Ancient Philosophers in Saint Petersburg: Visual-Plastic Forming of City and Person

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of philosophical significance of visual and plastic iconography of ancient philosophers as a special way of education and formation of human image, landscape of the city and culture as a whole. The author seeks to identify and analyze as much as possible the presence of such images in St. Petersburg, primarily in the form of sculptural statues and busts in palaces and parks. For this purpose the article examines what role antique plastic art played in the systems of education and aesthetics of everyday life of in the 18th and 19th centuries men, how and by whom it was perceived, disseminated and propagandized. Particular attention is paid to the history and philosophy of garden art from Ancient Greece to the Enlightenment, since this is where the educational function of the iconography of ancient philosophers (for example, in the Summer Garden and Pavlovsky Park) is expressively revealed. The article uses extensive material to illustrate the peculiarities of ancient art collections and the originality of images of ancient philosophers in European and Russian culture of the 18th–19th centuries.