“Well, you and Plyushkin!” - we say to the miser who collects all kinds of unnecessary things just for the sake of hoarding. Or: “Here is a donkey,” about a stupid and stubborn man. When we see a soaring dove in the picture, we understand that we are talking here about purity and exaltation of spirit, Judas - about betrayal, a woman with a
blindfold and scales in her hand - about impartiality and justice. And we do not even think about the fact that in speech and consciousness we appeal to such a concept as allegory. This is when something abstract and abstract is conveyed in the form of a specific
image, artistic or literary. After all, we learned from the Bible that Judas betrayed Christ and forever became an image of treachery and betrayal, we learned from fairy tales that the fox is cunning, the hare is cowardice and so on.
Translated from Greek allegoria (allegory) is an allegory. We can write “Pharmacy”, or we can depict a bowl with a snake, and in either case, everyone will understand what is behind this door, but the first solution is straightforward, and the second is allegorical.
For the first time this concept was given in treatises of Cicero and pseudo-Longinus, devoted to the art of orator. In the Middle Ages, it was believed that allegory is one of the meanings that any work of art or literature must have. It also had to have literal, moral and educational meanings.
Allegory in the literature was used very widely and at a much later time. For example, Gogol’s novel “Dead Souls” is full of allegorical characters: Plyushkin, Korobochka, Sobakevich, Nozdrev - each of them is the brightest example of a human vice or, say, an unpleasant character trait: avarice, idleness, depravity, etc.
There are whole genres that are mainly built on the allegorical nature of the images used: fable, fairy tale, parable. Wake up any fifth-grade student at night and ask: “What is Krylov’s fable“ The Crow and the Fox? ”“ About flattery and vanity, ”the schoolboy will report and burrow into the blanket again. Well, in the morning, having wiped his eyes well, he will tell you about Saltykov-Shchedrin with his "Wise Peskar" and about Gorky's bird market: stupid Penguin, bold Falcon, Petrel, black lightning like that. If a young child is found nearby, he can also be subjected to a quick poll: “Bear?” - “Strength, clumsiness, simplicity!” - “Wolf?” - "Malice, bloodthirstiness, stupidity!" - "A fox?" - “Cunning, deceit, treachery!” - "Well done! Hold the candy! ”
So even small children know very well what allegory is. This is comprehended literally from the first books, puppet shows, old cartoons.
What kind of art, in addition to literature, is inherent in the use of such a technique as allegory? Painting, of course, sculpture, graphics, other genres of fine art, both classical and contemporary.
A good example here is the sculpture The Bronze Horseman in St. Petersburg. Tsar Peter rises on the crest of the wave on a hot horse, hoof advancing on a snake. The wave is a natural element that had to be overcome in order to build a city (the marshy banks of the Neva River), the snake - the obstacles and difficulties that awaited the reformer at every turn, the horse - Russia, excited by the innovations and ideas of its ruler.
In painting, many great artists turned to allegorical images: Raphael, Botticelli, Titian, Rubens and many others.