In this class we begin to examine the role of various kinds of context in understanding visual works.

1. WEEK 7
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Art 100
UnderstandingVisualCulture

2. Lorenzo Lotto
Portrait of aYoung Man in
Front of aWhite Curtain
c. 1508
oil on wood
16 1/2 x 14 inches

3. SIGNIFIERS:
SIGNIFIEDS:

4. synchronic [syn=together]

5. synchronic
Both formal and semiotic analyses are synchronic in nature: they
consider meanings generated by an arrangement of elements within
a single moment in time.

6. Synchronic
understanding
of a tree’s
functions

7. diachronic
understanding
of a tree
[dimension of
time is
present]
Dia=across or through time
Diachronic analyses take into account meanings generated over
time, including the accretion and depletion of meanings.

8. Diachronicdia=across

9. Diachronic analysis
takes change into
account.
Meanings of cultural
objects are dynamic
over time.
New meanings
accrue to images,
old ones fall away
and have to be
painstakingly
recovered, if at all.

10. looking at a visual image
 start with your reactions and impressions
 then ask yourself: how is the overall form is
put together?
 formal elements to consider
 composition
 line
 color
 shape
 size
 texture

11. make a list of all formal elements. these, along with
the subject matter, will become your signifiers.
write them down in a column on the left. in a column
on the right, list the possible signifieds that
correspond to these signifiers.
now, look at the whole list of signifieds together.
how do they add up to a meaning?
Semiotic Analysis

12. Ganesha with His Consorts
Central India, early 11th century
(41 3/8 x 27 x 13 in.)
Sandstone
But, what if we don’t know
what is signified? Or, what if
we get it wrong?

13. Ganesha
 elephant-headed god
 son of Shiva and Parvati
 god of wisdom and learning
 “remover of obstacles”

14. Sandro Botticelli, Primavera (Allegory of Spring), c. 1482, o/c, 80 x 124 inches

15. Sandro Botticelli, Primavera (Allegory of Spring), c. 1482, o/c, 80 x 124 inches
Zephyr
Chloris
Flora
Venus
Cupid
TheThree Graces
Mercury

16. possible interpretations
 for a small, elite public who would
understand all of the mythological allusions
from their reading of Greek and Latin classics
that were coming back into fashion in the
Italian Renaissance
 for an even smaller, and more elite public
who would understand this as an allegory of
neoPlatonist thought, moving from sensual
enjoyment to divine contemplation

17. possible interpretations 2
 Christian allegory of life cycle
 commemorative of peace treaty brokered by
Lorenzo de Medici in the Spring of 1480,
bringing two years of war to a close

19. Galloping HorseTreading on a Flying Swallow
(a.k.a. “Flying Horse”)
Han Dynasty (Eastern Han)
1st c. AD
14” H 18” W
bronze

21. warfare and cultural
exchange
 Horse-riding nomads on China's northern frontiers around
the 6th century B.C.E.
 development of cavalry was essential to combat the speed
and mobility of hostile nomad incursions.
 Expeditions sent westwards during the reign of Emperor
Wudi (reigned 140 - 86 B.C.E.) of the Han dynasty
encountered in Ferghana (part of present-day Uzbekistan,
Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan) a new breed of horse, superior
to the native Chinese horse.The strength and speed of
Ferghanan horses, imported in large quantities, amazed
the Chinese, and became a favorite theme of painters and
sculptors. Although small in size, this bronze figure of a
horse relates in proportion to the much larger ceramic,
wood and bronze tomb figures found in Eastern Han period
tombs.