The symbolism of the sword in monumental sculpture. Symbols and their meaning in painting What does a sword consist of?
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The most remarkable works of 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 pink, the lips are red, the eyebrows are black. 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 gravitates towards complex symbolic images, towards identifying a wide range of human emotions - from clear harmony and soft lyricism to despair and gloomy 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 definiteness of forms and attached special importance to 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 from Rodin by the Society of Men of Letters, was the sculptor's last major work. 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” The generally accepted name of the Greek marble statue of the goddess 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, the goddess of beauty and love, who was included in the number 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 played the lyre or sang, 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 an 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.
G. BC e. Not preserved.
In the loggias of the building Russian National Library(b. Public) architect Russia erected statues of scientists, philosophers, and poets of antiquity.
There are ten statues in total: here are Herodotus and Euclid, Cicero and Tacitus, Plato and Homer, Virgil and Euripides, Demosthenes and Hippocrates. The facade is crowned with the figure of the goddess of wisdom Minerva.
Among them is a statue Hippocrates- Chief Physician of World Medicine. In his right hand is a staff entwined with a snake. 
The god of healing - Asclepius (Aesculapius) was also depicted with a staff with a snake entwined around it. The snake and the cup, as you know, are the emblem of medicine.
And the image of the daughter of Asclepius Hygiei(from her name - hygiene), captured in a fountain in St. Petersburg. Fountain "Hygieia" was created by the sculptor D. Jensen and the architect A. Stackenschneider and installed in front of the facade of the Military Medical Academy on the street. Lebedeva. 
On the pedestal there is a statue of a seated Hygieia, her left hand with a bowl is extended forward, and along her arm, entwining it, a serpent crawls towards the bowl.
A very harmonious monument, one of my favorites.
Fountain with snakes
In the courtyard of the Institute of Experimental Medicine (IEM) on Academician Pavlov Street there is a fountain by the sculptor I. Bezpalov. A bronze bowl is installed in the center of a granite pool. Along the edges are four pedestals on which snakes are coiled. 
According to the book of symbols, a reptile curled into a ball means not only health, but also prudence, doubt, and precaution.
There, by the way, there is a famous monument to a dog, erected on the initiative of Academician I. Pavlov - one of the first monuments to animals.
Apollo
In the Summer Garden there is a statue of Apollo Phoebus - the god of arts and sunlight. A snake wrapped itself around a tree next to him. This is a copy of the ancient original, the famous Apollo Belvedere by the Italian master Paolo Triscorni. 
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Zakharyevskaya st., 23. House of L. I. Nezhinskaya in the Art Nouveau style. At the entrances there are huge statues of the sun god Ra, and on the walls there is an abundance of decorative elements on the theme of Ancient Egypt. 
In terms of the number of snakes in the design of the facade, this is the most “snake” house in St. Petersburg.
The head of Medusa the Gorgon during the Classical and Empire periods became a traditional decorative element accompanying military fittings in the architecture of buildings and fences. It is a frequent motif in the decoration of fences and bridges in St. Petersburg.
Southern lattice of the Summer Garden overlooking the Moika River, architect Charlemagne 
Another netsuke figurine.
Kiyohime- in Japanese folklore, a girl who turned into a snake out of longing for her lover. The figurine of Kiyohime’s netsuke is a reminder of the possible retribution for unfulfilled promises. 
The young monk Anchin promised to return, but forgot about Kiyohime, and she waited a long time for his return.
Seething with anger, she headed towards the monastery and turned into a huge dragon snake. Anchin, in fear, decided to hide from the snake under the bell. However, Kiyohime found it and entwined the bell with the rings of her body. With the fire of hatred, Kiyohime melted the bell and burned the monk, and then left the monastery.
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Naga guards at the entrance to a Buddhist temple in Cambodia 
Sculpture of Buddha sitting on a cobra 
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A sculptural group at Thailand's Suvarnabhumi Airport based on the myth of churning (churning) the Ocean of Milk. Deva gods and asura demons are engaged in churning the Ocean of Milk to obtain the nectar of immortality amrita.
On one side, the snake king Vasuki is pulled by the gods, on the other by the asuras.
This brought not only amrita to the world, but also a lot of valuable artifacts.
Fountain in a park on the banks of the Mekong, Vientiane, Laos 
Wat Samphan is a giant Dragon Temple. Thailand 
Stunning temple, which is surrounded by a huge serpent-dragon on the outside
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And finally, a “man-made” snake
Pharaoh snake
Pharaoh snakes are a series of reactions that are accompanied by the formation of a porous product from reacting substances and are accompanied by the rapid release of gas. Chemical trick)) 
As a result, the reaction looks as if a large snake is crawling out of the mixture of reagents and crawling across the table, like a real one.
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Pyramid symbolism
The pyramid completes the entire architectural composition of the royal burial. But why did the pyramid become the final resting place?
The ancient Greeks began to call this huge tomb a pyramid. This is what they call it today. The word itself comes from a geometric definition. The Egyptians called the pyramid "mer", this word comes from the verb "iar", which means to rise, and denotes the place of ascension. Thus, the step pyramid served as a huge staircase along which the deceased pharaoh ascended to heaven.
The pyramids of the IV and V dynasties are closely associated with the cult of the Sun; they were considered symbols of light, the power of the Sun. The pyramids could also be identified with the Sun itself. The top of the pyramid was usually represented by a small pyramid, the so-called “pyramidon”. Only one such pyramidon has survived to this day. This is the top of the pyramid of Amenemhat III. It is carved from black granite. A winged solar disk is depicted on its edges. The top of the obelisk is also shaped like a pyramid; this is the most sacred part of the structure.
The pyramid symbolizes the path to heaven and is identified with the ray of the sun falling on the earth.
Sculpture
Sculpture developed in close connection with architecture. The main images were those of the reigning pharaohs. Although the needs of religious worship required the creation of images of numerous gods, the image of the deity, often with the heads of animals and birds, did not become central to Egyptian sculpture.
One of these gods is Anubis.
(Anubis statues)
There are many different statues with his image, but I will choose the Stele of the “royal scribe”, “fan bearer at the right hand” of King Tutankhamun, “great manager of the royal economy” Ipi. Almost the entire surface of the limestone slab is occupied by a scene of dignitary Ipi worshiping the statue of the god of embalming and patron of the dead, Anubis. On the left, the jackal-headed Anubis sits on the throne. With his right hand Anubis holds the sign of life “ankh” by the loop, and with his left hand with the staff “was” he extends it towards Ipi walking towards him. The god Anubis in Egyptian mythology is considered the patron god of the dead. He was depicted as a lying black jackal, a wild dog, or as a man with the head of a jackal or dog. Anubis was considered the judge of the gods. The center of the cult of Anubis was the city of the 17th nome of Kas - the Greek Kinopolis, translated as “city of the dog”. However, his veneration spread very early throughout Egypt. During the period of the Old Kingdom, Anubis was considered the god of the dead, his main epithets were “Hentiamenti”, that is, the one who is ahead of the country of the West (the kingdom of the dead), “the lord of Rasetau” and “standing in front of the palace of the gods”. According to the Pyramid Texts, Anubis was the main god in the kingdom of the dead. He counted the hearts of the dead, while Osiris - the god of the dead and reviving nature - mainly personified the deceased pharaoh, who came to life like a god. From the end of the 3rd millennium BC. e. the functions of Anubis pass to Osiris, who is assigned his epithets, and Anubis is included in the circle of gods associated with the mysteries of Osiris.
Together with Thoth present at the trial of Osiris. One of the most important functions of Anubis was to prepare the body of the deceased for embalming and turning it into a mummy. Anubis was credited with laying his hands on the mummy and transforming the deceased with the help of magic into ah ("enlightened", "blessed"), who came to life thanks to this gesture. Anubis placed children around the deceased in the burial chamber of Horus and gave each a canopic jar with the entrails of the deceased for their protection. Anubis is closely associated with the necropolis at Thebes, the seal of which depicts a jackal lying over nine captives. Anubis was considered the brother of the god Bata. According to Plutarch, Anubis was the son of Osiris and Nephthys. The ancient Greeks identified Anubis with Hermes.
Much more important was the development of the type of earthly ruler, and over time, other, simpler people.
In the Old Kingdom, strictly defined types of statues were developed:
Standing with the left leg extended and arms lowered, pressed to the body, such as the statue of Ranofer. He is depicted walking with his arms down along his body and his head raised; everything in this sculpture is kept within the framework of the canon - the pose, the attire, the coloring, the overdeveloped muscles of the motionless body, the indifferent gaze directed into the distance.
- (Ranofer Statue)
- - seated, with hands folded in front, like, for example, the statue of the royal scribe Kaya. Before us is a confidently contoured face with characteristic thin, tightly compressed lips of a large mouth, prominent cheekbones, and a slightly flat nose. This face is enlivened by eyes made of various materials: in a bronze shell, corresponding in shape to the orbit and at the same time forming the edges of the eyelids, pieces of alabaster are inserted for the white of the eye and rock crystal for the pupil, and a small piece of polished ebony is placed under the crystal , thanks to which that brilliant point is obtained, which gives special liveliness to the pupil, and at the same time to the entire eye. This technique of depicting eyes, generally characteristic of sculptures of the Old Kingdom, gives vitality to the face of the statue. The eyes of the scribe Kaya seem to inextricably follow the viewer, no matter where he is in the hall. This statue amazes with the truthfulness of the elaboration not only of the face, but also of the entire body of the collarbones, fat, flabby muscles of the chest and abdomen, so characteristic of a person leading a sedentary lifestyle. The modeling of hands with long fingers, knees, and back is also excellent.
(Statue of the scribe Kaya)
All are characterized by the following artistic techniques: the figures are constructed with strict observance of frontality and symmetry; the head is set straight and the gaze is directed forward; the figures are inextricably linked with the block from which they are carved, which is emphasized by the preservation of part of this block as a background; the statues were painted: the body of male figures was reddish-brown, female figures were yellow, clothes were white, hair was black. The main character is solemn monumentality and tranquility.
During the Middle Kingdom, masters overcome the idea of cold grandeur, and the faces of the pharaohs acquire individual features. In the depiction of common people, the constraining influence of canons is overcome, as a result of which the images become individual. In addition to round sculpture, the Egyptians willingly turned to relief. A canon was gradually created: the main “hero” was depicted larger than the others, his figure was depicted in a double plan: head and legs in profile, shoulders and chest in front. The figures were usually painted. Works appear that are characterized by grace and harmony. Harmony of the lines of the arms and legs, finer coloring of clothes with patterns, miniature figures are characteristic stylistic devices of the works of the Middle Kingdom.
The sharp authority and tension in the facial features of the rulers increased. The portrait head of Senusret III (19th century BC, New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art) with sunken eyes, sharp arched eyebrows and sharpened cheekbones, highlighted by the shine of smoothly polished dark obsidian, indicates the complexity of the human image. The contrasts of light and shadow are more strongly emphasized, bitter folds run along the sides of the mouth.
(Portrait head of Senusret III)
The same power in sculpting the face and interest in conveying the character of a person is felt in the portrait head of Amenemhat III (19th century BC, Cairo, Museum)
The Egyptians use new techniques - the contrast between the stillness of the pose and the lively expressiveness of a carefully crafted face (deep-set eyes, drawn facial muscles and folds of skin) and a sharp play of chiaroscuro (statues of Senusret III and Amenemhet III). Genre scenes are popular in wooden folk sculpture: a plowman with bulls, a detachment of warriors; They are distinguished by spontaneity and truthfulness.
The desire for the colossal can also be seen in the sculpture of the New Kingdom. In front of the entrance to the temple of Amenhotep III, on the outskirts of Thebes, huge seated statues of the pharaoh were installed from solid blocks of red sandstone, about 20 m high. Art takes on unprecedented forms and features. A striking feature of these monuments is their enormous scale, combined with public, monumentalized volumes. Now the sculpture has acquired a hint of gigantomania. Portraits appear. Here is Akhenaten himself - a narrow face with slanted eyes, a large irregularly shaped head, short and thin legs. His portraits are made with stunning psychological authenticity. The pharaoh is often depicted in a relaxed home environment, against the backdrop of enchanting landscapes.
The most remarkable works of 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 colored necklace. The face is painted pink, the lips are red, the eyebrows are black. 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, which gives balance to the entire sculpture.
(Sculptural portrait of Nefertiti)
It is enough to look at the queen’s face to understand that this is undoubtedly the work of a brilliant sculptor. The subtlety with which the sculptor conveyed the shape of the cheeks, lips, chin, and neck is amazing.
Wide, heavy eyelids slightly close the eyes, giving the face an expression of concentrated contemplation and slight fatigue. The sculptor managed to convey traces of the years lived, disappointment, and some difficult experiences. Perhaps the portrait was created after the death of one of Nefertiti’s daughters, Princess Maketaton.
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.
And here is the same amazing ease in conveying shapes and volume, the same meager selection of features. To appreciate the genius of the sculptor, the head must be slowly turned, and then, with changing lighting, more and more new, barely marked details appear, giving the monument that force of vitality that distinguishes the work of the master.
By luck, we know his name: both portraits of Nefertiti were found during excavations of the sculptor Thutmes’ workshop in El Amarna. On one of the items from this workshop it is written that Thutmes was praised by the pharaoh and that he was the head of the work. Thus we can conclude that Thutmes was the leading sculptor of his time. And this is undoubtedly confirmed by his works.
The walls of the temples were covered with reliefs and paintings. The relief from Memphis “The Mourners” is permeated with a restless rhythm, expressed in the flexible movements of the arms, sometimes stretched forward, sometimes thrown up.
This relief was created during the 19th Dynasty in Memphis. The “mourners” are arranged along the frieze, as in the old days, but there is no previous parallelism of figures, uniformity of intervals. Now it is not a procession, but a crowd; the figures are crowded, mingling, their rhythm has become more complicated - some are bent over, others are falling to the ground, others are leaning back. There is no longer a prostrate look: each figure has only one shoulder visible. What could be more expressive, more dramatic than these outstretched, folded, flexible arms raised to the sky? Expression is felt in the very movements of the artist’s chisel, nervous and impetuous. The relief does not rise above the background, it is cut into the surface, and some lines are very deep and emphasized, others are drawn lightly - this is how a restless play of shadows is achieved and the feeling of spatial complexity of the composition is enhanced.
(Relief “Mourners”)
Things like this were the last word in Egyptian realism. This monument is unsurpassed in its power to convey human feeling, where the entire group of mourners is united by a common mood expressed in poses, gestures and facial expressions. Not a single figure repeats the other: in grief, the hands are either raised to the sky, then stretched out along the ground, or clasped above the head. The artist achieves enormous dramatic tension in this scene. It should be noted that Theban craftsmen took part in the work on many of the tombs of Memphis, which led to a convergence of the style of these two centers.”
Signs and symbols Since primitive times, various types of images (sculptural, pictorial, graphic) have been sign 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 geographic 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; and green is the color of 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. To personify the sense of touch, a small box was left. In the art of Naples, paintings on the themes of the five human senses - hearing, sight, taste, smell, touch - occupied their place. Famous paintings by José de Ribera on the same subject. 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) are a sign of an erroneous life goal, a 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 its best color, This is the lot of the beautiful 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. Starlight 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. The art of music 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 there are many such examples in musical art. 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 broadest sense - the 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)
A guard is a part that protects a 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 at 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?
Picture 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 technology.
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 with magical properties, and treated it with respect, as 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 rise to a new symbolic meaning of the 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 place 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 samosek - 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, the sorcerer Merlin, by the power of magic, enclosed it in a piece of marble, 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 in 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 tallest Soviet sculptures - “The Motherland is Calling!”, which is installed here in Volgograd on the Mamayev Kurgan, is only the second part of a composition that 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 a plow, expressing the desire of people of good will to fight for disarmament in the name of the triumph 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. 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 surprise 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 of the Soviet Union during the war. 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 Nazi 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 “Heroes of the 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 windage effect 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 the Soviet Army, which took up arms with the sacred goal of liberating its homeland from invaders, destroying fascism, which threatened humanity with enslavement, and protecting the peaceful labor of people all over the world. 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. Work on the creation of a memorial complex in Berlin was 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, the 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 that brings life or death, on the other hand, it is 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.
