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