Iconography. Visual & Performing Arts Research Paper

Your second writing assignment will require you to make use of an approach that art historians
call iconography, a word that literally means “image-writing.” Iconography is one of the most
useful methods for answering our questions about what and how art communicates. Unlike
formal analysis, iconography focuses on the identifiable content of the work of art. It treats the
objects in a painting like written words, and the painting itself like a statement or proposition.
Paintings make non-verbal statements in all kinds of ways, just as we do in our daily lives. A
person’s manner of dress, the objects that surround them, the kind of natural or architectural
setting they occupy—all of these convey meaning both implicitly and explicitly. And just like
the rest of life, this meaning can be debated. Did the artist and patron try to keep the meaning of
a picture private, or did they use signs that were understood by most people? Can we still read
these visual icons or have some of them become obscure over time? Are there multiple ways to
interpret them? Each of these questions can factor into the meaning of an artwork.
For this assignment, you will write a short paper of 3-4 pages that combines research into an
artwork’s iconography with your skills in formal analysis. Choose a work we have discussed in
class that you would like to know more about; it can be from any era. Then, find two scholarly
sources that discuss the iconography of your chosen work. Is there consensus about the
iconography of the work or do scholars disagree about it? Do scholars still consider part of the
iconography uncertain or obscure? Once you have learned the identity and significance of the
main persons, objects, or settings shown in your artwork, incorporate this information into a
written analysis. Just as your formal analysis focused on the hierarchies of visual information,
your iconographical analysis will need to consider how these visual signs work together with the
composition to convey a message. And just like your formal analysis, your iconographical
analysis will need a thesis statement supported by evidence. In this case, you must synthesize
two kinds of evidence: the results of previous scholarly research and the evidence of your senses.
What is a scholarly source? For the purposes of this assignment, we will define a scholarly
source as a published book or an article in an academic journal. That means that many web
pages and useful online resources like Grove Art Online and the Metropolitan Museum’s
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History won’t count for this assignment. They are still great places to
start, however, and we can learn more by consulting the books and articles that are referenced on
these sites, which are listed at the end of each essay. You can also find many articles in academic
journals through online resources like jstor that are accessible through the library’s website,
or through the Summon portal itself. If you are having trouble finding any sources for the
artwork you’ve chosen, you might choose another (having a backup is always a good plan).
Last but not least, your essay must use proper citations in the Chicago style. You can consult
this handy online reference to make sure you’re using the correct formatting:
http://www(dot)chicagomanualofstyle(dot)org/tools_citationguide/citation-guide-1.html