Lecture: Three Voices of Late Antiquity That Changed Europe (RUS)

The exhibition at Narva Castle features an unusual series of seventeenth-century paintings, Portraits of the Church Fathers. These works once adorned the Lutheran Cathedral. But who are the figures depicted in these portraits? Why were they honoured in this way? And what role did they play in the history of European culture?

This lecture introduces three outstanding thinkers of Late Antiquity: Athanasius the Great, Ambrose of Milan, and John Chrysostom. Their ideas shaped the development of European philosophy, education, art, and social thought, while their writings and sermons were read throughout Europe for many centuries.

Why was one of them known as the man who stood against the whole world? How did a bishop compel an emperor to perform public penance? Why was the greatest preacher of his age exiled? And why, more than fifteen centuries later, do their names continue to resonate far beyond the history of the Church?

At the end of the lecture, participants will visit the exhibition Portraits of the Church Fathers together, viewing its protagonists not merely as figures from old paintings, but as individuals whose ideas profoundly influenced the history of European civilisation.

Lecturer: Julia Khlystun (PhD)
Duration: 75 minutes (lecture and guided visit to the exhibition)

The lecture will take place in the Tea Room of Narva Castle and will be conducted in Russian.

Price: €7.00

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