Q&A

Who are some famous people who study iconography?

Who are some famous people who study iconography?

Iconography as an academic art historical discipline developed in the nineteenth-century in the works of scholars such as Adolphe Napoleon Didron (1806–1867), Anton Heinrich Springer (1825–1891), and Émile Mâle (1862–1954) all specialists in Christian religious art, which was the main focus of study in this period, in which French scholars were

What does the term iconography mean in art history?

Iconography. In art history, “an iconography” may also mean a particular depiction of a subject in terms of the content of the image, such as the number of figures used, their placing and gestures. The term is also used in many academic fields other than art history, for example semiotics and media studies, and in general usage,…

What kind of iconography is Holbein’s the ambassadors?

Holbein ‘s The Ambassadors (1533) is a complex work whose iconography remains the subject of debate.

Which is the most important feature of Indian iconography?

Central to the iconography and hagiography of Indian religions are mudra or gestures with specific meanings. Other features include the aureola and halo, also found in Christian and Islamic art, and divine qualities and attributes represented by asana and ritual tools such as the dharmachakra, vajra, chhatra, sauwastika, phurba and danda.

Why is the study of iconography so important?

Together we get “image-writing,” so the word “iconography” conveys the idea that an image can tell a story. But the study of the iconography of an image is actually more complex, since it involves understanding the specific culturally constructed symbols and motifs in a work of art that can help us to identify the subject matter.

What does Erwin Panofsky mean by iconology?

Furthermore, iconology is mostly avoided by social historians who do not accept the theoretical dogmaticism in the work of Panofsky. Erwin Panofsky defines iconography as “a known principle in the known world”, while iconology is “an iconography turned interpretive”.

How is iconography related to the spiritual world?

As Kontoglou writes, “Iconography expresses with spiritualized forms abstracted from natural phenomena, a world which is beyond phenomena, a spiritual world.” Described as “theology in line and color,” iconography traditionally uses particular artistic devices and stylization to communicate the spiritual world to the beholder.