocal compositions
(“A letter by S. Rakhmaninov to K.S. Stanislavsky”
by S. Rakhmaninov" and "Franz Schubert
(to a friend)" D. Argento) it is proven
that the expanding of usual meanings
in the given works with the help of creating
new codes enlarge the quality of senses.
But the enlargement of information makes them disappear.
Key words: media space, single valued and multiple valued information, information space, entropy, art message, music sense.
I.V. PORTNOVA (Moscow)
IMAGES-SYMBOLS IN ANIMAL SCULPTURE OF THE XX century.
The issues of the development of domestic animal art of the 20th century are considered. The author's interpretation of animalistic images-symbols in sculpture is given.
Keywords: image-symbol, symbolic language, animalistic sculpture.
At the end of the 50s of the XX century. the relationship between nature and man begins to be considered in the fine arts in philosophical aspect. This theme was reflected in painting in the 1960s and then in sculpture. In its solution, animal art often resorts to symbolic language, metaphor, strives for generalization, and also uses new plastic possibilities.
On turn of the 19th century- XX centuries, in the era of great scientific discoveries, the sacred meaning of nature does not disappear. Scientific discoveries give rise to new questions, nature appears in a new quality. The universe is now seen as a great idea rather than a great mechanism. Under the gaze of an attentive observer, nature is always spiritual, inseparable from human thoughts and feelings, and it is also a source of inspiration for artists, writers, and philosophers. Most aesthetic concepts consider nature as a valuable entity in itself, a source of images and symbols of art.
To understand the concept of an image-symbol, it is necessary to consider the views of artists on the natural world. V. Vatagin, B. Vorobyov, D. Gorlov have an almost religious reverence for animals. With a great deal of nostalgia, V. Vatagin recalled the cult of animals in ancient times: “The animal is held in high esteem here, as in icons, treated as a deity... every movement was filled with inner meaning, containing the “soul” of a living being.” The artist speaks about the peculiarities of Egyptian animal painting: “In Egyptian art, an image of an animal appeared before me, deeply generalized and full of significance, the movements of animals are full of calm and dignity, and the poses are closed in self-absorbed, solemn stillness, the silhouettes are captured by an exquisite and meager line, there is nothing superfluous and random , violating the harmony of the whole” (quoted from:). I. Efimov notes the value of the animalistic image in ancient Eastern art: “Oriental masters look at the model for an extremely long time and squeeze out all its value.” D. Gorlov notes the natural foundations of the animalistic image in folk art: “The ability of folk artists to convey the rhythmic essence of what is depicted, to conditionally generalize the image, in turn makes it possible to conditionally paint, increasing the intensity of color, without losing the sense of life. The ability to hold onto a generalized image in the arena of complete association with the living, without transforming it into a cartoon or caricature.”
IN ancient art the animal was the center of attention of artists, and the image
© Portnova I.V., 2009
The words were convincing and filled with great inner strength and meaning. As is known, in these cultures the image of animals had a mainly magical, ritual character and meaning. In animal art of the 20th century. the divine side of the cult, which gave the beast unshakable strength and a certain “holiness,” turned into a symbol, as a tribute to the past. For the artist, the meaning of this power diffused in nature is more important. Therefore, stylization in the spirit of ancient cultures is not only a tribute to their expressive language, but also a desire to see the animal again in all its natural beauty. Sculptors focus on ancient animal art not only to admire the past, but also to confirm its significance in the present day. modern stage as a solid foundation and rich source of inspiration for contemporary animal painting.
In ancient animal art, artists of the 20th century. saw the special symbolic value of nature, which can be interpreted at the present stage. A symbol in art is a holistic idea realized within the framework of the main line of design. This line was the generalization of human knowledge about the natural world and animals. Ultimately, the purpose of such treatment was to resolve universal human moral problems. At the beginning of the 20th century, having substantiated the principle of relativity, A. Einstein made a discovery, expressing a new consciousness of a person who now presented a different picture of the world, which began to be perceived as holistic, regardless of the sphere of knowledge - scientific, historical or artistic. Modern animalist sets itself the task of identifying the holistic imagery of a symbol in an infinite variety of textures, making color, light, and texture of the material become an element of a single expressive image of a philosophical sound. Thus, the sculptural image of eagles by A. Belashov bears the stamp of “eternity” and fullness of life. The sculptor repeats the favorite image of an eagle on large sheets of paper, drawing it in pencil or watercolor. Its solid and laconic silhouette contrasts against the white field of paper, just as it looked in nature against the background blue sky or on rock ledges. Here it is clearly revealed
a connection is established between the type and the ancient prototype, the image with the prototype. At the same time, it is perceived as a reality brought from life.
In the spirit of ancient Egyptian sculpture, expressing the meaning of the totem beast, the works of M. Fokin are presented. The artistic structure of L. Gadaev’s images is also epic. He conveys the value of life itself, using philosophical and allegorical symbolism. “For a long time, in our artistic consciousness, realism and the depiction of life in the forms of life itself were inextricably linked. But by the mid-70s, as interest in the philosophical grew, artistic comprehension life processes, criticism began to talk about a special intellectual approach, about parables and mythology as legitimate forms of realistic depiction of reality.” The works of L. Gadaev are parables. In them there is a palpable desire to overcome illustrativeness in reflecting the deep phenomena of reality. Reacting to the problems of the time, the artist forms his own concept of man, the world, nature, using symbolic forms, thereby striving to create artistic images at a higher level of generalization than in traditional realism. There is a kind of unique addition to the specific content of the work with moments of universal humanity. In achieving this goal, the artist developed his own artistic style: “There is no liberty in his modeling, not a single extra effective stroke, no excesses in modeling: Gadaev’s “handwriting” is free from both minute detailing and emphasized play of chiaroscuro. Rather, we can talk about a gravitation towards archaic forms, which he sees as the embodiment of the spirit of formation, development, incompleteness.”
The symbolic image is especially organic in the monumental and decorative sculpture of animal artists. By its nature, this type of plastic art is prone to generalization, focuses on silhouette perception and decorativeness, and is designed to solve artistic problems with a lesser degree of individualization of the image. “In the very combination of “monumental-decorative sculpture” lies a subtle interconnection of meanings. Decorativeness is a property contained in the thing itself and qualitatively representing it (texture, color, generalization of image).
for and its conventional interpretation, compositional and plastic expressiveness, etc.), in this tandem is understood more broadly and is revealed in connection with the tasks of monumental art. Here many additional parameters for solving a work come into account: scale, distance from the viewer, ideological symbolism, correlation various materials interacting, their place in the ensemble with other types of art and the nature of their inclusion in the spatial environment. In this case, decorativeness acts as the most important organizing factor in the synthesis of arts, being an integral quality of balancing the parts and achieving overall harmony.” Here the animalistic image takes on the character of a large, monumental meaningful idea. In the synthesis of other forms of art, it looks even more majestic. In the monumental sculptures of P. Balandin, as well as in his easel works, the strength of animal forms is palpable. Large sizes and the generality of the plasticity make this sculpture monumental in the full sense of the word, elevating it to the significance of a natural symbol. A. Kardashev defines the essence of the animalistic image in its natural form: the beautiful silhouette readability of animal figures, the expression of a strict, almost classical silhouette, a certain ennoblement of its appearance make the sculpture monumentally significant - an ideal-symbol of perfection. Here A. Kardashev was guided by the traditions of the animalistic monument, which have a long history abroad and in our country.
According to their own creative principles V. Vatagin is closest to P. Balandin. Hence the well-known similarity in the creative manners of sculptors working in large planes. The art of the monument is also close to Vatagin’s worldview. An example is the animal figures he made at the entrance to the Moscow Zoo: “Bear” (concrete, 1932) and the flanking gate sculptural compositions"Monkey" and "Wolverine" (concrete, 1932). The convex surface of the gate depicts two reliefs: on one, a running antelope, on the other, a reindeer. At the entrance to the old territory of the zoo, Vatagin placed two large figures of lions (concrete, 1936, the sculptures have not survived). These works radiate some kind of primordial power, reveal some original
ny layer of life. The present and the past seem to meet. The idea of integrity, “cosmogony”, relevant for the ancients, is again taking possession of consciousness modern man. This process is characterized as a search for a rational grain in the “nature-man” relationship.
The theme of man and nature interested artists at various stages of the development of Russian art. This interest has determined many creative concepts of our time. At the turn of the 1950s and 1960s, the formation of a landscape vision began in sculpture, which influenced its future fate. This trend first appeared in painting, where landscape was a significant genre throughout the century. Along with its direct interpretation - the image of nature in “ pure form", it became a significant sphere in which the spiritual self-awareness of a contemporary was reflected. In the painting of the “severe style” (1950-1960s), the landscape acted as a kind of accompaniment to the confrontation between man and harsh nature. New landscape motifs that had not been depicted before appeared in the paintings of painters. Nature began to be interpreted as something correlated with the actions of a new hero-creator, a worker, whose main goal was the conquest and transformation of the surrounding world, and not concern for the preservation of its beauty and not the desire for contemplative admiration of nature. This trend also developed in sculpture.
Along with this line in landscape painting in the late 1950s, the establishment of poetic thinking began. The landscape becomes an exponent of lyrical, national meaningful images. The theme of man and nature clearly resonates in the sculpture. Artists have a need to include elements in sculpture natural environment, which would give rise to certain associations, and the compositional and plastic structure of the sculpture itself became more spatial. There has been a shift in emphasis towards the natural world, awareness of its fragility, reflection of the subtle beauty of the natural world, its constant variability. The romanticism of labor feat was replaced by the lyricism of poetic contemplation of man and animals against the backdrop of nature. The attention of artists is increasingly focused on the spiritual -
moral issues. The theme of the relationship between man and nature became even more relevant in the 1970s - 1980s. This theme is associated with the future of humanity, the awareness of the fact that animals are increasingly victims of civilization, and not free inhabitants environment. The idea of preserving living nature, which is a condition for human existence, is persistently affirmed. If in the 1950s - 1960s an effective, albeit one-dimensional, connection between man and nature was affirmed and unity was highlighted in the context of creative efforts, then in the second half of the 20th century. the question of the relationship between man and nature has become deeply philosophical character. In the 1980s and 1990s, nature and animals became the subject of serious human thought. On this basis, in attempts to understand the patterns of human life, the connections of the past, present and future, philosophical generalizations are born, which artists symbolically express in sculpture.
Literature
1. Vatagin V.A. Image of an animal. M., 1957. P. 247.
2. Vatagin V.A. Moscow sculpture. 1936 // OR Tretyakov Gallery. F.4. Storage unit 1560. Op. 1. L. 123.
3. Efimov I.S. About art and artists. M., 1977. P. 97.
4. Animal worshiper Vatagin. Looking into life. Sverdlovsk, 1972. P. 196.
5. Kozorenko P.P. Artistic Features domestic monumental and decorative sculpture of the 1930s - 50s. M., 1999. P. 41.
6. Lazar Gadaev. Sculpture. Exhibition catalog / entry. Art. S.B. Bazaziants. M., 1989. P. 6.
7. Nurmanbekova D.N. Problems of realism as a creative method in Soviet aesthetics (history and modernity). M., 1990. P. 102.
8. Letter from Gorlov to D. Babenchikov. 1956 // RGALI. F. 2094. Op.1. Unit hr. 24.
Images-symbols in the animalistic sculpture of the XX century
There are considered the questions
of the development of the Russian animalistic
art of the XX century. Also there is given the author’s
view on animalistic images-symbols in sculpture.
Key words: image-symbol, symbol language, animalistic sculpture.
© Malkova O.P., 2009
O.P. MALKOVA (Volgograd)
SPECIFICITY OF THE MEETING OF I.I. MASHKOV IN THE VOLGOGRAD MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS *
Given brief description collections of paintings and graphic works by I.I. Mashkov in the collection of the Volgograd Museum of Fine Arts. The history, composition, theoretical aspects studying the collection.
Keywords: Russian soviet painting, avant-garde, primitivism, socialist realism, “Jack of Diamonds”, I.I. Mashkov.
The name of Ilya Ivanovich Mashkov (1881 -1944) cannot be considered forgotten, however mass consciousness he is most often perceived as a painter of the 1910s, one of the leaders of the “Jack of Diamonds”. Many aspects of his activities remain poorly understood, including later creativity, as well as works located in provincial museums. The Volgograd Museum of Fine Arts (VMIF) has one of the richest and most original regional collections of works by I.I. Mashkova. The range of literature devoted to the works of Mashkov from the Volgograd Museum is very limited. Special attention museum's connection to his work was initially due to the fact that the artist was born on July 29, 1881. in the village of Mikhailovskaya (now part of the Uryupinsky district of the Volgograd region).
Great value has the fact that all the works came to the VMII from the artist’s workshop, which eliminated doubts about their authenticity. The collection began in 1964, when, during the organization of the museum, two small still lifes, “Cherry Tree” (1939) and “Still Life on a Blue Background” (1930s), were transferred by the Directorate of Art Funds. All other works were received at different times from the artist’s heirs.
* The article was prepared with financial support RGNF and the Administration of the Volgograd region. 09-04-20404 a/v “Comprehensive study of the creative personality of I.I. Mashkov (based on the works of the Volgograd Museum of Fine Arts, archival and expedition materials).”
Signs and symbols Since primitive times various types images (sculptural, pictorial, graphic) were iconic and symbolic codes that were used by ancient people to carry out rituals, preserve and transmit information. Any significant sound, gesture, thing, event can be either a sign or a symbol.
Signs and symbols Signs are generally accepted symbols for objects, phenomena, and actions. Examples of signs include road signs or symbols on geographical maps, SOS sounds or ambulance sirens, a variety of gestures, etc.
Signs and symbols A symbol can be designated by a number, property, or shape. For example, the number 7 is a symbol of perfection and completeness (seven days in each phase of the moon, seven colors of the rainbow, seven notes, seven days of the week, seven virtues, seven deadly sins, seven sacraments Hieronymus Bosch(ok) Seven deadly sins
Signs and symbols Art speaks to people in the language of symbols. A symbol in art is an artistic image that embodies an idea. A symbol, like a riddle, has multiple meanings; its meanings can be revealed indefinitely, unlike a sign, which is understood by everyone in the same way. The depth of understanding of a symbol depends on a person’s ability to interpret, on his erudition and intuition. Hieronymus Bosch (Nearby) Triptych Garden of Earthly Delights.
Signs and symbols by S. Botticelli “The Annunciation” There were eras in history when people especially often turned to symbols in art. In the Middle Ages, man's aspiration to God was of particular interest. Therefore, the things that surrounded a person interested the artist only to the extent that they were connected with the meaning of the Holy Scriptures. Many medieval paintings depict a cup, grapes (wine) and bread, symbols of the sacrament of communion; Lily or iris flowers are a symbol of the Mother of God.
Signs and symbols The choice of color and color is also symbolic: red-brown was a symbol of everything earthly (clay, earth); the red color of shed sacrificial blood, the fire of faith; blue or blue symbolized everything heavenly and holy; A green hope, the color of life, a symbol of consolation, rebirth to a new life. Trinity. Andrey Rublev.
Signs and symbols from the 15th century. The things depicted in the picture are endowed with both a religious and everyday double meaning. The traditional divine symbolism of the Middle Ages continues in the religious. In everyday life, the usual significance of a thing in a person’s everyday life is manifested.
Giusappe Recchi. Still life with five senses. Giuseppe Recchi, a master of still lifes, solved this problem as a true follower of laconicism in one picture. On a small table, he laid out several objects that personified the five senses of man: a lute - hearing, a notebook with notes - vision, a dish of izheyu - taste, a spyglass and glasses - another reminder of vision, flowers - smell. A small box was left to personify the sense of touch. In the art of Naples, paintings on the themes of the five human senses - hearing, sight, taste, smell, touch - occupied their place. Famous paintings Jose de Ribera on the same topic. For Ribera, the sense of touch was personified by a blind sculptor, the sense of smell by a peasant with garlic, and hearing by a cheerful girl with a tambourine. There was a separate picture for each of the feelings.
Y. Van Streck. Vanity of Vanities Many works of the 17th century. are symbolic in nature, which is often conveyed by the objects presented in them: glasses of wine, bread, fish, withered flowers, watches, etc. Sometimes ordinary objects, unusually combined in one composition, represent figurative codes that are difficult to unravel. This is especially characteristic of the widespread in the 17th century. a still life called vanitas (vanitas vanity of vanities) and reminding a person of the frailty of his existence.
The skull is a reminder of the inevitability of death. The skull is a reminder of the inevitability of death. Soap bubbles - the brevity of life and the suddenness of death; a reference to the expression homo bulla “a man is a soap bubble.” Soap bubbles - the brevity of life and the suddenness of death; a reference to the expression homo bulla “a man is a soap bubble.” Cups, playing cards or dice, chess (rarely) a sign of an erroneous life goal, the search for pleasure and a sinful life. Cups, playing cards or dice, chess (rarely) are a sign of an erroneous life goal, a search for pleasure and a sinful life. Hourglass and mechanical watches represent the transience of time. Hourglass and mechanical watches represent the transience of time. Musical instruments, notes, brevity and the ephemeral nature of life, symbol of the arts. Musical instruments, notes, brevity and the ephemeral nature of life, symbol of the arts. Weapons and armor are a symbol of power and might, a designation of what cannot be taken with you to the grave. Weapons and armor are a symbol of power and might, a designation of what cannot be taken with you to the grave. Crowns and papal tiaras, scepters and orbs, wreaths of leaves are signs of transient earthly domination, which is opposed to the heavenly world order. Crowns and papal tiaras, scepters and orbs, wreaths of leaves are signs of transient earthly domination, which is opposed to the heavenly world order.
Balthasar van der Ast “Fruit Basket” If we assume that apples here symbolize victory over sin, and insects and lizards were often associated with evil, then this usual painting has a lot of disguised symbolism. The presence of defects and wormholes, butterflies, dragonflies and flies is very unusual for still lifes. The plot - a lizard gnawing an apple that fell out of a basket, turns into a scene of the struggle between good and evil.
Kiprensky Orest Adamovich - Portrait of Ekaterina Sergeevna Avdulina. Avdulina is wearing a pearl necklace. Pearls in Christian symbolism mean both wealth of spirit and grief and sadness. And if Avdulina herself is the embodiment of fragile young beauty and spirituality, then the dark thunderclouds and the road, barely visible in the twilight, gently rising up the hill, symbolize the difficult path of life and evoke the idea of the fragility and defenselessness of spiritualized beauty in our harsh world. While working on the portrait, the artist was overcome by sad thoughts, which can be briefly expressed in the words of Friedrich Schiller: Everything beautiful perishes in best color, Such is the lot of beauty in the world. A fan rolled up and lowered in the hand symbolizes disappearance.
Symbols in architecture. For example, the symbolism of Orthodox churches is very expressive. The number of chapters on the temple is also symbolic. If a temple has one dome, it means it is dedicated to the Lord Jesus Christ. Two chapters remind us of the dual nature of Christ: God and Man. The three heads of the temple indicate the three faces of the Holy Trinity; The five chapters mean Jesus Christ and the four evangelists; seven chapters of seven holy sacraments and seven Ecumenical Councils; thirteen Jesus Christ and 12 apostles.
Self-portrait in a felt hat. Van Gogh Vincent.. Portraits, landscapes, still lifes, genre scenes of Vincent van Gogh () reflect his rebellious, independent of canons and norms, lonely soul.
V. Van Gogh. Starry night. His works are permeated with a sense of acute anxiety and confusion. The artist's complex inner world is often revealed through symbols. Van Gogh sought to reflect the content with the help of expressive, psychologically rich colors.
Symbols in painting. “I tried to express the terrible passions of man in red and green,” said the artist. The emotional intensity was intensified many times over thanks to the technique used by the master of applying paint with small dashed lines and the wave-like rhythm of their movement. V. Van Gogh. Still life with oleander V. Van Gogh. Church in Auvers
Symbols in painting. P. Picasso. Musical instruments. P. Picasso. Violin. Pablo Picasso also used symbolism in his works (). The characters in his still lifes were often musical instruments. Perhaps this is due to the sophistication of their forms, or perhaps to the desire to synthesize painting and music.
Symbols in the music of N. Paganini “Perpetual Motion” The symbol of the embodiment of the image of “perpetual motion” became the instrumental pieces “Perpetuum mobile” (“Perpetual Motion”) by various composers: N. Paganini, F. Mendelssohn, N. Rimsky-Korsakov and others. Musical art speaks to us in the language of sounds and is filled with secrets. With amazing variety and depth, through a system of signs and symbols, music expresses the richest world of human feelings. Even a single sound, taking into account all its aspects of height, duration, timbre, and volume, is a sign-intonation. It can indicate timidity or confidence, constraint or freedom, tenderness or rudeness.
Symphony 5 by L. Beethoven Symphony 5 by L. Beethoven. A musical sign that becomes a symbol can be called the motif of fate, the grain-intonation from which the entire Symphony 5 of L. Beethoven grows. And such examples in musical art multitude. Symphony 5 by L. Beethoven National anthems are musical symbols that embody the unity of the people, their culture, and pride in their country.
Homework Select works of music, poetry or fine art that, through the language of signs and symbols, would tell about some event in your life, about something that left a mark on your memory and soul. Select works of music, poetry or fine art that, through the language of signs and symbols, would tell about some event in your life, about something that left a mark on your memory and soul.
History of the sword.
In world history, the origin of the sword is hidden under the impenetrable thickness of centuries. A sword is a type of bladed weapon with a straight blade, intended for slashing or slashing and stabbing, in the most in a broad sense- a collective name for all long bladed weapons with a straight blade.
Since ancient times, swords of various shapes have been known: short and long, wide and narrow, straight and curved, light and heavy, two-handed. In the Bronze Age, swords were made of bronze, in the Iron Age - respectively, from iron.
The sword consists of the following parts: blade, hilt, pommel and guard. The combination of the handle, guard and pommel is called the hilt. (Fig. 1)
The guard is a part that protects the fighter's hand. In most medieval blades it has the form of a crosshair, but there are also cup-shaped (like rapiers), block-shaped (like gladius) or even net-like guards.
The pommel (also known as the head) is a weight on the end of the sword opposite the blade. Usually has a more or less spherical shape. It is needed to balance the weapon: to move the center of gravity of the sword from its middle closer to the hand.
What is a sword made of?
Figure 1
There is probably no need to explain what a blade and a hilt are. I note that the blades differ primarily in shape, length and method of sharpening. For example, most European blades in the Middle Ages were double-edged and sharpened at the end, but this is not at all necessary. The side cutting edge of the blade is called the blade, and the piercing end is called the tip.
For many centuries, the sword remained the most formidable and most revered type of weapon. The extraordinary popularity of the sword has its reasons. Even though a blow with a sword cannot be compared with an ax in terms of penetrating and lethal force, and the radius of threat cannot be compared with a spear or axe, the sword has several serious advantages.
A warrior with a sword gets tired much less than someone with an unbalanced weapon. A blow uses up a small fraction of the energy that is needed to swing an axe.
It is convenient to parry blows with a sword - in any case, more convenient than with a polearm, which tends to break. The sword helps its owner to defend himself. The sword is a fast weapon. Even chopping, it is still quite maneuverable. An important consequence of all this: a sword is better than many types of weapons in allowing you to realize an advantage in combat technique.
Warriors of hoary antiquity and the romantic Middle Ages saw in the sword not just a strip of sharpened metal that brings death, but something more - a faithful friend, often endowed magical properties, and treated him with respect, like a living being.
In the early Middle Ages, a blacksmith was considered an extraordinary creature, close to a sorcerer, undoubtedly due to his ability to make weapons and forge swords.
Symbolism of the sword.
As the main type of weapon, the sword was a symbol of war, strength and power, and as the main instrument of “God's judgment” - the highest justice and justice. And these are only the most important, generally accepted symbolic meanings of the sword. For many peoples who worshiped its magical power, the sword also meant divine intelligence, insight, power, fire, light, division or death. Losing a sword in battle was tantamount to losing strength, so a broken sword symbolized defeat.
IN mythology many deities are armed with formidable punishing swords. Hindu Vishnu, for example, was depicted with a flaming sword in his hands. But Ruevit, the god of war among the Baltic Slavs, surpassed everyone in this regard: as many as seven swords hang on his belt, and the eighth is raised in his right hand.
One of the ancient Greek legends gave birth to a new one symbolic meaning sword. A certain Damocles, the favorite of the Syracusan tyrant Dionysius, once openly envied the wealth, power and happiness of his patron. To give Damocles a real idea of the position and fate of the monarchs, Dionysius swapped places with him for one day. Damocles was seated in the royal seat during the feast, but a sword was hung over his head from a horsehair. It was then that the envious man realized the illusory nature of the crown-bearers’ happiness. Since then, the expression “sword of Damocles” has become a symbol of impending, threatening danger.
IN heroic epic swords are necessarily endowed with magical power. A special place in folklore is occupied by the treasury sword, the samoseek - a wonderful weapon that ensures victory over enemies. But it is very difficult to get such a sword: you must first find it somewhere far away, in a burial mound, and then endure a difficult battle with the ghost of the sword’s former owner. Ilya Muromets had to defeat the hero Svyatogor, a gigantic giant who supported the sky with his head, in order to take possession of his treasure sword. The German hero Beowulf rushed into a deep pool, where a terrible female monster was waiting for him, and in an underwater lair he found a giant sword glowing from within, with the help of which the brave hero defeated a monstrous enemy, invulnerable to conventional weapons. Siegfried killed 700 Nibelungs, two giants and defeated the evil dwarf Albrich in a difficult duel before the wonderful sword Balmung was in his hands.
Enchanted swords are not given into the hands of anyone except those for whom they are intended. Only Arthur, heir to King Uther Pendragon of Britain, manages to remove the enchanted sword from the anvil. The sword of the tragically deceased knight Balin was enclosed by the sorcerer Merlin in a piece of marble by the power of magic, and no one except the sinless knight Galahad, to whom it was intended, could by any effort remove it from the stone.
Sometimes magic swords were a gift from the gods or powerful spirits. King Arthur received Excalibur directly from the hands of the Lady of the Lake. Not only the sword itself, but also its sheath were endowed with miraculous properties: those who wore them in battle could not lose a drop of blood.
The swords, animated by the power of magic, behaved like intelligent living beings. Prompting the owner to fight or take revenge, they rang and themselves broke out of their sheaths, not agreeing to go back until they tasted the enemy’s blood. Anticipating the death of the owner, the sword dimmed and became covered with bloody sweat. If a knight committed an act that stained his honor, the sword, refusing to serve the unworthy, rusted, broke, or simply fell out of his hands.
The sword usually served its owner until his death. A dying, bleeding knight would break his sword so that it would “die” with him and not go to the enemy. Mortally wounded, Arthur orders his comrade to throw Excalibur into the waters of a magical lake. Roland, feeling the approach of death, tries to break Durandal on the stones, but his magnificent sword does not even dull, bouncing off the granite blocks with a ringing sound, and then the frantic knight falls on the sword and, covering it with his own body, dies. However, sometimes the legendary sword, anticipating a meeting with a new hero and new amazing feats, stubbornly refuses to die and waits in the wings in a burial mound or in a deep dark cave.
IN religion, especially in Christianity, the sword is sometimes given the most unexpected symbolic interpretations. Thus, in Revelation, a double-edged sword, as a symbol of divine wisdom and truth, comes out... from the mouth of Christ himself. In the Book of Genesis, the fiery sword of the biblical cherub, guarding the road to Eden, is a symbol of purification. The sword is clutched in the hand of one of the horsemen of the Apocalypse, personifying war.
In Buddhism, the sword is seen as a symbolic weapon of wisdom, cutting off ignorance. In China, a sword in the hands of guardian gods is considered a talisman for the whole family: on New Year's Eve, the Chinese hang posters with images of such gods on the doors of their houses.
In Western European iconography, where the sword appears primarily as an instrument of martyrdom, it is an attribute of many saints. The sword pierces the chest of St. Justina, Euphemia and Peter the Martyr, the neck of Lucia and Agnes, the head of Thomas Becket and a book in the hands of St. Boniface, who also fell by the sword. This sad row is closed by the image of the Virgin Mary, whose chest is pierced by seven swords at once - the seven sorrows of the Mother of God.
Perhaps, in the hands of only one Catholic saint, Martin of Tours, the sword has a completely different semantic meaning. According to church tradition, Martin, who met a wet and chilled traveler on the road, cut his cloak in half with a sword to protect the poor man from the weather. In this case, the sword is a symbol of division, participation and goodness.
In Byzantine Orthodoxy, the Roman warrior-martyrs, defenders of the Christian faith, are especially revered: Artemius of Antioch, Dmitry of Thessalonica, Mercury, Theodore Tiron, John the Warrior. All of them were depicted with a sword in their hand or at their belt. Armed with a sword and the most warlike of the divine retinue is the Archangel Gabriel.
In the Russian Orthodox Church, princes - defenders of the Russian land can be depicted with a sword, symbolizing defense, defense: Georgy (Yuri) Vsevolodovich, who fell in the battle with the Tatars on the City River (1238), Mstislav the Brave, Alexander Nevsky, Dmitry Donskoy and others, and also the prince-martyrs killed by the sword: Boris and Gleb.
IN fine arts According to the Renaissance, the sword as an attribute is characteristic of a number of figures that allegorically represent human feelings: Courage, Firmness, Anger, Justice, Temperance and Despair. In the last two it is depicted in a special way: the sword of Temperance is sheathed, which is tightly tied to the hilt to make it difficult to remove; and for Despair, represented as a woman throwing herself on her own sword, it serves as an instrument of suicide.
IN heraldry the sword emblem may symbolize higher military authority or justice. A military heraldic sword is usually depicted naked, blade up, except in cases where it is placed in a coat of arms in memory of the fallen - then the sword is pointing towards the ground.
In our country, the “punishing sword of revolution”, placed in the hands of the Cheka employees, then passed to the GPU and the NKVD. During the Stalinist era, this sword, having lost all connection with the principle of socialist legality, turned into a weapon of mass terror. Before the Great Patriotic War, the emblem of a sword cutting a snake adorned the chevron of military counterintelligence officers “Smersh” (“Death to spies!”). In the post-war period, the emblem depicting a shield with two crossed swords became the distinctive sign of employees of the Ministry of Justice.
In the Middle Ages Western Europe and Japan there was a real cult of the sword. The main weapon of the knight and samurai gradually acquired ritual and ceremonial significance. The symbolic birth of a knight was accompanied during initiation by the sword touching the candidate’s shoulder three times. The knight’s entire subsequent life was inextricably linked with the sword: in battle, the sword served him as a weapon; on the way, the cross-shaped handle of the sword stuck into the ground became a symbolic crucifix. The sword was an instrument of justice during the “divine judgment” and an instrument of retribution during the execution of death sentences. From the 13th-14th centuries, the sword, as a symbol of the supreme military power of monarchs, became one of the royal, imperial and princely regalia.
Sword of Victory.
Few people know that one of the most famous and highest Soviet sculptures- “The Motherland is Calling!”, which is installed in Volgograd on Mamayev Kurgan, is only the second part of the composition, which consists of three elements at once. This triptych (a work of art consisting of three parts and united by a common idea) also includes the monuments: “Rear to Front”, which is installed in Magnitogorsk and “Warrior-Liberator”, located in Treptower Park in Berlin. All three sculptures have one common element - the Sword of Victory.
Two of the three monuments of the triptych - “Warrior-Liberator” and “Motherland Calls!” - belong to the hand of one master, the monumental sculptor Evgeniy Viktorovich Vuchetich, who turned to the theme of the sword three times in his work.
The sculptor himself commented on his commitment to the image of the sword: “I only turned to the sword three times - the Motherland raised one sword to the sky on Mamayev Kurgan, calling on her sons to expel the fascist barbarians trampling Soviet land. The second sword is held with the tip downwards by our victorious Warrior in Berlin's Treptower Park, who cut the swastika and liberated the peoples of Europe. The man forges the third sword onto the plow, expressing the desire of the people goodwill fight for disarmament in the name of peace on the planet.”
The historical sequence was different. First, the Victorious Warrior was erected (1946-1949, together with the architect Ya.B. Belopolsky), the Motherland was erected on Mamayev Kurgan in 1963-1967 with the same Belopolsky and group), and the third monument of Vuchetich, which is not related for this series, was installed in New York in front of the UN headquarters in 1957. The composition, entitled “Let's Beat Swords into Plowshares,” shows us a worker beating a sword into a plow. The sculpture itself was supposed to symbolize the desire of all people of the world to fight for disarmament and the triumph of peace on Earth.
Monument “Rear to Front”
Figure 2
The first part of the trilogy “Rear to Front”, located in Magnitogorsk, symbolizes the Soviet rear, which ensured the country’s victory in the Great Patriotic War. Patriotic War. The reasons why Magnitogorsk received such an honor - to become the first Russian city in which a monument to home front workers was erected - should not come as a surprise to anyone. According to statistics, every second tank and every third shell during the war was fired from Magnitogorsk steel
The authors of this monument were sculptor Lev Golovnitsky and architect Yakov Belopolsky. To create the monument, two main materials were used - granite and bronze. The height of the monument is 15 meters, while outwardly it looks much more impressive. This effect is created by the fact that the monument is located on a high hill. The central part of the monument is a composition that consists of two figures: a worker and a soldier. In the sculpture, a worker passes a sword to a Soviet soldier. It is implied that this is the Sword of Victory, which was forged and raised in the Urals. The worker is oriented to the east (in the direction where the Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works was located), and the warrior is looking to the west. There, where the main fighting took place during the Great Patriotic War. The rest of the monument in Magnitogorsk is the eternal flame, which was made in the form of a star-flower made of granite.
On the bank of the river, to install the monument, an artificial hill was erected, the height of which was 18 meters (the base of the hill was specially reinforced with reinforced concrete piles so that it could withstand the weight of the installed monument and would not collapse over time). The monument was made in Leningrad, and in 1979 it was installed on site. The monument was also supplemented with two trapezoids as tall as a man, on which were listed the names of residents of Magnitogorsk who received the title of Hero during the war. Soviet Union. In 2005, another part of the monument was opened. This time the composition was supplemented by two triangles, on which you can read the names of all the residents of Magnitogorsk who died during the fighting in 1941-1945 (in total, a little more than 14 thousand names are listed
In the sculpture, a worker hands a sword to a Soviet soldier. It is implied that this is the Sword of Victory, which was forged and raised in the Urals, and later it was raised by the “Motherland” in Volgograd. The city in which a radical turning point in the war occurred, and Hitler's Germany suffered one of its most significant defeats. The third monument of the “Warrior-Liberator” series lowers the Sword of Victory in the very lair of the enemy - in Berlin.
Monument “The Motherland Calls!”
Figure 3
Later, this sword forged in the rear will rise up in Volgograd on the Mamayev Kurgan “Motherland”. In the place where the turning point in the Great Patriotic War took place. This sculpture was created according to the design of sculptor E. V. Vuchetich and engineer N. V. Nikitin. The sculpture on Mamayev Kurgan represents the figure of a woman standing with a sword raised up. This monument is a collective allegorical image of the Motherland, which calls on everyone to unite in order to defeat the enemy.
Monument “The Motherland Calls!” is the compositional center of the monument-ensemble “To the Heroes Battle of Stalingrad”, which is located on Mamayev Kurgan. N.S. Khrushchev, approving the project of the monument-ensemble, demanded that the sculpture of the Motherland be taller than the American Statue of Liberty. As a result, Vuchetich had to abandon the original design of the sculpture - a relatively short figure of the Motherland with a folded banner in his hand. As a result, the height of the sculpture is 52 meters, and the length of the sword is 33 meters.
Initially, the 33-meter long sword, which weighed 14 tons, was made of stainless steel in a titanium sheath. But the huge size of the statue led to strong swinging of the sword, which was especially noticeable in windy weather. As a result of such impacts, the structure gradually deformed, the titanium plating sheets began to shift, and when the structure rocked, an unpleasant metallic grinding sound appeared. To eliminate this phenomenon, a reconstruction of the monument was organized in 1972. During the work, the sword blade was replaced with another one, which was made of fluorinated steel, with holes made in the upper part, which were supposed to reduce the effect of the windage of the structure.
The Motherland crowns a huge hill above Sorrow Square in Volgograd. The mound is a bulk mound, about 14 meters high, and the remains of 34,505 soldiers - defenders of Stalingrad - are buried in it. A serpentine path leads to the top of the hill to the Motherland, along which there are 35 granite tombstones of Heroes of the Soviet Union, participants in the Battle of Stalingrad. From the foot of the mound to its top, the serpentine consists of exactly 200 granite steps 15 cm high and 35 cm wide - according to the number of days of the Battle of Stalingrad. In addition to the figure of the Motherland, near the mound there is a complex of memorial sculptural compositions, as well as a memory hall.
At the end of the grandiose work, E.V. Vuchetich admitted: “The ensemble is now complete. Behind this are fifteen years of search and doubt, sadness and joy, rejected and found solutions. What did we want to tell people with this monument on the historical Mamayev Kurgan, on the site of bloody battles and immortal feats? We sought to convey, first of all, the indestructible moral spirit of Soviet soldiers, their selfless devotion to the Motherland.
The monument to the heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad is a monument to the greatest historical event. This is a monument to a mass of heroes. And therefore we were looking for large-scale, especially monumental solutions and forms that, in our opinion, would allow us to most fully convey the scope of mass heroism
Monument “Warrior-Liberator”
Figure 4
And at the end of the composition, the “Warrior-Liberator” will lower his sword on the swastika in the very center of Germany, in Berlin, completing the defeat of the fascist regime. A beautiful, laconic and very logical composition that unites the three most famous Soviet monuments dedicated to the Great Patriotic War.
The thirteen-meter bronze figure of a soldier represents Soviet Army, who took up arms for the sacred purpose of liberating her homeland from the invaders, destroying fascism, which threatened humanity with enslavement, and protecting the peaceful labor of the people of the whole earth. The figure of the young warrior breathes with indestructible strength. The little child trustingly clung to the chest of the kind giant. The ancient sword with which the warrior cut the swastika is a symbol of the defense of a just and noble cause, a symbol of the struggle for people to live happily, so that they work calmly, without fear that the fiery squall of war will sweep over the earth again. The statue of the warrior-liberator is perfectly perceived from all sides, which is facilitated by its easy reversal. The vertical lines of the draped raincoat give the figure the necessary stability. The base of the monument is a green mound, reminiscent of ancient burial mounds. This adds another note to the national melody of the entire ensemble. On the mound there is a light pedestal of a figure, inside of which a mausoleum is built - the solemn completion of the entire ensemble.
On May 8, 1949, on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the victory over Nazi Germany, the grand opening of a monument to Soviet soldiers who died during the assault on the German capital took place in Berlin. The “Warrior-Liberator” monument was erected in Berlin’s Treptow Park. Its sculptor was E. V. Vuchetich, and its architect was Ya. B. Belopolsky. The height of the warrior sculpture itself was 12 meters, its weight was 70 tons. This monument became a symbol of the victory of the Soviet people in the Great Patriotic War; it also personifies the liberation of all European peoples from fascism
The sculpture of the soldier was produced in the spring of 1949 in Leningrad at the Monumental Sculpture plant; it consisted of 6 parts, which were then transported to Germany. Creation work memorial complex in Berlin were completed in May 1949. On May 8, 1949, the memorial was solemnly opened by the Soviet commandant of Berlin, Major General A.G. Kotikov.
The monument to Soviet soldiers in the center of Europe will always remind people of the sacred duty of everyone - to tirelessly fight for peace on earth.
CONCLUSION
IN modern society a sword is both a weapon and a cultural symbol, which is reflected in a variety of semantic forms and guises.
The study is devoted to elucidating the reason and necessity for such an invariable presence of the sword symbol, the main focus of which is expressed in the question: “what does such an archaic object give to a person in the modern information society and why is its presence in culture inescapable not only as a weapon.”
The belonging of the sword to culture is due to its presence in all cultural genres and in repositories of cultural memory. The loss of the utilitarian meaning of the sword did not end its presence in cultural forms, but determined its existence as a symbol.
The sword is one of the most complex and most common symbols. On the one hand, the sword is a formidable weapon, life-bringer or death, on the other hand, an ancient and powerful force that arose simultaneously with the Cosmic Balance and was its opposite. The sword is also a powerful magical symbol, an emblem of witchcraft. In addition, the sword is a symbol of power, justice, supreme justice, all-pervading intelligence, insight, phallic strength, light. The sword of Damocles is a symbol of fate. A broken sword means defeat. Thus, the sword, having left practical reality, nevertheless lives in the reality of quite a large number of people as a symbol and artifact. Its meaning and role at the symbolic level remains virtually unchanged.
Description of the presentation by individual slides:
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To the most wonderful works ancient egyptian art include two sculptural portraits of Queen Nefertiti (XIV century BC). Particularly famous is the life-size painted limestone bust. The queen is wearing a tall blue headdress and a large multi-colored necklace. The face is painted in pink, red lips, black eyebrows. In the right orbit there is an eye made of rock crystal with an ebony pupil. The thin long neck seems to bend under the weight of the headdress. The head is moved slightly forward, and this movement gives balance to the entire sculpture.
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The head intended for a small statue of the queen is no less beautiful. Its height is 19 cm, it is made of sandstone of a warm yellow shade, which well conveys the color of tanned skin. For some reason, the sculptor did not finish the work; he did not finish the ears, did not polish the surface of the stone, did not cut out the orbits for the eyes. But, despite its incompleteness, the head makes a huge impression; having seen it at least once, it is no longer possible to forget it, like the colored bust described above. The queen is depicted here as still young. Lips with cute dimples in the corners smile slightly. The face is full of thoughtful dreaminess - these are the dreams of youth about future happiness, about upcoming joys, successes, dreams that are no longer present in the first portrait.
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French sculptor and graphic artist. One of the most famous sculptors in France. One of the founders of impressionism in sculpture. Rodin's work tends to be complex symbolic images, to revealing a wide range of human emotions - from clear harmony and soft lyricism to despair and dark concentration. Rodin's works acquire a sketchy, seemingly unfinished character, which allows the master to create the impression of a painful birth of forms from elemental, amorphous matter. At the same time, Rodin always preserved the plastic certainty of forms and gave special meaning their textured tangibility.
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“The Bronze Age” O. Rodin 1876 Bronze. O. Rodin Museum. Paris. “The Thinker” O. Rodin 1880 – 1900 Bronze. O. Rodin Museum. Paris.
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"Three Shadows" Circa 1880 Bronze. O. Rodin Museum “Ugolino” 1882 Bronze. O. Rodin Museum
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The monument to Honore de Balzac, commissioned by Rodin from the Society of Writers, became the last major work of the sculptor. For four years the master searched for an image that fully corresponded to his idea of the great novelist. Balzac walks wrapped in a monastic robe, rough, powerful, like a rock. The statue exhibited at the Salon of 1898 caused another scandal. Rodin would make me jump up in indignation... If truth must die, subsequent generations will break my Balzac into pieces. If the truth is not subject to destruction, I predict to you that my statue will make its way...” The artist turned out to be right, and in 1939 a bronze monument to Balzac was erected in Paris at the intersection of Raspail and Montparnasse boulevards.
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"Venus de Milo" Common name for the Greek marble statue brgini of love Aphrodite (mid-2nd century BC). Found on the island of Melos (Southern Greece). Currently kept in the Louvre... Aphrodite (ancient Greek Ἀφροδίτη, in ancient times was interpreted as a derivative of ἀφρός - “foam”) - in Greek mythology goddess of beauty and love, who was one of the twelve great Olympian gods. She is also the goddess of fertility, eternal spring and life. She is the goddess of marriages and even childbirth, as well as a “child-bearer.” Gods and people obeyed Aphrodite's loving power; Only Athena, Artemis and Hestia were beyond her control. She was merciless to those who reject love. Wife of Hephaestus or Ares.
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The Capitoline Venus is a Roman sculpture carved from marble, presumably in the 2nd century, after a Greek statue of Aphrodite from the 4th century BC. e.. Depicts a naked woman standing next to a vessel and a robe lying on it, covering her womb and breasts with her hands (belongs to the type Venus Pudica - “Modest Venus”). Found on the Viminal Hill in Rome between 1667 and 1670. Donated to the Capitoline Museum in 1754 by Pope Benedict XIV.
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"Mona Lisa" by Leonardo da Vinci 1514 - 1515 refers to the creation of the great master’s masterpiece - “La Gioconda”. Until recently, they thought that this portrait was painted much earlier, in Florence, around 1503. They believed the story of Vasari, who wrote: “Leonardo undertook to make for Francesco del Gioconda a portrait of Monna Lisa, his wife, and, having worked on it for four years, left it unfinished. This work is now in the possession of the French king in Fontainebleau. By the way, Leonardo resorted to the following technique: since Madonna Lisa was very beautiful, while painting the portrait he held people who were playing the lyre or singing, and there were always jesters who kept her cheerful and removed the melancholy that she usually conveys. painting for portraits." Leonardo da Vinci - Mona Lisa. (La Gioconda, Gioconda) - Mona Lisa (La Gioconda)
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The inspired hands of Mona Lisa are as beautiful as the light smile on her face and the primordial rocky landscape in the foggy distance. Gioconda is known as the image of a mysterious, even femme fatale, but this interpretation belongs to the 19th century. It is more likely that for Leonardo this painting was the most complex and successful exercise in the use of sfumato, and the background of the painting is the result of his research in the field of geology. Regardless of whether the subject was secular or religious, landscapes that expose the “bones of the earth” are a recurring theme in Leonardo’s work.