Abstract: The subject of the research is a multi-faceted Christian concept in a 'music' poem 'Jeanne d'Arc Au Bûcher' of Paul Claudel (written in 1934, published in 1948). This poem is a libretto of a similarly-named dramatic oratorio of Arthur Honegger (1935). The object of the research is the message of a literary text. The author of the article analyzes Claudel's interpretation of Holy Bible texts, aspects of a message 'to live in face of God' and sacrifice for Christ. In her research Azarova focuses on the analysis of allegoric images and character images. The author of the article pays attention to intellectualism typical for the poem. To analyze Claudel's 'music' poem 'Jeanne d'Arc Au Bûcher' as the fundamental element of the synthesis of drama and music, the author of the article uses humanitarian research methods (art history, philosophy of music, music theatre). Using the method of hermeneutic reconstruction, the author of the article has studied the message of the poem and has described the main messages of the Christian concept. As a result of the research, the author makes a conclusion about the conceptual message of Paul Claudel's poem 'Jeanne d'Arc Au Bûcher'. The aforesaid poem is a Christian concept that was inspired by the Holy Bible as an example of spiritual text. The author's special contribution to the topic is the analysis of the literary-musical form of 'Donkey prose' and new literary parady. The author also analyzes how Claudel traces back elements of the Medieval theatre.

Keywords: a literary parody, a sacrifice, Ida Rubinstein, allegory, a Christian concept, Arthur Honegger, a dramatic oratorio, Jeanne d'Arc au bûcher, a poem, Paul Claudel

Abstract: The subject of the research is the artistic features of the profile portrait miniature in the style of an antique cameo by a miniaturist Augustine Christian Ritt (1765-1799) that became widespread in the second half of the 18th century in Russia. The object of the research is the portrait miniatures of the master stylized as antique cameos with the help of graphic means. The author made an attempt to study and analyze such a phenomenon as a miniature cameo by Augustine Ritt and to reveal the peculiarities of his creative manner. In order to achieve the research objectives, the author uses multi-aspect analysis using formal-stylistic, comparative-typological and iconographic methods. As a result of the research, the author came to the following conclusions. Using the rules of creating an image in a cameo style and the knowledge gained during training in Antwerp and Paris, the master developed his own distinctive style imitating the colors of minerals, transferring their layering and creating the illusion of a three-dimensional image. The artist depicts models quite naturally, and also brings sentimental and preromantic features to works, conveying the mood and emotional state of the portrayed, representing them in the form of modern heroes. A special contribution of the author to the study of the topic is the clarification of the attributions of several miniatures and their additions. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the author carries out an in-depth analysis of the cameo miniature and the manner it is represented in Augustine Ritt's artwork. 

Keywords: Sentimentalism, Classicism, Antiquity, Glyptics, Cameo, Cameo portrait, Portrait, Profile, Ritt, Pre-romanticism

Abstract: In her article Mostitskaya discusses the phenomenon of festive culture from the point of view of its value-semantic functional significance for the formation of socio-cultural space. To substantiate the new model of the typology of holidays, the concept of "explosion" and "lag" is proposed as a characteristic of the communicative space of the holiday and the way of creating and transmitting the value-semantic field of culture. The author proposes to differentiate holidays depending on their socio-cultural significance for social stability and the development of a socio-cultural system. The characteristic features of the four types of holiday are highlighted: "explosive", "lag-like", "dynamic" and "neutral mnemonic". The methodological basis of the concept proposed in the article is the theory of synergy presented in the works of Russian scientists. In addition to the basic scientific research methods, the author also uses comparative analysis. A special contribution of the author to the study of the theme of festive culture is the methodological concept proposed in the article and a new classification of holidays. The rationale of the research is caused by the the author's approach that involves the use of scientific theories created at the interface of the humanities and natural science to analyze the phenomenon of "festivity" as the essential core of the holiday.  

Keywords: values, holiday, culture, the typology of the convivality, cultural communication, routine, convivality, higher meanings, synergy, bifurcation point

Abstract: The subject of this article is the phenomenon of the quest genre popular in media culture and cultural life of megacities. The origin of this genre is associated with literary and cinematic traditions but modern video games have begun to have the opposite effect on cinema. The “quest” genre in cinema today is an imitation of video games or direct borrowing of the plots and principles of the drama of computer games. The analysis of material on this aspect undertaken by the author is relevant in the context of the general trend of modern culture,  virtualization of man and society. The researcher has applied the cultural research method that includ description, comparison, analysis, as well as hermeneutic approach. The main conclusions of the study are the following. As the genre of art and game, quest is in demand both in the gaming industry and in screen culture. The quest dramaturgy is built on the principles of an adventure novel and involves such basic archetypes as a model of confined space and the desire to cross the border as well as the tragic motives that are neutralized by the idea of a happy ending. In addition, this process is becoming part of the general trend of virtualization of man and society which many scientists consider to be the stage preceding the emergence of “post-human” as a representative of the new anthropology.

Keywords: media, video games, modern cinema, dystopia, adventure, computer games, quest, search, game, escapade

Abstract: The emergence of "turfan studies" was accompanied by the beginning of research and excavation of ancient cultural relics in the stone caves of the Silk Road. Excavations of ancient cultural values in the stone caves of the Silk Road in different periods attracted the attention of scientists from different countries including Russia. International research activities including Russian expeditions in the field of studying archaeological finds and documents of Turfan have made significant scientific results . Currently, many cultural values of Turfan are represented in the expositions of the State Hermitage Museum. The author of the article convincingly substantiates the relevance of this problem, and, relying on concrete historical material, demonstrates the degree of participation of the Russian scientific community (starting from the end of the 19th century) in excavations in the region of the Turfan Basin. Numerous photos of cultural monuments and the ancient ruins of Turfan, sketches of plans for a number of buildings and structures, topographical survey, wall drawings, etc. ,  this is far from an incomplete list of the results of the scientific activities of Russian expeditions which are reported in the proposed material. It is significant that these art relics today are part of the State Hermitage’s art collection.

Keywords: artistic value, relic, exposition, monument, cave, painting, turfanovedenie, buddha, monk, bodhisattvas

Abstract: The object of the research is the landscapes of 33 historical estates that were built near Moscow in the XVII-XIX centuries and are now protected as objects of cultural heritage of Moscow. The boundaries of these objects were developed by the author of the article in 1972 for placing on state protection as monuments of landscape art. The subject of research is the changes that have occurred during this time and essential parameters of the estate landscapes. These parameters include the preservation of the territory, type of use, restoration and state of the landscape. The researcher has used the method of comparative analysis of the specified parameters of objects in the 1970s and in our time. The research results demonstrate that the boundaries of the monuments approved by the state in the 1970s were not violated but clarified. In the area of change in use, positive phenomena have been established in terms of preservation of cultural heritage sites: museumification (5 territories), revival of temples (19 temples), transfer of the territory of the Russian Orthodox Church (3), increasing the status of users (2), and negative phenomena: user loss (3) an increase in the number of territories closed to public access (from 10 to 12). In the area of restoration, quantitative and qualitative prevalence of buildings over the park (25 and 10 territories) was recorded, which creates visual dissonance. The parks are leveling historical parameters (20 territories). When parks were restored, the tendency to include new forms consonant with historical ones was revealed. Landscapes thus formed are proposed to be considered as developing historical landscapes. The analysis performed is valuable in terms of the evolution of one of the most complex types of cultural heritage in Moscow. An additional contribution of the author is specific suggestions for optimizing the process.

Keywords: restoration, using, territory border, cultural heritage site, Moscow, landscape, historical estates, state, forms of preservation, social requirement

Abstract: The article is devoted to the main ideas and themes of the new book written by E. Shapinskaya. Rozin explains why Shapinskaya brings together three forms of love, ordinary love, love in art and love of knowledge. There are two main methods that E. Shapinskaya uses in her work. It is a discursive analysis which features are analyzed by Rozin in his researech. The other method is the method that implies fitting discourses fit into the space of history and modernity. At the same time, the specified space is set by the opposition “modern - postmodern”, its elements are endowed with fixed but correlative characteristics. The ethical issues raised in the new book by the author of “The Faces of Love” are discussed. In his research Rozin has used the following research and commentary methodology: problem statement, situational analysis, text reconstruction, parallel analysis of creativity and personality, and comparative analysis. As a result of the research, Rozin identifies interesting ideas and features of the author’s work on a new book about love as well as artistic and scientific work  to characterize the notion of discourse and discourse analysis, to consider the use of the modern-postmodern opposition, and to discuss the ethical problems posed by E. Shapinsky.

Keywords: interpretation, text, feminism, representation, science, art, sex, love, discourse, work

Abstract: The objective of this research is to analyze the ideas in the literature regarding the origin and content of the Russian iconography of Saviour in Glory; the subject is its relation to the western and eastern counterparts and images of the vision of the prophet Ezekiel. In the iconography of Saviour in Glory, there are features that gave the researchers reason to see the iconography as the direct source of the Book of Ezekiel, and to understand it as an image of the Vision; its appearance is associated with the introduction of readings from Ezekiel into Russian worship. The methodological basis of the article is an interdisciplinary and integrated approach, in particular, attraction of liturgical manuscripts, church inventories and images: icons, frescoes, book miniatures, etc. The novelty of the research is caused by the fact that the researcher analyzes a large number of sources of  including unpublished ones. The author of the article shows that the emergence of iconography is not synchronous with the introduction of readings from Ezekiel to Russian worship. The author concludes that most of the Western and Eastern Vision images are not similar to the iconography under study and cannot be considered as its source; direct link with the text of Ezekiel is questioned.

Keywords: Russian icon painting, Book of Ezekiel, the Paroimian Book, symbols of evangelists, iconography, high iconostasis, Deesis, Majestas Domini, Saviour in Glory, Saviour in Powers

Abstract: Designing the visual interaction of a letter and a hieroglyph in a multicultural field of graphic design is a very topical issue. The problem is that in practice graphic solutions often turn out to be a vulgar stylization, since the figures of a letter and a hieroglyph are associated with fundamentally different cultures of writing. To solve the problem of stylizing a letter to a hieroglyph, the author of the article proposes to analyze the experience of Korea that uses a unique syllable alphabet that looks like hieroglyphs, and therefore is a bridge between letter and hieroglyphic writing. Accordingly, the object of the study is Korean calligraphy, and the subject is the visual adaptation of the Korean alphabet letter to hieroglyphs. The author of the article relies on Korean and Japanese sources, among which it is worth highlighting the collection of scientific reports at the international symposium in Niigata (Japan, 2015), devoted to the problems of aesthetics of calligraphy of China, Korea and Japan. As a result of the study, the author identifies three historically established ways of visual adaptation of Hangul to hieroglyphs (actual and for letter) which are not reduced to stylization since they express the Korean idea of beauty itself. Since the hieroglyphic letter is not rooted in the national tradition, the author considers the search for the identity of calligraphy with a brush as the most important task of the designer allowing to significantly improve the quality of stylizing the letter under the hieroglyph.

Keywords: letter, Meot beauty, identity search, stylization, Hangul writing, alphabetical writing, Korean calligraphy, Chinese character, graphic design, package design