Iconography: identify symbols (what). Iconology (Panofsky): interpret deeper cultural meaning (why). Three levels.
Panofsky's Three Levels
Erwin Panofsky's framework for reading art — from surface description to cultural meaning
Level 1 — Pre-iconographic (natural subject matter): describe what you literally see — a man in a robe holding a key. Level 2 — Iconographic: identify the subject using cultural knowledge — this is Saint Peter (keys are his attribute). Level 3 — Iconological: interpret the deeper cultural/historical meaning — what does this image say about society, theology, power? Example: Raphael's School of Athens: Level 1 = men arguing; Level 2 = ancient Greek philosophers; Level 3 = Renaissance humanism's claim that reason and antiquity are compatible with Christianity.
The visual vocabulary of Christian art — symbols that recur across 1,500 years
Halo (nimbus): holiness — gold = divine/saint, square = living person depicted. Lamb (Agnus Dei): Christ sacrificed. Dove: Holy Spirit (Annunciation, Baptism). Fish (ICHTHYS): early Christian symbol — Greek acronym for 'Jesus Christ, Son of God, Savior.' Lily: Virgin Mary's purity, also Annunciation. Skull (memento mori): death, mortality, usually at foot of Cross or in still lifes. Palm branch: martyrdom. Shell: baptism, pilgrimage (Santiago de Compostela). Triangle: Trinity. Eye in triangle: all-seeing God. IHS: abbreviation for Jesus in Greek (Jesuits). Alpha and Omega: Christ as beginning and end.
Attributes of Saints
Saint attributes: Peter = keys, Paul = sword, Sebastian = arrows, Catherine = wheel, Jerome = lion, John Baptist = lamb.
Attributes of Saints
How to identify saints in art — each carries a symbol of their martyrdom or life
Peter: two keys (kingdom of heaven — Matthew 16:19). Paul: sword (beheaded) + book. Sebastian: arrows (martyred by archers — Roman soldier). Catherine of Alexandria: spiked wheel (torture instrument that broke miraculously). Jerome: lion (removed thorn from paw) + skull + book. Mary Magdalene: alabaster jar (anointed Christ's feet). Luke: ox (evangelist symbol) + palette (patron of painters). John the Evangelist: eagle (evangelist symbol) + chalice with snake. Francis of Assisi: stigmata + birds + wolf. Agnes: lamb (name pun on Latin agnus). Teresa of Ávila: heart + dart (divine love). Agatha: breasts on plate (martyrdom).
Peter
Keys
Paul
Sword
Sebastian
Arrows
Catherine
Wheel
Jerome
Lion
Mary Magdalene
Alabaster jar
Francis
Stigmata, animals
Vanitas Painting
Vanitas: skull + hourglass + guttering candle + wilting flowers + soap bubble = life is brief. Dutch still life.
Vanitas Still Life
Dutch 17th-century still lifes encoding memento mori — 'remember you will die'
Vanitas vanitatum (Ecclesiastes): 'Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.' Common objects and their meanings: Skull: death inevitable. Hourglass or clock: time passing. Guttering candle: life's brief flame. Wilting flowers: faded beauty. Soap bubble (bulla): fragility of life. Books: worldly knowledge is vain. Musical instruments: temporal pleasures. Full glass of wine/overturned: pleasure passing. Laurel wreath: fame is temporary. Rotten fruit: decay. Fly: sin and putrefaction. Vanitas vs memento mori: vanitas = 'all is vain,' memento mori = 'remember death.' Often combined with luxurious objects (worldly wealth is meaningless).
Linear Perspective
Brunelleschi invented linear perspective ~1415. Vanishing point, horizon line, orthogonals. Masaccio first applied it.
Linear Perspective
The Renaissance invention that created the illusion of three-dimensional space on a flat surface
Filippo Brunelleschi: demonstration panel of Baptistery (Florence, ~1415) — first proof perspective worked. Leon Battista Alberti: De Pictura (1435) — codified rules. One-point perspective: all parallel lines converge at single vanishing point on horizon. Two-point: two vanishing points (corner view). Orthogonals: diagonal lines leading to vanishing point. Horizon line: eye level of viewer. Foreshortening: objects appear shorter when receding. Masaccio: Trinity fresco (Santa Maria Novella, ~1427) — first perspectival painting. Piero della Francesca: mathematician-painter, most rigorous perspective. Chinese/Japanese art: isometric projection (no convergence) — deliberate different system.
Color Symbolism
Color symbolism: blue = heaven/Mary, red = blood/love/martyrdom, gold = divinity, purple = royalty, green = hope.
Color Symbolism in Art
The consistent symbolic meanings of color in Western and other traditions
Christian Western: blue = sky, heaven, Virgin Mary (lapis lazuli, most expensive pigment → reserved for holiest figure). Red = blood, martyrdom, Pentecost, divine love, also sin (Scarlet Woman). Gold = divine light, heaven, eternity (not a color but divine substance). Purple = royalty, wealth (Tyrian purple from murex snails, enormously expensive). White = purity, innocence, death (Eastern traditions). Black = death, mourning, also authority (judicial robes). Green = hope, spring, rebirth. Yellow: ambiguous — gold/wisdom or Judas's yellow cloak/cowardice. Ultramarine blue (lapis lazuli from Afghanistan): costlier than gold in medieval Europe.
Formal Analysis
Formal analysis: describe line, shape, color, texture, space, composition, scale. SEPARATE from subject matter.
Formal Analysis
How to analyze an artwork's visual properties — the foundation of art historical writing
Elements: Line (contour, implied, directional), Shape (geometric vs organic), Color (hue, saturation, value), Texture (actual vs implied), Space (positive/negative, shallow/deep). Principles: Balance (symmetrical vs asymmetrical), Unity, Emphasis/focal point, Rhythm, Proportion, Scale. Composition: how elements arranged in picture plane. Color temperature: warm (red/yellow) advances, cool (blue) recedes. Gestalt: eye completes implied shapes. Formal analysis FIRST, then iconography, then context — Heinrich Wölfflin: linear vs painterly, plane vs recession, closed vs open form, multiplicity vs unity, clarity vs obscurity.
Two Renaissance techniques for creating three-dimensional form on a two-dimensional surface
Chiaroscuro (Italian: light-dark): modeling with contrast — light areas advance, dark recede → illusion of 3D form. Tenebrism: extreme version — deep shadows dominate (Caravaggio, Rembrandt). Sfumato (Italian: smoky): Leonardo's technique — gradual, imperceptible transitions between light and shadow, no hard edges. Mona Lisa: sfumato in corners of mouth and eyes → ambiguous expression. Unfinished works reveal how Leonardo built up glazes. Chiaroscuro woodcut: Renaissance print technique using multiple blocks for tone. Raking light in conservation: reveals brushwork and surface texture.
Patronage and Context
Patronage: who commissioned it, for what purpose, for where? Context transforms meaning. The Medici, Church, guilds, courts.
Patronage and Art
Art is never made in a vacuum — patronage, commission, and location shape every artistic choice
Renaissance Florence: Medici (civic legitimacy + personal pride), Church (altarpieces, chapels), guilds (Or San Michele — each guild's niche). Public vs private: altarpiece in church vs portrait in palazzo → different audiences, different conventions. Papal patronage: Raphael's Stanze, Michelangelo's Sistine, St. Peter's. Royal patronage: Velázquez at Spanish court, Rubens as diplomat-painter. State patronage: socialist realism (USSR), Nazi Entartete Kunst suppression. Public art: muralism (Mexico — Rivera, Orozco, Siqueiros). Context changes meaning: Duchamp's urinal in art exhibition vs bathroom → site-specificity matters.