Working with the “Name” as Translation: Ancient Concepts and the Visual Language of the Roman Catacombs in the Methodology of S. Buck-Morss

The subject of this research is the process of semantic transformation of key ancient philosophical concepts ("whole," "eidos," "mimesis," "image") in early Christian culture, as exemplified in the texts of 2nd–3rd century apologists and the visual language of the Roman catacombs. The article focuses on the transitional period of Late Antiquity, characterized by the complex interaction and interpenetration of antique and emerging Christian traditions. It analyzes how categories traditional to ancient thought were profoundly reinterpreted and imbued with new meaning within the context of Christian theology and liturgical practice, ultimately leading to the formation of the unique visual language and artistic canon of early Christian art. The central material object of the study is the frescoes of the Roman catacombs, considered as the embodiment of this philosophical-theological "translation." The study is based on Susan Buck-Morss's methodology of "history as translation," particularly her approach to working with the "name" as a specific concept that "absorbs history through its meanings" and the principle of "reverse translation" of the present into the past. The scientific novelty of the research lies in the application of S. Buck-Morss's methodology to the material of Late Antique culture, which allows overcoming traditional binary oppositions ("pagan/Christian," "text/image") and demonstrating the genesis of early Christian art as an organic process of semantic transformation rather than a break with tradition. As a result, it is proven that the visual language of the catacombs was not a primitive illustration or random borrowing but the result of a conscious "translation" of the antique heritage, theoretically grounded in the works of the apologists. The key conclusion is that the formation of a new visual paradigm occurred through the rethinking of old "names," which, retaining their form, were filled with new theological content, and the catacombs are presented as a space of "convergence of times" (kairos) where this translation found its material embodiment.

Late Antiquity, Early Christian art, Roman catacombs, Visual language, Neoplatonism, Christian apologists, Eidos, Mimesis, Susan Buck-Morss, Kairos