?
Изображения в христианской мысли ΙΙΙ-VI вв.: от богословия к педагогике
The article examines the idea of images and the role of the visual in education in the ancient and Christian traditions, mainly of the pre-Iconoclastic period. In the presence of a huge number of works devoted to the formation of the Christian pictorial tradition in the context of late Antique culture, the problem of image pedagogy remains unresolved. The authors consistently consider the idea of images and images in ancient thought, associating them with the category of exphrasis, at the same time separating portrait and narrative narratives. The former had a cult and mystical context that did not extend to visual "stories". Then the authors raise the question of the perception of the ancient concept of clarity associated with rhetorical education by other religious groups living in the Empire: Jews and Christians. The development of the Jewish tradition and the formation of the oral Mishnah at the beginning of the first centuries A.D. led to the fact that Jews turned to the widespread use of images in the synagogue space, without extending the prohibition of the Second Commandment to narrative compositions. Sources also say that Christian authors valued images primarily as a means of preaching and edification, and there is also a connection with ancient rhetorical culture. At the same time, it is quite obvious that the role of images is increasing, because Christianity is developing an idea of a sacred text, and the role of the codex and biblical illustrations has begun to play an important role in the general Christian tradition. The place of narrative compositions in the West and East was generally similar, whereas the difference regarding portraits of Christ and saints was reflected in the iconoclastic polemics of the early Middle Ages and then the Reformation era. The mystical idea of images came from a metaphorical understanding of the idea of "reading", close to Christian Neoplatonism. It was in this sense that the usefulness of images for all people was recognized. Whereas the pedagogy-rhetorical tradition spoke about the benefits of images for teaching illiterates, which generally coincided with the ancient view.