Journal of Visual Theology

Typus-Casa Horne: connection with orthodox images and representation of theological narrative in works by Italian artists of 12th‒16th centuries

E. V. Iakovleva — 2025-11-20

The iconography of the Pietà is traditionally rooted back to the Vesperbild. Such an approach is not entirely correct. Panofsky proposes two types of the Italian Pietà: Pietà-Nordica which is a Mary-centered composition (iconographically indeed referring to its Northern European prototype) and a Christ-centered scheme. The latter one is called Casa-Horne-Typus by Panofsky naming it after its prototype – an image of “Cristo in Pietà” from the Horne Museum in Florence reproducing a Gregorian type of the “Man of Sorrow” to which the 13^th century artist added the figure of the Virgin depicting it aside the Savior. According to Panofsky, this image testifies the transition stage from a pure symbolism of an icon to the Andachtsbild, consisting of two components (so called “forms”) “representation” and “scene narrative”. In the 12^th century Byzantine Art and Old Russian Art, two formulas transmit the theological narrative of Christ’s Sacrifice, His Death and Resurrection. “Lamentation over the Dead Christ” (interpreted also as a “Suspension on the way” from the Cross – to the Tomb) and “Dead Christ in the Tomb” (associated with the Gregorian type of “Man of Sorrows”, sometimes referred to as an imago pietatis). The theological nucleus of “Lamentation” deriving from the Mirozhsky Monastary (Pskov) dated 1130s–1140s consists of two figures: Dead Christ embraced by the Mother of God. A traditional gesture from “Glikophilousa” (“Sweet-Kissing”: the cheek of the Virgin touches the cheek of the Son) takes place but in contrast to the Orthodox icon the Mother’s cheek touches the cheek of the Dead Christ and not the Child’s. Reduction of the composition to its theological nucleus turned ninety degrees clockwise so that the figures are presented vertically leads to an icon titled “Do not lament Me, O Mother” (referring to the 8^th century hagiographical text written by Cosmas of Maium). The same Mirozh’s scheme reproduces the author of the image from the Horne Museum in Florence. This article aims to update Panofsky’s theory on the origin of the Christ-centered type of Italian Pietà as well as to prove the necessity to substitute the term of Typus-Casa Horne with the one of Typus-Mirozh. The author of the article proposes a new formula of the type and based on the examples of visual antithesis in the masterpieces by the Italian artists (such as Giovanni da Milano, Giovanni Bellini, Michelangelo Buonarroti) proves that two schemes were used to transmit different theological narratives. Pietà Nordica, deriving from a Mary-centered Northern European Vesperbild aims believers to associate their spiritual fillings with the sufferings of the Mother of God, whereas a Christ-centered Typus-Mirozh images are to transmit the theological ideas of Sacrifice and Resurrection.

Lev Karsavin’s drawing: from visualization of metaphysics to Bible verses

V. I. Sharonov — 2025-11-20

The research is devoted to a unique document from the archive of L. P. Karsavin’s family – a drawing of an eight-pointed Orthodox cross decorated with visual elements and fragments from the Bible in Greek and Hebrew. The compositional integrity of the image – the cross, text fragments, and a combination of geometric elements – allowed the author to see the key to understanding the drawing in Karsavin’s theoretical work. Hypothesis testing confirmed the connection of the drawing with the book “On the Principles”, which contains an original philosophical interpretation of biblical verses, and therefore the drawing can show an example of symbolic visualization expressing the connection of philosophical ideas with their religious foundations. The author finds arguments in favor of seeing a personal (intimate) meaning in the symbolism of the drawing, due to the fact that the beginning of work on the book was accompanied by the story of L. P. Karsavin’s love for E. Ch. Skrzhinskaya. Skrzhinskaya became Karsavin’s philosophical muse, and her expected but failed visit to him in 1930 is considered to be a significant motive for the drawing. In the composition with the cross, the philosopher sought to express his love, faith, and memory of time spent together. The article highlights the works that influenced the creation of the graphic work: a diagram attributed to St. Maximus the Confessor, and works dedicated to the symbolism of the cross. The introduction of L. P. Karsavin’s drawing into scientific circulation significantly enriches the history of Russian religious philosophy with a unique example of visualization and gives a new understanding of the philosopher’s theoretical legacy.

Poetic theology of Jan Paul II: semiotic threshold and visualization of abstractions

E. E. Brazgovskaya — 2025-11-20

The central issue of the research is the question of the semiotic threshold ‒ the boundary between semiotic phenomena and no-sign territory (Umberto Eco), where man stops trying to understand metaphysical entities. The linguistic argument for God’s existence (God is embodied in signs) is followed by the linguistic problem of how to formulate knowledge about the objects of transcendence. Representative difficulties of the language of theology arise at the level of the semantic and epistemic ambiguity, which creates a situation of the hiddenness of God. The methodological discourse of this research (philosophical metaphysics, cognitive semiotics, and theolinguistics) presupposes the use of formal methods of analysis (logical-semantic, semiotic). In discussing the semiotic limitations of theological language, the author refers to Jan (John) Paul II’s “Roman Triptichus” (Tryptyk Rzymski). This text presents the poetic actualization of the U. Eco’s ideas about the threshold of representations. Jan Paul II expands the idea of the semiotic threshold by showing it in the discourse of God and man. The “Roman Triptych” presents a system of invisible transitions. Among them there is an ontological threshold between the eternal Word of God and the created world; the threshold of time between Eternity and the creation of man, life, and death; the threshold of fatherhood; the threshold of knowledge between language and transcendent God; the threshold of interpretation between the word and the visual image; the conclave as the “personal” border of the Pope, which separated Karol Wojtyła from John Paul II. Each threshold is associated with an epiphany of the invisible, for which John Paul II proposes the principle of analogia entis and the visualization of verbal symbols (the Book of Genesis) in an iconic image (the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel). Revealing itself as a visual sign-bearer, the Word acquires a body. Thus, from the pontiff’s point of view, works of art become sources of theological knowledge. The article emphasizes that this is the pontiff who speaks on the problem of crossing semiotic thresholds (Lat. pontifex, creator of bridges).

Sacred topics of Russian cities (12). The image of King David and the visual codes of medieval Vladimir

S. S. Avanesov — 2025-11-20

The traditional Russian city is not only a rationally planned place of habitation, providing its inhabitants with safety and realization of utilitarian needs, but also a work of urban art, embodying the basic principles of axiologically coloured aesthetics. Moreover, like any classical work of art, the Russian medieval city is projected, built and functioning as a spatial visual text – a message about fundamental ideas that form the core of Russian culture and national cultural identity. Specific examples demonstrate how the use of cultural codes opens access to the connotative layer of the sacred image for the recipient. The image of King David is interpreted depending on the code and context, as a symbol of a good ruler, psalmist, saint and prophet. Each of these interpretations is associated with the demonstration of a certain theological idea and has a local reference that allows Vladimir to be perceived as a sacred text. According to this text, Vladimir is a city governed by pious authority, a place of God’s glory, a community under the highest patronage, and a spatial icon of the Heavenly City. These ideas form the integral image of Vladimir and the basis of its cultural identity.

Road to the temple as a cultural and semantic pattern in the hierotopy of Russian cities

D. E. Krapchunov — 2025-11-20

Abstract. Many Russian cities have a history of several centuries or even more than a thousand years, like Veliky Novgorod. Modern architecture and urban design are inherited from the Middle Ages, when urban planning was a direct consequence of ethnic and religious identity. How can a modern person “read” a city that was created many generations ago? Biblical thematic keys can be used to understand and comprehend patterns or similar types of urban environments. Thus, in a Russian city, one can find a temple and the road leading to it as a stable dominant presented in both historical and modern urban spaces. The Russians believe that “The road leading to the temple” is the semantic dominant, the basis of the syntactic framework, the urban “texture” of the synchronous and diachronic character of the Russian city, the heir of Russian traditional, and therefore Christian identity. The road to the temple is the essence of Orthodox soteriology – deification. The temple is understood as Christ, but the road to the temple is also Christ. The formula of salvation is in Christ, through Christ, after Christ, and with Christ. At the same time, the road leading to the temple has become a stable formula, manifested in works of art of the 19^th ‒ 21^st centuries: literature, painting, cinema, created in the Soviet and post-Soviet space, which inherited the Russian Empire, Old Russia. The modern Russia has the inheritance of a special symbolic perception of the surrounding world, referred to the language of the parables of the Christian Holy Scripture, the mystery of spiritual tradition in various forms. What was conveyed through symbols and understood through biblical thematic keys in medieval urban planning, started being articulated openly, without sacred secrecy, as secularization progressed: “Why do we need a road if it does not lead to the temple”, as it was formulated in T. Abuladze’s film “Repentance”.

Religious art and museum representation: historical aspects, challenges and prospects

О. А. Ryzhkova — 2025-11-20

The study is devoted to the practice of museum representation of religious values and the discourse associated with it. Museum activities represent a complex process of rethinking the historical past, shaping cultural identity, and updating value strategies and narratives sought by society. The museum functions as a field of interaction between various institutional actors, memory communities, and media platforms, reflecting its role in the construction of sociocultural meanings. An important aspect of museum practice is assessing the potential of church institutions claiming responsibility for the preservation of religious works of art. This involves critically examining their organizational, financial, technical, and scientific resources necessary to ensure the comprehensive study and public display of these objects. Each such case requires tailored solutions that consider both spiritual and religious as well as cultural and museum-related parameters, as well as the balance between the educational mission of museums and respect for tradition. In this regard, a discourse analysis of the statements of one of the leading figures in Russian cultural policy, M. B. Piotrovsky, is important. He emphasizes that sacred meaning today prevails over artistic value. The study revealed dynamic processes transforming the status of museums in society, redefining key concepts such as heritage, preservation, and cultural appropriation. Thus, the object of this research is the formation of a complex discourse that intertwines aspects of cultural policy, museum scholarship, religious studies approaches, and ethical norms. Analysis of this problematic allows us to understand the mechanisms of cultural representation of religious heritage and expand our understanding of the role of the museum as a space for dialogue between the sacred and the secular. The contemporary discourse on the museification of religious objects is at the intersection of several key issues: the balance between preservation and accessibility, the interpretation of the sacred context in the secular space of the museum, and the place of the individual as a subject of religious and cultural experience within the context of a church and museum. The discourse under study is influenced by globalization and digital processes, as well as changes in public consciousness. These factors influence the formation of public perception of heritage, as well as the methods and strategies of its preservation, scientific analysis and popularization, emphasizing the need to adapt museum practices to modern challenges and socio-cultural expectations.

Visual representation of anti-religious propaganda in the USSR: A. Panteleev’s “Wonder-worker” (1922)

E. I. Speshilova — 2025-11-20

The article examines one of the earliest Soviet anti-religious films, The Wonder-worker (1922), directed by A. P. Panteleev, as a unique example of agitation mass art of the “cultural revolution” period, which has not previously been subjected to detailed analysis in scholarly literature. The author employs visual-semiotic and historical-cultural approaches to analyze the ideas presented in the film, as well as the ideological and cultural context within which it was produced. The primary semiotic significance of the film lies in its critique of the Church and its representatives, achieved through the depiction of their disbelief in the possibility of a genuinely supernatural event and their efforts to construct a “miracle” guided solely by pragmatic considerations and the desire for financial gain. In addition, The Wonder-worker serves as an artistic justification for the Soviet campaign to confiscate church valuables carried out in the first half of 1922. Owing to its simple and easily comprehensible plot about the fabrication of religious miracles, the film enjoyed considerable popularity among Soviet audiences. The author demonstrates that the anti-religious thrust of The Wonder-worker, aimed at discrediting the actions of the clergy, neither touches upon nor refutes the fundamental foundations of the Christian faith. Moreover, it is shown that the film contains scenes highlighting the significance of religious belief in the life of the people, which are entirely devoid of a critical message. Despite the film’s certain contribution to the Soviet authorities’ struggle against the official Church, its impact on popular religiosity appears to have been negligible.

Political theology on Roman coins (the case of Gallienus)

R. B. Galanin — 2025-11-20

The connection between ancient coin emissions, especially ancient Roman ones, and political, religious and cultural propaganda is one of the topics that make the study of ancient Greek and Roman coins not only a matter for numismatists, specialists in economic and political history, but also for historians of philosophy. In addition to its utilitarian purposes, coin minting had a number of symbolic tasks, including those related to political propaganda and the recording of the current mode of political subjectivity of the ruler. This is clearly visible in the example of the Roman emperors and their coinage. In a way, the coins become a continuation and projection of the “political body” of the sovereign, showing how the emperor understood it in the context of “numismatic theology”. The recording of the mode of political subjectivity was always accompanied by some sanction of gods, and a specific sanction, concerning circumstances understandable to the “reader” of the coin. The figures of deities, the sacred symbols accompanying them, animals, and interpretative inscriptions make the coin issue a clear political gesture, formulated in full accordance with the political and social connotations of Roman theology. The article gives an example of such theological-political subjectivity of the emperor (Gallienus’ coins). We compare the available information about his political activities, religious preferences, Philhellenism, and patronage of Plotinus with a visual presentation of Gallienus’ policies in various types of coins dating back to different periods of his reign. It is suggested that the abundance of gods on his coin issues, especially during the period of his sole rule, is caused by the emperor's claim to be the central factor of “god-human” communication. Thus, loyalty to the emperor became a necessary condition for protection from the divine realms.