Oriental costume in early Christian art. To the question of the "Adoration of the Magi" iconography in the late antique paintings of catacombs
The article considers the peculiarities of the interpretation of Iranian peoples’ costume in Greco-Roman art, as well as the experience of borrowing and constructing «Oriental images» by the early Christian artists. The analyses is mainy based on the the paintings of the early Christian catacomb complexes. The artistic works of the early Christian masters, together with the contemporary monuments of pagan Rome, represent the final stage of the development of art in the Ancient World. The symbols and iconography of Christian characters were strongly influenced by the pagan art of antiquity. It has became a source for borrowing some of the recognizable elements and forms that allow identifing and interpreting the image. So, costume and attributes of characters were of great importance. In the «The Adoration of the Magi» works the masters had to portray the characters who came from the eastern lands and, thus, to resort to the Graeco-Roman images. The Greek image of a «representative of the East» was based on the iconography of the «Persian», elaborated by Hellenic masters, while in the Roman tradition we meet with the iconography of «the Parthians». In both cases, the costume played an important role in representation of the «eastern» heroes.