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FROM KHUTYN TO DIEZ: EVERYDAY LIFE OF NOVGOROD IN THE ARTISTIC REPRESENTATION OF TWO ERAS // ΠΡΑΞΗMΑ. Journal of Visual Semiotics. 2023. Issue 4 (38). P. 190-205

The article presents a diachronic analysis of everyday life of Novgorod and its inhabitants, depicted in two works of art from different epochs – the 16th-century icon Vision of Sexton Tarasius and the 21st century art object located in the windows of the Novgorod department store Diez. Both works represent the symbolically loaded places of Novgorod: Detinets and Yaroslav’s Court, central city districts, and famous neighborhood monasteries. However, from the point of view of the citizens' occupations, the icon and the panel depict significant discrepancies. The main character of the icon is the world of Novgorod toilers: craftsmen, fishermen, and merchants. Consequently, the everyday life of the medieval Novgorodian, reflected in the icon, is, first of all, active labor activities. By contrast, the character of the modern panel is a city of romance and carelessness. Modern Novgorod is a city of idle revelers and of all sorts of pleasures. The work emphasizes the hedonistic function of the public space, aimed at leisure, entertainment, getting new impressions. Thus, on the icon one can easily identify professional communities, and in the panel mostly communities of interest.

Keywords: urban everyday life, visual analysis, Novgorod, public places, icon Vision of Sexton Tarasius icon, art-object, panel