The Origin and Iconography of the Historiated Genesis Initial in the Book Illumination of the 11th – 12th Centuries

This study is devoted to the historiated initial I in Romanesque bibles. The aim of this study is to examine the origin and peculiarities of the iconography of the Genesis initial in manuscripts of the XI-XII centuries. The lower time frame is connected with the fact that the first initials appear in the last quarter of the XI century. And the upper one is conditioned by the fact that the study will consider only Romanesque bibles, the production of which dates back to the XI-XII centuries. In order to achieve the aim, the following tasks were set: To study the typology of initials and trace the appearance, development and features of the historiated initial; To study the origin of the historiated Genesis initial, to study the peculiarities of the iconography of this initial. The object of the study is the historiated initial I, as well as the monogram IN in manuscripts of the XI-XII centuries. The subject of the study is the iconography of initial I and monogram IN. The following methods will be applied in the work: formal-stylistic, iconographic, comparative, as well as historical and cultural analysis. The work consists of three chapters. The first chapter is devoted to analyzing the development and typology of the initial as a whole. A classification is given, according to which initials are divided into the following groups: decorative (ornamental and floral motifs in the design), zoomorphic (various animals are depicted in the design of the initial), figural (the shape of the initial is created from the figure of a person or animal), inhabited (individual figures are depicted inside the initial), historiated initial (specific scenes are depicted inside the initial). In creating the classification, the main source was Otto Pecht's classification with the addition of an additional decorative initial. The second chapter is devoted to the study of the origin of the historiated initial of the Book of Genesis. Traditionally, the beginning of the Genesis initial was marked by a decorative initial. There were also separate manuscripts with the text of the Old Testament, which were accompanied by numerous illustrations (Lord Cotton's Genesis, Vienna Genesis). In the Carolingian period the Tour bibles gave a new mode of decoration in the form of frontispiece and initials. In the last quarter of the 11th century, two types of initials appeared independently in the Maas region: the letter I and the monogram IN. Both types depicted medallions with scenes. The third chapter is devoted to an attempt to typologize initials. Two examples of typology are given. The first type is related to the form of the initial itself: in the form of the letter I or in the form of a monogram. Within these groups there is also a division according to the number of medallions or the shape of the compartments. In the course of this classification it was concluded that the most common type was the initial in the form of the letter I with 7 medallions, in which the scenes of the six days of Creation and the Creator resting are placed. The second typology is based on the initial program. Here the corpus of works is divided into a group depicting exclusively the days of creation, a group dedicated to Adam and Eve, a group with the life of the first humans and additional scenes, and exclusion groups - the tree of Jesse and images of the Evangelists. This typology concluded that the choice of theme may have been related to the 12th century theological controversy surrounding the theme of the Genesis Origin. The most popular type is the depiction of the 6 days of Creation.