Antlers of Rebirth : Mythic Image of the Golden Deer of Eurasia from the Siberian Collection of the State Hermitage Museum

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02324
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Fine art history
• Research Institution: Tama Art University
• Principal Investigator: Tsuruoka Mayumi 多摩美術大学, その他, 特定研究員 (80245000)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 黄金の鹿 / スキタイ美術 / ユーラシア / 鹿角信仰 / 動物意匠 / 生命循環 / ケルト美術 / 渦巻文様

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research focuses on the "Giant Antlers" of the "Golden Deer" (From North Caucasus, late 7th century BC), a treasure of Scythian Art in the collection of the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, which is a highlight of the "animal design" of prehistoric Eurasian steppe culture, and deciphered it as a metaphor for the 'Cycle of Life' rather than as mere decoration for the figure. Since ancient times, nomads have revered the antlers of deer as a symbol of "Rebirth from Death" because they fall to the ground like dead trees in winter, but they always regenerate in spring.
In addition, the deer as the sacrificial beast killed by a predator, which has been conventionally understood as a picture of ``the Law of the Weak and the Strong,'' can also be interpreted as an expression of the ``Cycle of Life'' due to its life-and-death reversal composition. Japanese deer ant worship should be also rooted in the ideal symbolism of Antlers of Rebirth of the Eurasian world.

Free Research Field

美術史

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

研究対象とした「黄金の鹿」は現在のウクライナにあった「スキティア」の遊牧騎馬民族のスキタイの芸術である。この鹿像は単に生態を描写したものではなく、首を挙げ前方を凝視する鹿は、たとえ捕食者に殺され犠牲となっても、その命は大自然の生命循環に捧げられ未来への「再生のための死」となるよう「祈り」造形された。
「精霊」としての鹿神話は西はアイルランドから東はモンゴルまでに貫かれユーラシアの少数民族社会は動物美術を持続している。動物と共生した遊牧民芸術に光を当てた本研究は「新人世」と呼ばれる時代に入った私たち人類が「生きとし生けるもの」と共に生きる叡知を取り戻す根源的方法を社会的に提供できると考える。