Iconology

The Arnolfini Wedding Portrait by flemish painter Jan van Eyck is one of the favored paintings for the study of symbols.  What conventions here are readable to us?  Which symbols described in the book are new to your understanding?
On Panofsky's deepest level of meaning (his "intrinsic level") what can we determine about life in Northern Europe in the 15th century?

These conventions change through time with some conventions persisting and many changing.

What changes are evident between Titian's painting of a woman created in Italy in 1638, directly below, and Manet's painting of a woman over 2 centuries later in 1865,right below that?

Venus of Urbino, 1638, by Titian

Olympia, 1865, by Edouard Manet

In class, we'll spend some time looking at a few more paintings in groups to see if we can apply Panofsky's 3 levels of meaning: primary, conventional, and intrinsic.

Nighthawks, 1942 by Edward Hopper

Susie Goldfarb and Gregory Masurovsky, 1974 by David Hockney

A few more images from Northern Europe in the 16th century, these all in the "Vanitas" tradition:

Willem Kalf

Pieter Claes

      

And, a modern Vanitas by Audrey Flack:

Iconology
Iconography
Icon
Iconic
Symbol
Attribute