2013 Vol. 4 №3

This article considers the transformation of traditional iconographic elements of the Western branch of Eastern Slavic icon painting in view of the civilisational processes developing in the late Middle Ages. It is stressed that the iconography of the Last Judgement was represented by more complex — in terms of composition and ideas — works reflecting the prevalent views of the Galich Rusyns of the time. The proliferation of the Last Judgement compositions in the Eastern Slavic area is linked to the eschatological expectations that shaped the worldview prevalent in Russian lands since the late 16th century.

The intertextual connections with the Bible found in the cycle ‘Songs in Letters So She Won’t Be Bored’ (My Sister Life, 1917) help identify the features of artistic expression of the Christian ideas of immortality in the early works of B. Pasternak. An analysis of the author’s symbolism shows that the philosophising persona of Pasternak’s book ponders on death looking for the ways to overcome it. The way to overcome “boredom”— death is the “narrow way” of the Gospel, whereas the motif of grace is manifested in the images of nature, human soul, and history.