CONCLUSION
CONCLUSION
P
agan culture of Azerbaijan accounts for many millenniums. This phenomenon is most interesting material for learning social, historical, religious, artistic and aesthetic preconditions of engendering and development of sculptural plastic art in Azerbaijan. Throughout of all its development sculpture of pagan period of our history was very important part of many rituals and ceremonies, played very important role in forming of our sculptural traditions. Pagan culture gave us many masterpieces of plastic art, which are kept both in national and foreign museum collections. Cult and ideological basic principles of pagan culture in general are universal for all peoples and regions all over the world. The cult of Great Mother Goddes, who is ancestress of all flesh is the earliest cult, reflected in sculptural art. In primitive mentality the image of Mother-Goddes was perceived as beginning of life. The reproductive capability of woman got symbolic generalization and deitification in sculptural art, they worshiped that Goddes and offered sacrifices her. The cult of forefathers, ancestors, protectors of clan is characterized by making of monumental, stone male idols. Dualistic world outlook of our ancestors, who lived in epoch of tribal relations forming created the image of man-forefatherprogenitor of each tribe. The great prominence
was given to sculptural images in funeral rituals. The sculptural portrait of deceased passed through long development from schematic to realistic, portrait picture. This aspect of pagan culture development didn’t get its final point. Monotheistic Islam spread in Azerbaijan in early Middle Ages stopped that tendency for a long time and the notion “sculpture” became forbidden. Totemistic cult was also no less important part of ideological basis in pagan sculptural art. In this cult image of animal, which was symbolic primal forefather was the identifying beginning in complicated interleave of clans and tribes. Sculptural art of pagan period chronologically embraced prehistoric period, antiquity, early Middle Ages. Since it’s engendering pagan sculptural art functioned in the form of materialization of cult object in stone, clay or bronze. That cult object reflected world outlook of author and men, who worshipped sculptural idol. In course of historical development matriarchate was replaced by patriarchy and this fact left its mark on content and form of pagan sculptural art. During that historical interchange of social structure, mode of life and ideological priorities all kinds of pagan culture also developed, complexified and differentiated. Most notable “dividing” line between
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