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_iconography _
By: Joe Bag o Doughnuts
Iconography Iconography, in art history, the study of subject matter in art.
The meaning of works of art is often conveyed by the specific objects or
figures that the artist chooses to portray; the purpose of iconography is to
identify, classify, and explain these objects. Iconography is particularly
important in the study of religious and allegorical painting, where many of
the objects that are pictured—crosses, skulls, books, or candles, for
example—have special significance, which is often obscure or symbolic. The use
of iconographic symbols in art began as early as 3000 BC, when the Neolithic
civilizations of the Middle East used nonhuman or animal figures to represent
their gods. Thus, the Egyptian mother goddess Hathor was associated with the
cow and usually appeared in relief sculpture and wall paintings as a
cow-headed woman. The sun god Ra had a hawk's head, and the creator Ptah
appeared as a bull. In ancient Greece and Rome, each of the gods was
associated with specific objects. Zeus (Jupiter), the father of the gods, was
often accompanied by an eagle or a thunderbolt; Apollo, the god of art, by a
lyre; Artemis (Diana), the hunter, by a bow and quiver. In addition, the
Romans perfected the use of secular allegorical symbols. For example, a woman
surrounded by bunches of grapes and sheaves of wheat would be readily
understood as a representation of the bounties of the earth. Early Christian
art during the period of Roman persecution was highly circumspect, and
innocuous objects—the fish and the dove—were used to symbolize Christ and the
Holy Spirit. Later Christian art, however, became replete with iconographic
symbols. In particular, many of the saints became associated with specific
objects—Saint Peter with two keys, for instance, or Saint Catherine with a
broken wheel. During the Renaissance and through the 18th century, allegorical
paintings were especially popular, as artists constructed elaborate symbolic
schemes to illustrate such themes as the vanity of human existence. Objects
such as jewels, coins, and musical instruments personified the vain pleasures
of life, while skulls, hourglasses, and extinguished candles were memento
mori, or reminders of death. In the modern period, much art has become so
highly individualistic that the use of widely understood iconographic objects
has disappeared. Some exceptions are Cubism, Dada, and pop art, the images of
which are everyday objects—newspapers, soup cans, photographs, comic-book
figures—that have become genuine iconographic symbols reflecting modern
culture.
Word Count: 398
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