The paper focuses on an appropriation of power/grace emanating from icons in the beliefs that are widespread mainly in East-Christian traditions.Appropriation is a specific strategy of communication with the sacred images. In a wider context, it unites icons, relics and other sacred Christian objects with magical tools used (also in Christian communities) as the permanent source of power. As the most important sacred objects in Russian orthodoxy, icons have always been included in a variety of actions that directed the holy image’s power/grace at the target object or person or object so that his/hers/its state or condition is changed in a desired way. This is a manipulative strategy - the physical action is prior to addressing/praying to God or a saint. The range of such actions is extensive. First of all, it includes the variety of rites linked to healing, welfare-producing or protective magic that works in different spaces: private (the body, the bed or the house), public (the field, the village or the city) and the other’s / hostile ones (the foes, the alienate/heterodox territories). Moreover it also includes a set of practices associated with the physical transfer of grace to new objects and with the creation of various brandea, contact relics, which are secondary to the “mother” holy thing. All these practices presuppose the icon (or another sacred object) to have not only the physical and visible “body” but also the invisible one that has a spatial extent and somehow limited form lines. The author analyzes main types of actions that are typical of the appropriation strategy on the historical and partly modern Russian material.

The article analyses peculiarities and functions of blasphemous gestures in the late medieval images of the Passion of Christ. The scope of these gestures, compared with gestures mentioned in the Gospels, was significantly expanded. Blasphemous gestures were depicted not only in narrative but also in meditative images (primarily in the iconographic type “Arma Christi”). The idea to use the history of the Passion in meditative images could be borrowed from the “Mirror of Human Salvation”, theological work very popular in the late Middle Ages. This work served not only as a source for late medieval iconography, but also as a guide to understanding visual images, in particular blasphemous gestures depicted in the scenes from the Passion. In the “Mirror...” blasphemous gestures, together with other acts of mockery, are mentioned in the retelling the Gospel narrative as well as in meditative parts, where they have several functions, being weapons (“arma”) of sinners who cause the ongoing sufferings of Christ; weapons of Christ himself, who conquered the devil by suffering; weapons with which the Mother of God armed herself in order to defeat the devil with compassion.Blasphemous gestures in visual meditative images remind every sinner (including the viewer of the image) of his participation in the Passion of Christ,which, according to the “Mirror of Human Salvation”, has not ended, but will continue until the complete disappearance of sin.

Iconography of Creation of the World of so-called “roman type” in 11^th -13^th cent. Italy and in Northern Europe in many ways goes to lost frescoes of San Paolo Fuori le Mura (middle of 5^th cent) and to several early-Christian traditions, including traditions of Genesis of Lord Cotton and Pentateuch of Ashburnham. By the example of iconographical changings of one detail of that pattern - personification of Light in the First day of Creation - the author outlines possible ways for restoring an appearance of the missing specimen and following iconographical borrowings from the earlier traditions. The article considers a question of sustainability for every part of “roman-type” composition - presence of glory radiance, its form and color, variations of attributes.The result of comparison of several images results in a conclusion about the mutual impact and replacement of two pairs of second-line elements in composition - the Light and Darkness and the Sun and Moon, being simultaneously being present in the so-called “roman-type” compositions.

The article considers the semantics of the iconography of miniatures which are illustrating the chapter “About 144 thousand people who did not suffer from the plague of the four angels” (Rev. 7, 1-8) from an Apocalypse.The sources of the composition elements, originating from Cosmas Indicopleustes Cosmography miniatures, are designated.Two types in an iconography of the chapter 19 of the illustrated Apocalypses are revealed and described. The first represents the earth surrounded with four angels and righteous persons from twelve Israel knees in two independent compositions. The type of an iconography which has appeared a later bit connects both compositions on one miniature. The formation time of two different types of the plot iconography is determined. The figurative symbolism of the miniature is read in connection with the general narrative line of the text, revealing in it the main positive eschatological positions that often go to the background.

The article deals with the history of the first Joan of Arc’s monument erected in Orléans in the late 15^th - early 16^th century. The author analyzes the political circumstances in which this monument had appeared: the results of the Joan of Arc rehabilitation process in 1455-1456, the special role of the French heroine in the liberation of Orléans from the English siege during the Hundred Years war, the influence of Religious wars in France of the 16^th century and of the French revolution at the end of the 18^th century. The author comes to a conclusion that the erection of the first sculptural portrait of Orléans Virgin was due to the active discussion of the sanctity issue of the French heroine.However, the author notes the closeness of the propinquity of this monument to the biblical scene of the Pietà, or Lamentation, in which Joan of Arc was given the role of Mary Magdalene. This ambiguous prototype (of a repentant sinner who became a Saint) was used in Orléans, in author’s opinion, in order to emphasize the dubious attitude to the Hundred Years War’s heroine which was still present in the early Modern Times French society.The author also demonstrates how French artists and sculptors used this iconographic type of the image of Joan of Arc image in the 18^th-20^th centuries and what changes were introduced into it in the course of that time in order to rid the French heroine image from an ambiguous rendition and to approve her role of a formally canonized Catholic Church Saint.

The article contains a comparative analysis of some elements of Ancient Greek and Roman familial and generical structures. At the first view,the two systems are extremely similar. The lowest, primary level is in both cases is the family (Greek οἶκος, Roman familia). At the following level there is a thing often translated as “clan” (Greek γένος, Roman gens). Further on, we again there are units those seem to correlate: Greek phratry (φρατρία) and Roman curia. Still further on, there is a large unit usually understood as the tribe: Greek φυλή and Roman tribus. The article, however, notes that the analogy is false. If Ancient Greek family (οἶκος) has features of principal similarity with the Roman one (familia), yet already at the next taxonomic level, Greek γένος demonstrates very serious differences from Roman gens , and the differences only grow at higher levels (Greek φρατρία and Roman curia , Greek φυλή and Roman tribus). The article also touches the history of the issue and specially accentuates the impact brought to the study of Ancient Greek gentile structures by French scholars F. Bourriot and D. Roussel; they, as a matter of fact, offered and proved a principally new understanding of the Hellenic γένος.

Cultural policy of the second quarter of the 18^th century was a continuation of the cultural policy of Peter the Great in many respects. Nevertheless, the secularization of culture made by Peter and the liquidation of the church’s autonomy didn’t mean abandoning the church’s institution and the religion as an ideology. Russian Orthodoxy occupied a significant place in the spiritual and cultural life of Russian society, what was reflected in the legislation of the second half of 1720’s till early 1740’s.It can be said that traditionally the issues of the religion and the church occupied one of the leading places in the cultural policy. They were the subject of close attention of legislators in the second quarter of the 18^th century. Throughout the period under investigation, the program aimed at protecting the Orthodox faith was implemented quite consistently, regardless of the personality of the ruler, the external and internal political conjuncture. Despite the removal of the church from the culture leadership, it remained the most important state institution, and religion - the spiritual and ideological basis of government policy. The government encouraged the adoption of Orthodoxy, granted benefits to the new-christened people, followed the observance of religious traditions, built churches, supported, including financially,the relationship with the Greek Orthodox Church of Constantinople, the most authoritative church in the Orthodox world. The violation of the canons was punishable morally, physically and financially.The legislation of the second quarter of the 18^th century gives eloquent evidence of the special spiritual and cultural significance of religion in the life of Russian society

In the article films “Dyuba-Dyuba” and “Outskirts”, shot on the screenplays of Peter Lutsik and Alexei Samoryadov, are analyzed. It is established that the structure of each of these films corresponds to a form called “two-voiced word”. V.S. Bibler defines this form as the coexistence of various “syntactic structures in one artistic utterance”. Different “voices” in the films “Dyuba-Dyuba” and “Outskirts” do not muffle each other and are perceived as self-sufficient and equal literary-cinematic styles, genres and pictorial canons. Films “Dyuba-Dyuba” and “Outskirts” outwardly resemble the movie of 1990’s that uniquely belongs to prosperous in those years culture of “styob”. However, according to the author of the article, analyzed films are alien to typical for the “styob” vision of a certain “archaic” “object of distancing” from the point of view of allegedly “more progressive truth”. A. Hvan and P. Lutsik do not parody this or that “object of distancing”, but they are building certain relationships between different codes of culture, shown in considered films. Using the concept of M.M. Bachtin those relationships can be called “dialogical”. “Dialogical” form of a “two-voiced word” is interpreted in the article as a structure-forming base for “collective trauma” representation language. Such interpretation does not coincide with the assertion of the possibility for representing “collective trauma” only as implementation of pre-semiotic, “silent”impact on viewers. It means that despite an obvious similarity of analyzed films with postmodern pastiche they cannot be inscribed in a circle of those works that are directly related to the poststructuralist and postmodern concepts of“death of the author”, “emptiness” and “absence”.