The image of death is very ambiguous not only in the visual arts, but also in literature and philosophy. There are many interpretations of it. Different directions and currents in philosophy interpret death differently. Art constantly refers to this theme. We can talk about the connection between philosophy and art. This connection allows you to delve deeper into the essence of their relationship. Even in medieval poetry, wandering storytellers in their works often turned to the theme of death, as if trying to answer the philosophical question: “Why are you all equal before you?” Indeed, death equalizes everyone: rich and poor, kings and beggars.
Hey! This text has been translated into English using automatic Google translation. So I apologize for the inaccuracies in the text. The original in Russian can be seen here
We should not forget about the huge influence of various myths and mythology in general on such a phenomenon in art as the image of death. Artists have always turned and will turn to this topic no matter what. But mythology, describing death, makes its own adjustments to the consciousness of a creative person. Thus, myths have an impact on the formation of this image. After all, it is from them that many descriptions of Death itself, the afterlife, etc., are taken. In myths, people predict their future or explain the past – something that cannot be understood rationally, logically.
Death is an unavoidable phenomenon that does not bypass either the rich or the poor. To the question “What awaits everyone there, beyond the line, where death is?” First of all, all the beliefs and religions of peoples are trying to answer. Scientists-philosophers have been trying to comprehend the problem of death for many centuries. Many painters also offer their vision of the issue. They reveal this topic both from the tragic side, that is, displaying death on Earth by artistic means, and from the mystical side, showing the other world life as they imagine it. But, no matter how it looks, such a topic is very ambiguous in understanding for a particular person who has turned to this topic. Its complexity lies in the viewer’s unusual perception of the image created by the author. After all, everything that an ordinary person knows about death is either spied on from life, or taken from all kinds of religious beliefs or creations of various authors – writers and artists. Today, paintings on this topic created by artists have a huge impact on the formation of the image of death in the minds of people. Art, graphics, photography and, of course, theater and cinema also have a strong influence in the modern world of information. Therefore, we can say that today the perception and awareness of death as a phenomenon accompanying life is created for the most part by artists and people of art, who, due to the peculiarity of their activities, have a strong influence on the minds of people.
The theme of death as a leitmotif pervades the Western European culture of the second half of the 14th-15th centuries. In frescoes, altar painting, sculpture, book miniatures, woodcuts, engravings on copper, the plots “Three dead and three living”, “The triumph of death”, “Dances of death”, “The art of dying” are constantly encountered. The theme of death widely penetrates into the illustrations of early printed publications – various kinds of leaflets, religious and didactic writings, as well as into works of secular literature: an example is the engraving “Imago mortis” with dancing skeletons in the “World Chronicle” by Hartmann Schedel. Death appears here either as an old woman with a scythe, flying above the earth on the membranous wings of a bat, or in the form of dead men with the remains of flesh on the bones, or in the form of skeletons. Triumphant dances of skeletons, the pursuit of people by the dead, endless round dances, where the dead involve the living, grimacing skulls of the cemetery ossuaries, chilling pictures of decay – such is an incomplete repertoire of images of death in the art of the second half of the 14th-15th centuries.[2,142].
Almost all great artists paid tribute to the theme of death in their work. It is probably difficult to find among them a master who has not addressed such subjects at least once. Among them are I. Bosch, and A. Dürer, and J.-L. David, and S.V. Ivanov, and many other artists who, one way or another, painted pictures dedicated to the theme of death. The lion’s share of all canvases is occupied by paintings related to biblical subjects (“The Crucifixion”, “Lamentation”, “The Entombment”). For example, V.D. Sinyukov in his work writes that the allegorical figure of Death for the first time in Christian iconography is depicted as a flying terrible fury with a scythe, leaving behind mountains of corpses of people of different ages and classes, whose souls either ascend to heaven or fall into hell fire. She does not heed the prayers of ancient old men and women, pitiful blind men and miserable cripples, but rushes straight to the exquisite society of ladies and gentlemen who play music, unaware of her approach. This is how the image of death is described in the series of frescoes “The Triumph of Death” in Pisa’s Camposanto.[4,32].
As society develops, new subjects related to death appear in art: murderers, suicides, scenes of executions, funerals, death on the battlefield. A special place is occupied by battle scenes in the paintings of artists. Here they commit mass death to the battlefield. For example, among such outstanding battle painters was V.V. Vereshchagin (“The Apotheosis of War”, “Shipka-Sheinovo”, etc.). The scene of the execution was successfully conveyed by F. Goya in the historical composition “The execution of the rebels on the night of May 3, 1080.” Often, artists begin to show death at the everyday level: a dead man in his own house, in a hospital. For example, Jacques-Louis David “Death of Marat” (1793), A. Durer “Knight, Death and the Devil” (1513), S.V. Ivanov “On the Road. Death of a Settler” (1889), V.G. Perov “Seeing the Dead Man”, I. Bosch “Stop at the Infernal River”, A. Wiertz “Premature Burial” (1854) (reproduction is presented at the beginning of the article), A. Böcklin “self-portrait”, F. von Stuck “Hell” (1908). Further development of the theme can be found in the paintings of such artists as K. Vasiliev (“The Birth of the Danube” (1975-76)), engravings by S. Kharlamov, S. Kobuladze, V.A. Favorsky, V. Slavuk.
The theme of death can also be traced among Belarusian artists. The Great Patriotic War left an indelible mark on people’s memory. And therefore, many Belarusian masters could not ignore this exciting topic. Canvases made during the harsh years of the war convey the disturbing atmosphere of those days. The painting by Y. Zaitsev “The Funeral of a Hero” is dedicated to the Belarusian partisans. A broad generalization of everything experienced by the people during the years of the Great Patriotic War is given in his work by M. Savitsky (“Dance with Torches” (1978) from the cycle “Lichba to the Heart”). This theme can be traced in such Belarusian artists as V.A. Lagun (“Life goes on” (1967)), I.I. Belonovich (“Memory” (1969)), L.A. Dudarenko (“Liberation” (1975)). However, in these works, the theme of death is shown as a way of expressing a great patriotic idea, for the exaltation of one or another hero. Belarusian artists are not so much concerned about death as such, but rather about the opportunity to dramatize and convey the idea of heroism through the image of death. As A.V. wrote Aladov in his article: “The desire to combine the life authenticity of the image with the identification of a deep historical meaning, ethical, civic and patriotic significance of the displayed event becomes in the future the leading trend in the development of Belarusian painting.”[1,5].
The theme of death continues to exist and develop. The experience accumulated by previous generations is mastered by contemporary artists energetically and multifaceted. This is reflected in the variety of genres and means of expression that they use. The paintings convey to us the experiences, thoughts and feelings of a thoughtful and sensitive artist. At the present stage of development, the theme of death began to change. This is natural. Today, artists are no longer so much concerned with the very fact of death, the image of Death, but more with the transmission of subtle emotions, the inner worldview of a person. This gloomy image allows you to more deeply and tragically convey the main idea of the work of art. For example, the author of this text, along with others, addressed the topic of death. This led to the writing of his thesis entitled “Marena” (2009). The picture uses the image of the ancient pagan, Slavic goddess of death, who was the guide of the souls of the dead to the side of Darkness. She is contrasted with a kneeling young girl who escorts her loved one to another world. Not only the mourning figure, but the whole composition conveys the deep tragedy and inner tension of the situation. The author in his work shows the image of Marena, who is not a negative hero, but carries the features of mercy and empathy. Next to life is always death, which accompanies us from birth. And, no matter how the artists interpret this image, I would like to believe that art will always strive to convey the idea of the triumph of creative forces, love over death and hopelessness.
Bibliography:
- Белорусская советская живопись. – Мн.: Беларусь, 1978. – с. 5.
- Нессельштраус, Ц.Г. “Пляски смерти” в западноевропейском искусстве XV в. как тема рубежа средневековья и Возрождения // Культура Возрождения и средние века. – М., 1993.
- Мифы народов мира. Энциклопедия: в 2-х т. / Гл. ред. С.А. Токарев. – М.: Сов. Энциклопедия, 1992. – Т. 2. К–Я. – с. 456-457.
- Синюков, В.Д. Тема “Триумфа Смерти”. К вопросу о соотношении символа и аллегории в искусстве позднего европейского средневековья и итальянского Треченто // Искусство и культура Италии эпохи Возрождения и Просвещения. – М.: Наука, 1997. – с. 32-33.
УДК 7,0
Материал опубликован в книге “Изобразительное искусство в системе образования: материалы VI Международной научно-практической конференции, Витебск, 15-16 октября 2009г. / Вит. гос. ун-т; под ред. В.П, Климовича, Д.С. Сенько. – Витебск: УО “ВГУ им. П.М. Машерова”, 2009. – 311с.”
Вячеслав Шайнуров, Витебск, УО “ВГУ им. П.М. Машерова”
