Figures and signs. On the principles of creating a “micro-narrative” in Russian iconography

Abstract

The article considers the principles of constructing a “micronarrative” in Russian iconography. The author analyzes the functioning of subtle visual signs and small figures in well-known compositions. As the paper shows, with their help, icon-painters not only made numerous clarifications and nuances in the depicted scenes, but also created new motifs and autonomous “micro-stories”. The paper focuses mainly on the icons “The miracle of the icon ’Our Lady of the Sign’, or the Battle of Novgorodians with Suzdalians”. Analyzing a series of icons that have survived to this day or are known from sketches, the author shows how differently semiotically Russian masters built the common visual story and what new features appeared in various compositions. The most rich in signs icon was the one painted in the 1460-es and stored nowadays in the Novgorod Museum. Its creator denounces the aggressors-Suzdalians not only using general visual techniques, but also with the help of small, hardly noticeable signs and details that are clearly not aimed at the mass audience. Among other images considered in the article, that icon demonstrates clearly the high variability and plasticity of ‘visual texts’ of Russian iconography – the problematic that has rarely attracted attention by specialists.