Describe the Iconography in Aegean Art and Give at Least Three Examples

At the simplest of levels, iconography is the containment of deeper meanings in elementary representations. It ofttimes makes use of symbolism to generate narrative, which in turn develops a work'south meaning. Symbolic representation may occur when a representation takes on pregnant that is unrelated to what information technology depicts. For case, when lilies are pictured with the Christian Virgin Mary, they symbolically represent the idea of chastity. Chastity and lilies accept no direct connection; therefore the meaning is symbolic.

In other cases, the symbolic representation may have a more straight relationship to what it represents. For example, images of the Buddha always show him with elongated earlobes, it is ane of the visual markers whereby the viewer can recognize the Buddha. This symbol represents his days as a wealthy immature noble who wore heavy, jeweled earrings that stretched his earlobes.

Let's turn our attending to ane of the most famous paintings of all of Western art to develop a deeper agreement of how iconography works: Jan van Eyck's, Arnolfini Portrait painted in 1434.

Jan van Eyck, Arnolfini Portrait, 1434, oil on canvas. Piece of work is in the public domain.

Each of the objects in van Eyck's painting has a specific significant hither beyond imagery. In fact, this painting may be a painted matrimony contract designed to solidify the agreement between these 2 families. It is especially important to remember that this is not a painting of an actual scene, but an paradigm constructed to communicate specific things.

1. You lot detect that the bride holds her garment in front of her abdomen in order to announced pregnant. She wasn't pregnant at the time of the painting simply this is a symbolic depiction to represent that she volition become fruitful. The color green was as well often a symbol of fecundity.
2. The footling domestic dog at her feet is a symbol of fidelity, and is often seen with portraits of women paid for by their husbands.
3. The discarded shoes are oft a symbol of the sanctity of marriage.
4. The unmarried candle lit in the daylight (wait at the chandelier) is a symbol of the bridal candle, a devotional candle that was to burn all night the first nighttime of the wedlock. Other interpretations claim that the unmarried candle is a symbol of the presence of God.
5. The chair back has a carving of St. Margaret, the patron saint of childbirth.
6. The orange on the windowsill and the rich clothing are symbols of time to come material wealth (in 1434 oranges were paw carried from Republic of india and very expensive) and fertility.
7. The circular mirror at the back reflects both the artist and another man, and the artist's signature reads, "January van Eyck was present"—both are witnesses to the betrothal in the flick. (We don't think of this much anymore, but a promise to marry was a legal contract). The round forms around the mirror are tiny paintings of the Stations of the Cross– moments near the end of the life of Jesus.

You can see how densely populated iconography in imagery tin convey specific subconscious meanings.  The trouble here is to know what all of this means if we desire to sympathize the work. (And sometimes scholars tin can't agree on all the symbolic meanings.) Iconography helps situate an artwork in a specific fourth dimension in history and also the cultural context, because sure symbolic meanings may merely exist meaningful to a specific culture (eastward.m., Christian versus pagan symbols).

Another more than gimmicky painting with icons embedded in it is Grant Forest's American Gothic from the 1930s. The dour expressions on the figures' faces signify the toughness of a Midwestern American farm couple. Indeed, one critic complained that the adult female in the painting had a "face that could sour milk". Notice how the copse and bushes in the painting'south background and the pocket-sized cameo the adult female wears mirror the soft roundness of her confront: these traditional symbols of femininity conduct throughout the work.  In contrast, the man's straight-backed stance is reflected in the pitchfork he holds, and again in the window frames on the firm behind him. Even the stitching on his overalls mimics the form of the pitchfork. The arched window frame at the meridian center of the painting in particular is a symbol of the gothic architecture from 12^thursday century Europe.

In add-on, a popular genre in painting from sixteenth-century northern Europe, especially the Netherlands, is known as vanitas painting. These notwithstanding life paintings are heavily dependent upon symbolic objects that project the joy and accomplishments life affords, nevertheless at the same time remind us of our mortality. Edward Collier's painting below is a good example of how crowded these could be:

Edward Collier, A Vanitas, 1669, oil on canvas. Work is in the public domain.

The armor, weapons, and medals testify a focus on military accomplishments. The open book alludes to knowledge, and in this case the drawing of a catechism mirrors the overall theme. The world is a symbol of both travel and our mutual being as earth-bound beings. Contemporary vanitas paintings could certainly include allusions to air and space travel. On the far right of the work, backside the book and in the shadows, lies a skull, once again reminding us of the shortness of life and the inevitability of expiry.

We can discover testify of the process by which iconography, or representations, take on specific meanings in popular culture, as well. The "Golden Arches" means fast nutrient, the silhouette of an apple tree (with a bite out of information technology) means a brand of reckoner, and the artist Andy Warhol'due south soup can image forever links Campbell's soup with Popular Art.

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Source: https://courses.lumenlearning.com/sac-artappreciation/chapter/reading-the-fourth-level-of-meaning-iconography/

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