The Depiction of Images in Art in Order to Convey Certain Meanings

At the simplest of levels, iconography is the containment of deeper meanings in simple representations. It often makes use of symbolism to generate narrative, which in turn develops a work's meaning. Symbolic representation may occur when a representation takes on meaning that is unrelated to what it depicts. For example, when lilies are pictured with the Christian Virgin Mary, they symbolically represent the thought of chastity. Chastity and lilies have no direct connection; therefore the significant is symbolic.

In other cases, the symbolic representation may have a more direct relationship to what it represents. For case, images of the Buddha e'er show him with elongated earlobes, it is i of the visual markers whereby the viewer can recognize the Buddha. This symbol represents his days as a wealthy young noble who wore heavy, jeweled earrings that stretched his earlobes.

Allow'south turn our attention to one of the nearly famous paintings of all of Western fine art to develop a deeper understanding of how iconography works: Jan van Eyck's, Arnolfini Portrait painted in 1434.

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

Each of the objects in van Eyck'south painting has a specific meaning here across imagery. In fact, this painting may be a painted marriage contract designed to solidify the understanding betwixt these two families. It is particularly of import to call back that this is not a painting of an actual scene, but an image constructed to communicate specific things.

1. Y'all notice that the bride holds her garment in front of her belly in order to appear pregnant. She wasn't pregnant at the time of the painting but this is a symbolic delineation to represent that she will become fruitful.
2. The niggling dog at her feet is a symbol of allegiance, and is often seen with portraits of women paid for by their husbands.
3. The discarded shoes are frequently a symbol of the sanctity of union.
4. The single candle lit in the daylight (look at the chandelier) is a symbol of the bridal candle, a devotional candle that was to burn all night the first night of the spousal relationship. Other interpretations merits that the single candle is a symbol of the presence of God.
5. The chair dorsum 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 hand carried from India and very expensive) and fertility.
7. The round mirror at the dorsum reflects both the artist and another man, and the artist'due south signature reads, "Jan van Eyck was present"—both are witnesses to the betrothal in the moving picture. (Nosotros don't think of this much anymore, just a hope to marry was a legal contract). The circular forms effectually the mirror are tiny paintings of the Stations of the Cantankerous– moments almost the stop of the life of Jesus.

You tin can run into how densely populated iconography in imagery can convey specific hidden meanings.  The problem hither is to know what all of this means if we want to understand the work. (And sometimes scholars tin't agree on all the symbolic meanings.) Iconography helps situate an artwork in a specific fourth dimension in history and besides the cultural context, because certain symbolic meanings may just be meaningful to a specific civilization (e.g., Christian versus pagan symbols).

Another more gimmicky painting with icons embedded in it is Grant Wood'southward 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". Discover how the copse and bushes in the painting's background and the small cameo the woman wears mirror the soft roundness of her face: these traditional symbols of femininity deport throughout the piece of work.  In contrast, the human being's direct-backed stance is reflected in the pitchfork he holds, and again in the window frames on the house backside him. Fifty-fifty the stitching on his overalls mimics the form of the pitchfork. The arched window frame at the top centre of the painting in particular is a symbol of the gothic architecture from 12^th century Europe.

In addition, a pop genre in painting from sixteenth-century northern Europe, especially the Netherlands, is known as vanitas painting. These withal life paintings are heavily dependent upon symbolic objects that project the joy and accomplishments life affords, yet at the same fourth dimension remind usa of our mortality. Edward Collier's painting below is a practiced case of how crowded these could exist:

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

The armor, weapons, and medals evidence a focus on military accomplishments. The open volume alludes to cognition, and in this instance the drawing of a canon mirrors the overall theme. The world is a symbol of both travel and our mutual existence equally earth-bound beings. Gimmicky vanitas paintings could certainly include allusions to air and space travel. On the far correct of the work, backside the book and in the shadows, lies a skull, again reminding us of the shortness of life and the inevitability of death.

We can find evidence of the process by which iconography, or representations, take on specific meanings in popular culture, as well. The "Golden Arches" ways fast food, the silhouette of an apple (with a bite out of information technology) means a make of computer, and the artist Andy Warhol'south soup can image forever links Campbell'southward soup with Pop Art.

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