Symbols And Allegories In Art

"The purpose of this volume is to provide today's readers and museum-goers with a tool for orienting themselves in the world of images and learning to read the hidden meanings of certain famous paintings."--Introduction.

"The Guide to Imagery series introduces readers to important visual vocabulary of Western art."--Back cover.

This volume examines the ways that sovereign rulers have employed well-defined symbols, attributes, and stereotypes to convey their power to their subjects and rivals, as well as to leave a legacy for subsequent generations to admire. Legendary rulers from antiquity such as Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar, and Constantine have been looked to as models for their display of imperial power by the rulers of later eras. From medieval sovereigns such as Charlemagne and France's Louis IX to the tsars of Russia and the great European royal dynasties of the Hapsburgs, the Bourbons, and the Tudors, the rulers of each period have appropriated and often embellished the emblems of power employed by their predecessors. Even the second-tier lords who ruled parts of France and Italy during the Renaissance, such as the dukes of Burgundy, the Gonzaga of Mantua, and the Medici of Florence became adept at manipulating this imagery. The final chapter is reserved for Napoleon I, perhaps the ultimate master of symbolic display, who assumed the attributes of Roman emperors to project an image of eternal and immutable authority. The author examines not only regal paraphernalia such as crowns, scepters, thrones, and orbs, but also the painted portraits, sculptures, tapestries, carved ivories, jewelry, coins, armor, and, eventually, photographs created to display their owner's sovereign power, a vast collection of works that now forms a significant portion of the cultural heritage of Western civilization.

Introduction to Art: Design, Context, and Meaning offers a deep insight and comprehension of the world of Art. Contents: What is Art? The Structure of Art Significance of Materials Used in Art Describing Art - Formal Analysis, Types, and Styles of Art Meaning in Art - Socio-Cultural Contexts, Symbolism, and Iconography Connecting Art to Our Lives Form in Architecture Art and Identity Art and Power Art and Ritual Life - Symbolism of Space and Ritual Objects, Mortality, and Immortality Art and Ethics

Classical myth and legend - The bible and life of Christ - Saints and their miracles - History, literature and the arts - Symbols and allegories.

Thoroughly user-friendly and covering a broad historical sweep, this book is a reference guide to fifty of the most frequently occurring symbols in global art history. Iconography, or the study of symbols—be they animals, artifacts, plants, geometric shapes, or gestures—is an essential aspect of interpreting art. One of the most consistent features of human society throughout time has been the use of visual symbols, which often act as substitutions for the written word, crossing dialects and borders and uniting understandings of the world through a shared language. Incorporating and analyzing a wealth of cultures, Symbols in Art serves as a reference guide to fifty of the most frequently occurring symbols in global art history from 2300 BCE to the present day, exploring their subtle implications and covert meanings. Entries devoted to specific symbols expose nuances of meaning and historical use, from easily identifiable symbols across the globe to those used to speak to specific cultural groups. This book exposes such intriguing correspondences as the symbolism of grapevines in a fifteenth-century painting by Giovanni Bellini compared to the images in Yinka Shonibare’s Last Supper. Complete with a user-friendly glossary of symbols and a well-selected array of illustrations, this book illuminates common and thought-provoking symbols in art across history and the globe, functioning as an indispensable tool for interpretation.

"A Companion volume to James Hall’s perennial seller Dictionary of Subjects & Symbols in Art. which deals with the subject matter of Christian and Western art, the present volume includes the art of Egypt, the ancient Near East, Christian and classical Europe, India and the Far East. Flail explores the language of symbols in art showing how paintings, drawings and sculpture express man shades of meaning from simple, everyday hopes and fears to the profoundest philosophical and religious aspirations. The book explains and interprets symbols from many cultures, and over 600 illustrations clarify and complement the text. There are numbered references throughout the text to the sacred Iitcra-1 ture, myths and legends in which the symbols had their origins. Details of English translations of the works are in the bibliography. The book includes an appendix of the transcription of Chinese, notes and references, bibliography, chronological tables and index."