FIGURA. FIGURAL ART IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Abstract

The article presents a semantic analysis of the concept of “figure”. The author studies the variety of the concept usage in the medieval texts and demonstrates the transition from the original meaning of “figure” as a form to the medieval interpretation of the “figure” as a prototype. The author argues that the characters of Dante’s “The Divine Comedy” are based on a tradition of figurative representation and analyzes the images of Cato, Virgil and Beatrice as figures, in contrast to the established allegorical interpretation.