In this class we approach the question of context from multiple angles, considering how additional information can enrich and alter an interpretation.

1. WEEK 7
CONTEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Art 100
UnderstandingVisual Culture

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.

23. Gentile da
Fabriano,
Adoration of the
Magi, 1423

25. Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi, 1423

26. What questions might we ask?
1. what is the relationship between this work
and other works of the time period?
2. what is the relationship between this work
and other works by the same artist?
3. how does this work express the values and
ideas of the patron?
4. how does this work relate to contemporary
social conditions? religious beliefs? political
events?

27. 1. what is the relationship between this work
and other works of the time period?
 “International Gothic Style”
 courtly style,luxury objects using expensive
materials and emphasizing elegant subject
matter
 illuminated manuscripts, tapestries (woven
and painted) could travel relatively easily,
allowing for diffusion of style across national
borders; intermarriage between European
royal families also facilitated artistic transfer

28. Simone Martini, The Annunciation, 1333, tempera on panel, 72 1/2 x 82 5/8

29. The Limbourg
Brothers
TheTres Riches
Heures du Duc du
Berry
1412-16

30. Gentile da Fabriano
The Coronation of the
Virgin
c. 1420
tempera and gold leaf
on panel
34 1/2 x 25 1/2 inches

31. Christ's halo is gilded and
tooled.
It carries an inscription:
YHS XPS FIL(IUS).
Combining Greek and
Latin, translates as: Jesus
Christ Son of God.

32. Stylistic features visible in
this detail:
• extensive tooling
(impressing/stamping
a design using metal
tools)
• gold leaf
• decorative patterning
using richly colored
pigments
http://web.ceu.hu/medstud/manual/MMM/glossary.html

33. The scroll held by the
angel on the left reads:
Timete dominum et date
ille hono [rem] (Fear the
Lord and give honor to
him).

34. The Coronation of the Virgin
Gentile was commissioned to
paint this scene for his native
town, Fabriano (Gentile’s
hometown) commissioned
this work from him after he
became famous.
This was processional
standard held aloft in town
parades that honored the
Virgin Mary.The reverse side
of the panel originally
depicted The Stigmatization of
Saint Francis. However, the
panel was sawed in half (not
side to side, but front to back);
the Saint Francis side is now in
a private collection in Italy.

35.  Gentile's most famous
surviving works were
made during his time in
Florence in the 1420s,
where his work was
widely seen and he had
the opportunity to see
the works of Florentine
painters. He worked in
Venice, Florence, Siena,
Orvieto, and Rome, but
most of his frescoes have
Things to look for:
 abandoning abstract
backgrounds for real
skies,
 introducing a light
source into the picture,
 depicting cast shadows,
and
 making the earliest
known drawings after
the antique.

36. Gentile da
Fabriano,
Adoration of the
Magi, 1423

38. Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi, 1423

39. SantaTrinita, Florence
outside of city walls at time of construction

40. #20 marks the
location of the
Capella Strozzi

41. Palla Strozzi
 wealthy merchant and
banker in Florence
 spent huge sums of
money on art (e.g.,
marble tomb for his
father, decorations for
the Strozzi Chapel in
SantaTrinita)
 spent 30,000 florins on
Gentile’s Adoration of
the Magi
 this was an absurdly
large amount of money
and a chunk of his
fortune.
 did not manage his
money well
 was exiled to Padua for
life after the return of
the Medici family to
Florence
 continued to invest in
the Strozzi Chapel

42. references to the Strozzi
family
*Order of the Golden Spur (being placed
around the ankle of the foreground king).
*Company of the Magi (Florence social club to
which Palla Strozzi belonged); held festival on
Epiphany (Jan 6) with parade fromTown Hall
to San Marco.
*Magi as symbolic of wealthy merchants
laying gifts at the feet of the church
*Strozziere—”Master of the Falcons”—
symbolic of the family name

44. Gentile da Fabriano, Adoration of the Magi, 1423
http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=Matthew+2

45. Possible explanations
Individual style?
Artist’s biography and preferences?
Patron’s biography and preferences?
Social, political, cultural, religious surroundings