The archetype of a World Mountain in the Mari fine art

The article analyses the representations of the cultural archetype — a World Mountain — in the Mari professional fine art in the period of its origin in 1920–30-ies, as well as on the modern stage (1990–2000-ies). If in the initial of the Mari art, in the ethnographic realism, it appears only as an element of the landscape, today the archetype of the World Mountain closely connects with the myth about the cultural hero. It is an indicator of the of the aspiration of the Mari culture for self-preservation.