Keyword：

​Erwin Panofsky

Iconology

De-Imagination
Anti-Iconology

 

 

 

 

In the article 'Image Studies and Iconography - An Introduction to the Study of Renaissance Art, Panofsky divides the central interpretation of the study of the meaning of images into three levels.

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• The first level: Last Supper. Primary or natural subject matter: The most basic level of understanding, this stratum consists of perception of the work's pure form.(Panofsky, Erwin,1972,p6) The pictorial stage, i.e. the visual images, events and the atmosphere expressed by these images, and scenes, are presented by the work.

 

• The second level: Iconography. Secondary or conventional subject matter. (Panofsky, Erwin,1972,p7) This refers to the fact that the images in a work of art are the product of a specific cultural context.

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• The third level: Iconology. Tertiary or intrinsic meaning or content. This level takes into account personal, technical, and cultural history into the understanding of a work. (Panofsky, Erwin,1972,p9) The image is qualified by the individual's psychology and world view. Such as the emotional value, and the perspective expressed by the image.

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But we gradually find out that such an approach to the study of pictorial works of art may no longer be applicable to some contemporary paintings or installations. In particular, a research method based on Pannowski's approach gives the viewer a quick path to interpreting the image. Such a path is very meritorious and leads the viewer to assume that once they understand the narrative in the picture, they understand the meaning of a painting. In this process, the artist's practice is ignored. The image and the viewer are two points of view. Perhaps such a method of interpretation is more applicable to Cézanne's previous paintings.

But from Cézanne onwards, painting is no longer simply a 'landscape' or a 'portrait'. The very nature of painting was liberated by photographic technology. In many contemporary artists' paintings there is no defined image, no defined narrative, and no intense emotional expression. The definition of the image itself has become ambiguous, or rather the image is not in need of being defined. In this case, the rebellion against the Pannofsque study of the image became the new path that opened up for painting.

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Book and recourses

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1.  Panofsky, Erwin. Studies in Iconology: Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance. New York: Harper & Row, 1972. pp. 5–9.

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