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« 2026. № 5 (191)

The Ethnology Notebooks. 2026. № 5 (191), 1325—1337

UDK 27-31:7.046:355.01(470:477)

DOI https://doi.org/10.15407/

  • Received: 13.08.2026
  • Accepted: 15.09.2026
  • Published: ??.??.2026

THE IMAGE OF CHRIST IN VISUAL REPRESENTATIONS OF THE RUSSO-UKRAINIAN WAR

KENDZOR Olena-Olha

  • ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0009-0008-0288-0386
  • PhD student at the Lviv National Academy of Arts,
  • 38, V. Kubiyovycha str., 79011, Lviv, Ukraine,
  • Contacts: e-mail: olena.kendzor@lnam.edu.ua

Abstract. The aim of the study is to identify the distinctive features of the representation of the image of Christ in Ukrainian visual art during the Russo-Ukrainian War, as well as to examine the influence of the authors’ firsthand wartime experience on its artistic interpretation. The object of the study comprises works of Ukrainian visual art that employ Christological imagery, while the subject is the ways in which this imagery is artistically reinterpreted and functions within the context of war.

The study analyses works by Uliana Krekhovets, Khrystyna Valko, Kateryna Kuziv, Roman Barabakh, and Maksym Palenko, as well as texts by Yuliia Vintoniv, Artur Dron, Maksym Kryvtsov, and Oleksandr Yarmak. The study shows that the image of Christ is used as a symbolic model for reflecting on suffering, sacrifice, death, hope, and the presence of God in the reality of war. The main ways in which Christological iconography is interpreted in contemporary art are identified: the incorporation of contemporary wartime realities into traditional compositions, the fragmentary depiction of Christ’s body, the replacement of traditional attributes with signs of war, and the relocation of the image of Christ into the frontline environment. In the works of artists serving in the military, the image acquires a more personal dimension and is connected with their military experience. Graphic art, quick sketches, digital art, poetry, song lyrics, and video expand the ways in which the sacred image is disseminated and presented. The study also shows that the perception of the image of Christ in visual representations of the Russo-Ukrainian War may vary depending on a community’s experience.

Keywords: image of Christ, Crucifixion, Russo-Ukrainian War, sacred art, iconography, representation.

REFERENCES

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