Modern Iconography

Paper Summary:

The paper explores the meaning behind religious symbols commonly used in works of art throughout history and the ways in which iconography itself has been considered over the ages. The paper looks at the works of contemporary artists such as Felix Gonzales-Torres, Guillermo Kuitca and Vik Muniz, and analyzes the deployment of iconographical symbols and images in art in the context of the present. The paper attempts to show how modernization and the ongoing process of technological innovation continue to shape the evolving practice of iconographical analysis in works of art both old and new.

From the Paper:

"Iconography concerns itself with the symbols and historical context that are believed to determine the intrinsic meaning of a work of art. While iconography played a major role in the art history of the 19th century, it was not until the 20th century that the principles of iconography became solidified into a coherent program. This was mainly the work of one man, the art historian Erwin Panofsky. Panofsky engineered a three-tiered approach to iconographical understanding."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bal, Mieke and Norman Bryson. "Semiotics and Art History: A Discussion of Context and Senders," 1991. Reprinted in Preziosi, Donald, ed. The Art of Art History: A Critical Anthology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.
• Carvajal, Rina. "Mapping Out the Self: The Work of Guillermo Kuitca." Guillermo Kuitca. Rotterdam: Witte de With, 1990.
• Goldberg, Vicki. "It's a Leonardo? It's a Corot? Well, No, It's Chocolate Syrup." New York Times (September 25, 1998). Retrieved on Nov. 15, 2007 from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9406EED61639F936A1575AC0A96E958260#.
• Panofsky, Erwin. Meaning in the Visual Arts. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books, 1955.
• Panofsky, Erwin. Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance. New York: Harper & Row, 1962.

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• Film Review # 67975 : "Modern Westerns: "Cat Ballou" and "The Wild Bunch"
• Comparison Essay # 5435 : "Classical and Post-Modern Film Noir"

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