UDC

Authors

Abstract

The paper provides a description and a structural and semiotic analysis of the Orthodox iconostasis in the churches of Arkhangelsk. It studies the formation, artistic structure and architecture, iconography and symbolism of the iconostasis. Special attention is given to the North and South Doors, having a high theological and semiotic status in the image-symbolic space of the church. Further, the article interprets the sacred meanings of the iconostasis: the transfer of an idea, image, and sign, since the image-symbolic system (semiosphere) is presented not only by the individual rows devoted to saints or feasts with a consecutive demonstration of key evangelical events, but also by their integrity, consistency of the canonical arrangement of the rows, as well as the names, even if the iconographical canon is not sustained. On the basis of the comparative typological analysis, the author revealed some stylistic and structural peculiarities of Arkhangelsk iconostases of the 17th – early 20th centuries in their historical and symbolic dimensions. The iconostasis is an image-symbolic, or semiotic, system fulfilling important communicative and aesthetic functions and acting as a borderline and a meeting place for the celestial and the earthly, man and God, man and mankind.

Keywords

References

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