Iconology and Iconography How to View Meaning in Icons Research Paper

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document

Total Length: 2310 words ( 8 double-spaced pages)

Total Sources: 5

Page 1 of 8

Iconographic Analysis of The Martyrdom of the Great OneIntroductionUnderstanding iconography demands that a few pre-requisites be achieved first on the part of the viewer. What is required of the viewer to understand what the artist responsible for the icon is attempting to communicate? As Panofsky explains, one must know what the gestures mean—just as one must know what it means when one passes a gentleman on the street and the gentleman lifts his hat as sign of cordiality and respect.[footnoteRef:2] If one has no understanding of this gesture, the meaning of the act is lost upon him. Just so, to engage in iconographic analysis one must understand the mechanisms of meaning used by these artists. Particularly, one must be able to contextualize based upon one’s sense of the history and trends and style and culture of the artist and his time. To extend the analogy used by Panofsky, a gentleman raising his hat to another on the street will make sense if one is in the Western world in the early part of the 20th century—but not if one is in the East or in any era but the modern one. Thus, with iconography, one cannot apply modern philosophical or cultural perspectives to the art and expect it to make sense; rather, one must view it from the perspective of the time and place in which it was created. One must understand the artistic gestures and understand them as they would have been understood in that time. Before analyzing The Martyrdom of the Great One, it is necessary to understand the forms, and that means looking at both pre-iconographical methods and iconographical methods. Once these are understood, one can see that Diana Thorneycroft uses iconographic motifs and narrative to express allegorical meanings about Canadian national identity and culture—specifically that in Canada it is not Christ Who is the Great One but rather Wayne Gretzky, hockey hero. The weight of this meaning cannot be comprehended unless one understands the contextual history of iconography and how Thorneycroft ironically uses it to comment on her own modern world. [2: Erwin Panofsky, “Iconography and Iconology: An Introduction to the Study of Renaissance Art,” Mechanisms of Meaning, 220.]Pre-IconographicDescribing a work of art in terms line, form, color, lumps of shapes as symbols of natural environments, the relationship between objects as representative of events, and recognizing the pose or gesture of a subject as indicative of the character of the work and the subject upon which the viewer is meant to meditate—all of this would be to engage what Panofsky calls a pre-iconographic description of the work.[footnoteRef:3] In other words, to look at a work and understand it in terms of how line, shape, shadow, form, movement—this is to look at it pre-iconographic terms. [3: Erwin Panofsky, “Iconography and Iconology: An Introduction to the Study of Renaissance Art,” Mechanisms of Meaning, 221.]IconographicDescribing a work of art in terms of its meaning and subject matter instead of in terms of its form—this is what it means to engage in iconography.

Stuck Writing Your "Iconology and Iconography How to View Meaning in Icons" Research Paper?

View All Our Example Iconology and Iconography How to View Meaning in Icons Research Paper

Have A Custom Example Essay Written

In the iconographic approach, one focuses on subject matter and meaning rather the line, movement, shape, color, space. It does not look at the manner in which a thing is done, communicated or expressed; instead, it looks at the meaning of the action itself. Once more, the lifting of the hat to express a salutation by a gentleman passing on the street is an act that can be described in terms of its meaning. If it were a work of art and one were attempting to describe it in pre-iconographic terms, one would look at how the…

[…… parts of this paper are missing, click here to view the entire document ]

…Thorneycroft’s picture is meant to shock and horrify and even make to laugh at the ridiculousness of the modern world and its superficial culture.However, viewer must bring something to the image to complete the meaning that the artist begins, as Howard argues.[footnoteRef:5] Yet, at the same time, one must remember that the artist is reflecting something genuine and real at least in terms of his or her sense of time and place. As Argan argues, “the world of images is an ordered world…and the intellect is still another sector or segment of image.”[footnoteRef:6] This means that there is correspondence between the image or art work and the individual viewer. The art brings something to say and the viewer must try to interpret it based on his or her understanding of the symbols, motifs, themes, and so on. If one has no sense of the iconographic perspective, one may struggle to interpret a work of art that relies on iconographic images, motifs and themes to convey meaning to a modern audience. [5: Seymour Howard, “Iconology, intention, imagos, and myths of meaning”, Source: Notes in the History of Art, no. 13 (1996), 2.] [6: Giulio Carlo Argan, “Ideology and iconology”, Critical Inquiry 2, no.2 (1975), 297.]ConclusionThorneycroft uses images, motifs and themes consistent with Old World icons to convey meaning about the modern world of Canada, its values, and its lack of religious belief. Instead of saints going to Heaven, Canada and the modern world are concerned with sports heroes, legacies of athleticism, and the natural wonders of the world. Rather than see glory in death, they see old age and dying as an offense in and of itself. Thus, it is better that the Great One (Gretzky) be torn apart by lions than remind moderns of the fact that all must age and….....

Show More ⇣

     Open the full completed essay and source list


OR

     Order a one-of-a-kind custom essay on this topic


sample essay writing service

Cite This Resource:

Latest APA Format (6th edition)

Copy Reference
"Iconology And Iconography How To View Meaning In Icons" (2020, December 05) Retrieved June 6, 2026, from
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/iconology-iconography-view-meaning-icons-2181399

Latest MLA Format (8th edition)

Copy Reference
"Iconology And Iconography How To View Meaning In Icons" 05 December 2020. Web.6 June. 2026. <
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/iconology-iconography-view-meaning-icons-2181399>

Latest Chicago Format (16th edition)

Copy Reference
"Iconology And Iconography How To View Meaning In Icons", 05 December 2020, Accessed.6 June. 2026,
https://www.aceyourpaper.com/essays/iconology-iconography-view-meaning-icons-2181399
   

Open, View, and/or
Download this Document
order custom essay example