Art Humanities
Iconography is the act of producing religious images that are called icons. It studies the description, identification and also the interpretation of image contents. Iconography is also used in different fields other than the art humanities such as the media studies and also the semiotics field. Iconography also acts as a depiction of a particular subject depending on image contents. Humans communicated using iconography as back as one hundred thousand years ago. An example is that of the Chinese characters and also the Egyptian hieroglyphs. Iconography has been practiced for centuries in the religion of Christianity. Great artists have transmitted the history surrounding the Christianity religion and were still present on this day. The artists drew pictures that carried a greater meaning and contained a lot of information in a single image. Some artists could draw the same image in their era but carrying different message to the audience present. For example, the image of Christ Jesus has been drawn for centuries giving different information. These pictures have been preserved in museums and were accessible in our present time. Whatever is in an iconography we may or may not have familiarity with. It represents a history of a certain group of people.
Albrecht Durer was a Germany architect in the period of the renaissance. He is praised as being the greatest architect and artist outside Italy. He did a lot of religious works in his time. He drew a personal picture of Christ. The picture was remarkable as it had a lot of semblance of the earlier pictures of Christ. The pictorial considered one of the best in his time. Durer’s picture represented Christ in a sober mood. He depicts Christ as a person who was always sober and was not worried of tribulations he faced as a human being. He portrays Christ as having good looks and a bearded mustache. The picture shows that the works have been transmitted through generations until this day for his picture looks similar to the ones we see representing Jesus Christ in our daily lives. The picture also shows Christ lifting his hand half way as an appearance of blessings and prayer. The picture depicts that we Christians should always stay in prayer and asks for help for ourselves and God. The picture also shows that we should always remain calm with somber minds and concentrate entirely on prayer.
Another pictorial of Durer’s works is that drawn from the book of Revelation in the Bible. The drawing contains two men who are surrounded by lampstands and clouds, and they are both old. One of them is seated holding a book while the other is kneeling down on then feet of the seated old man. It represents Jesus Christ and John; his last disciple. The book of revelation is thought to be talking about the end of times. The place in where Jesus and John are is holy and looks extraordinary. The lampstands show that Christians should have light in their hearts. The presence of clouds displays the glory there is in the presence of Christ and heavens. John is kneeling down, and this shows that Christians should be filed with humility when approaching Christ in prayers and his place of worship. Jesus is holding a book that in the Christianity sense shows the book of life. All humanity will face judgment before God and also the He will judge everyone according to our deeds, and those upright will be for paradise while those evildoers will be for the hell.
Durer uses the hand drawing medium as his best way to portray his message to the society. It depicts his original works and therefore no alterations can be done to the image. The message he describes using iconography was the best way to their times, therefore, utilizing it to the maximum. He could have just written instead of drawing, but the drawing can carry a lot of information in a very little space than by writing a whole book to explain it. Medium and iconography materials require the use of critical thinking so as to unravel the information being portrayed. His images are simple and clear, but a lot of hidden information in history is contained there.
William Blake was a poet, printmaker and also an English painter. He is considered as one of the best poets in his and an artist of the Romantic Age. His pictorials are based on Romantic arts, and he always combined naturalistic details with Baroque dynamism. He did some religious works in iconographical picture paintings from the book of Daniel in the Bible and described it as an Ancient of Days. The picture is very catchy but looks terrifying. It depicts the visions of Daniel that were from God as the Bible says. It shows an old man inside a glowing ball and the light is shining. The man is pointing his hand downwards. And his fingertips are also glowing. The pictorial represents the time in which there will be a lot of tribulations on earth, and Christians term it as the day of the lord. Blake’s view is that the picture united the concept of the creator and the wisdom as being part of God. The fiery orb depicts of Michael’s power holding the man at the heavenly perch. The stretched and spread figures with rays of light looking like a measuring instrument shows the lord measures the faith of his people on earth. The image all through depicts the presence of the glory and heavenly beings that cannot easily be explained by humans.
The works of William Blake are very astonishing depicting people’s lives and also gods worshiped by men such as the violent Greek god Saturn. William Blake approaches iconography in a greater and an amazing way. He draws information from a book like the Bible and then draw an image to represent a heavenly being and acts. He depicts people’s lives and their tribulations and worries. The paint media used by the artist is very catchy and also brings about the information he wants the people to see it. Use of print significantly distinguishes all the feature and section he wants to paint. He can paint a picture showing lights in the way people depicts as the presentation of light. William Blake’s images also possess a lot to be desired. They contain a lot of imageries, and one has to use critical thinking so as to unravel the real meaning of what is being represented. The pictures represent greater and vast information that cannot be easily and read on a book by just glancing.
Gianbattista Tiepolo was a printmaker and a painter from Italy. He worked in different countries other than Italy such as Germany and also Spain. He is iconic as one of the greatest decorative artist and craftsman in Europe in the 18th century. Most of his works were based on people’s life and their daily activities. He could paint pictures of politicians at several and also different events in his life. He also used to paint with his sons. An example is that of Apotheosis of Spain in Royal Palace of Madrid picture that depicted the political life events of that time. They also included the wealthy by painting the scheme of frescoes. He was also commissioned by the king of Spain to decorate his throne room in his royal palace. He drew depiction of pains dominance over America and also across the globe.
He painted a picture on the crucifixion of Christ. It contains three men crucified each on his cross. There are women crying and other men who are comforting them. There is also a horse and behind them is a ladder. Giovanni Battista Tiepolo symbolizes the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and also two thieves who were with him. The crucifixion of Jesus is the lamenting period of Christians, and the crying of the women shows how painful the day of crucifixion was. Tiepolo’s painting is not hard to unravel what is here, and it shows that Christians would face troubles and persecution in life. He uses medium and iconography to present Jesus, who is an icon in Christianity (Wolk-Simon, Linda and Tiepolo, 1997).
Rembrandt Hamernszoon Van Rijn was a Dutch painter born in 1606. He is considered as one of the best printmakers of his time in Europe. His talent in painting coincided with the period of high cultural and wealth that is termed as the golden age of the Dutch people. He exhibited knowledge of classical iconography. Some of his great works in iconography are like pictorial of The storm on the sea of Galilee. But this painting has one missing after getting stolen in 1990. Another pictorial is that of Saint Stephen while he was being stoned. The picture shows men holding stone and others throwing stones at a kneeling man and even a horse of the soldiers in that time. The crowd is that of the Jewish Pharisees and also Sadducees who stoned Stephen to death as is written in the Bible. Stephen is being stoned while raising his hands looking up at heaven. This pictorial shows us that, and Christians should be always ready to go to heaven and not fear persecution. Stephen is an icon in Christianity as the first martyr. Rembrandt uses this pictorial to keep the history of the first Christian persecution. The painting is better as compared to print at that time for the print clearly shows every information he wanted people to uncover it.
In conclusion, medium and iconography has been used for centuries to transmit information from one-generation t another. Different iconography designs from different architectures have been kept to date, and they are accessible in museums. The pictorials of iconography always represent hidden information about something or someone. Historians and use this information to write more content in history. Albrecht Durer, Gianbattista Tiepolo and also Albrecht Durer and Rembrandt used architecture to represent the content of information so as to make it storable for future generations.
Bibliography
Essick, Robert N. William Blake, Printmaker. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1980.
Fulda, Bernhard, and Aya Soika. Max Pechstein: The Rise and Fall of Expressionism. 2012.
Hults, Linda C. The Print in the Western World : an Introductory History. Madison (Wisconsin): The University of Wisconsin Press, 1996.
Plomp, Michiel, and Philippe De Montebello. Rembrandt and His Circle: Drawings and Prints. New York: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2006.
Robinson, Julie, and Albrecht Du?rer. Du?rer and German Renaissance Printmaking. Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia, 1996.
White, Christopher, and Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Rembrandt As an Etcher: A Study of the Artist at Work. New Haven, Conn: Yale University Press, 1999.
Wolk-Simon, Linda, and Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo. Domenico Tiepolo: Drawings, Prints, and Paintings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, N.Y.: Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1997.
