SACRED TOPICS OF RUSSIAN CITIES (4). INTERIOR OF THE SAINT SOPHIA CATHEDRAL: SEMANTICS OF GATE
DOI: 10.23951/2312-7899-2017-3-45-70
In this article, I continue the study of sacred topics of Russian cities. Here I analyze the semantic connection between the inscription above the altar of the St. Sophia Cathedral in Kiev and the mosaic image of the Virgin Oranta in the apse. This inscription is a quotation from the book of the Psalter; it originally refers to Jerusalem as a sacred city. Reproduction of this excerpt in the Kiev cathedral denotes the sacred status of Kiev as the new Jerusalem and the “mother” of Russian cities. In addition, the phrase “God in the midst of her” indicates the Mother of God, which became the “house” of God (or the “temple” of Wisdom). Thus, the icon of Oranta, inscribed with a quote from the Psalm, appears as a visual symbol of the Christian city, in the sacral center of which is the cathedral dedicated to Sofia. The image of Oranta is flanked by the Annunciation scene, located on the altar pillars. This scene semantically corresponds to the metaphysical entrance of God into the space of the human world. And the configuration of the entire altar complex represents a metaphor of the gate, referring to both the religious status of the Virgin Mary and the hierotopic model of the visual organization of the space of the Eastern Christian city.
Keywords: visual semiotics, Eastern Christianity, city, sacred architecture, visual organization of space, St. Sophia Cathedral, gate, Annunciation, semantics, iconography
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Issue: 3, 2017
Series of issue: Issue 3
Rubric: ARTICLES
Pages: 45 — 70
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