Signs and Symbols

Violet and pomegranate fruit, unicorn and dog, bull and lion, parrot and peacock, scales and pearls, cornucopia and mirror, the "Mirror of Venus" symbol and the Christian symbol "ichthys"… How often do we see these and other signs and symbols in the works of famous masters and do not even think that these images have an additional meaning, distinct from their own surface meaning. These signs, which give depth, mystery, and layers to works, exist not only in the realm of reason but also in the realm of feelings. Symbols are diverse – they are represented by numbers, objects and phenomena, shapes, and images of animals, birds, or insects, and so on. Symbols especially vividly manifest themselves in painting and sculpture.
Centruries, and sometimes whole millennia, separate us from the creators of these now-famous works of visual art. These people existed in a different system of life coordinates and believed in different gods. The monuments that have survived from those ancient times were meant not only to please the eye and amaze with their craftsmanship but often carried a specific idea that contemporaries could easily grasp. We, while experiencing purely aesthetic pleasure when encountering these monuments, often overlook their meaningful significance, not paying attention to the telling details or not understanding what they might imply, thus depriving ourselves of a complete perception of artistic works. The meanings of signs and symbols are almost impossible to "decode" accidentally; they must be known. And this will be aided by the new book by Natalia Kortunova – a notable art historian, senior researcher at the A.S. Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts, and curator of several exhibitions at the museum.
Signs, symbols, and allegories in painting literally surround us. Often, it is enough to just pay attention to them, understand what hidden meaning they carry, for the artwork to gain new colors!