Swords in Images: Representation, Development, and Message. Central Europe, from the Fourteenth to the Sixteenth Century

      Аннотация: The main goal of this research is to discover the development of the representation of swords – the principal type of weapon in the Middle Ages – and to ground it on examples represented in religious paintings. Latters are treated not only as the representatives of Christian ideas, but also as witnesses to the everyday life of the time. The principal questions that author tries to answer in this research are the following: • How are the swords represented? • Does the development of the representations of swords correspond to changes in the field of weaponry of the time? • Are swords represented “repetitively” in the images and do they convey the existence of delay? • Does the development of swords depend on the subject matter of images? • What is the meaning and function of the representation of swords: sword in action versus sword as an attribute? Do they also hold emblematic, illustrative, symbolic, or any other meanings? • Does there appear to be an impact from the East or maybe a synthesis of Eastern and Western influences in the images of swords in Central Europe?

Ключевые слова: Sword, Image, Medieval, Iconography