Notes from Lecture 2

Notes from Lecture 2

Please remember that these are rough lecture notes, cobbled together from a lot of sources. They are not REFERENCED so do not use these for anything other than study aids.

READ THE BOOKS IN THE LIBRARY FOR ACCURATE INFORMATION

Venice was a maritime republic, heavily involved in trading with the east. The first inhabitants of the city were most likely refugees from neighbouring cities and countryside who fled into these marshes to escape invasions and attacks. They developed great skill in ship building and sea-trading, and eventually developed a commercial ship-building industry that was very efficient and highly lucrative for individuals and for the state. For a long time the city operated with little social distinction, there was no nobililty as such, familiies took turns sitting on the council. That changed in 1297 when a group of wealthy merchants who were sitting on the Grand Council at the time took a vote that henceforth the membership of that body would be ‘closed’ meaning that only descendants of those families present could sit on the Grand Council, so this established an artificial nobility where previously there had been none. There was little enough rebellion and the Venetian republic became a serene and politically stable society.

Tempera was the primary medium of painting at the time. It was typically applied onto a wood panel that had been prepared with layers of gesso – a mixture of glue and chalk – the tempera, made up of pigment and a fast drying binder like egg yolk, had to be built up slowly in thin transparent layers. The benefits – the colours are long lasting and doo not deteriorate over time. The disadvantages – if produces a very matte finish and cannot usually attain the deep colour saturation that oil paintings are able to manage.

This is a work by Pisanello, who was one of those nomadic Italian renaissance artists he doesn’t fit neatly into any category. He was trained by Gentile da Fabriano, who worked in the international gothic tradition.

Jacopo Bellini also a pupil of Gentile da Fabriano, but he was a Venetian and his work developed in a different direction.

More than any city in Italy, Venice was heavily influenced by trade, culture and ideas coning froom the east; you can see that very clearly in the architecture. The palaces of the merchants doubled as warehouses, with the ground floors opening onto the water so that boats could be brought in for loading and unloading. The Basilica of St. Mark was built in the 11^th C and marks the beginning of the development of great public buildings. The city that could erect the half-Oriental Basilica of St Mark, pale and glittering like an opal, was bound to develop a very different kind of painting from the city that approved of the stern proportions of young Brunelleschi's dome in Florence.

Artists from different parts of Italy approached the representation of nature differently and, as a result, produced works that differ not only in execution and appearance but in their very conception. In Florence, disegno, that is, "drawing" or "design," was viewed as the essential beginning of artistic endeavor, the primary means for making art approximate nature. Giorgio Vasari, a Florentine artist and writer, described disegno as the father and foundation of all the visual arts, "the animating principle of all creative processes." For the Florentines and other Central Italian artists, the act of drawing was not only the art of using line to define form: it was the artistic underpinning of a work whereby an artist could express his inner vision. Florentine painters therefore used drawing to study movement, anatomy, and the natural world, and they developed compositions in detailed drawings before transferring them to surfaces prepared for painting.

The beginnings of oil painting are recorded as early as the twelfth century in Northern Europe.. Admixture in oils makes most pigments translucent, allowing artists to apply their colors in thin layers, or glazes, thereby generating the rich, glowing colours,

Oil paint is highly flexible in that it admits application both in thick impasto and fine detail: countless types of descriptive brushstroke are possible in oil. Since it is slow drying, it can be carefully blended to make soft, seamless shadows essential for the suggestion of three-dimensional form, as well as worked while still wet. All these properties make it especially suitable to communicate the reflective properties of different surfaces, from polished marble to dazzling jewels, from soft velvet to luminous highlights on hard metal plate

In Venice, colorito, "colouring” was deemed fundamental to conceiving painted images charged with the look of life. Florentine color was frequently more vivid than the palette used in Venetian paintings; typically Venetian, however, was the process of layering and blending colors to achieve a glowing richness. A long-lived debate between the two positions involved theorists as well as artists and regional rivalries as well as aesthetic concerns.

The importance which Venetians placed on colour explains in part why they adopted oil painting more enthusiastically than their counterparts in Florence, since oil paint gave artists greater depth and luminosity of colour than tempera. Rather than beginning with careful drawings, Venetian painters often worked out compositions directly on the canvas, using layered patches of colored brushstrokes rather than line to define form.

Giovanni Bellini’s use of oil as early as the 1460s, reflecting an earlier knowledge of the medium, perhaps inspired in part by imported pictures. He is considered to have revolutionized Venetian painting, moving it towards a more sensuous and colouristic style. Through the use of clear, slow-drying oil paints, Giovanni created deep, rich tints and detailed shadings. Single portraits of private individuals, however, were virtually unknown until the 1470s. Venetians credited their new popularity to Bellini. His portraits spawned such demand for likenesses of family members that his contemporaries reported it common to see the faces of four generations in a single household.

The individualized features of this young man are carefully defined but do not reveal much about his personality. In fact, all of Bellini's portraits of young men share a reserved dignity but deny a more penetrating look into the sitter's character.

Venetian men of both the patrician and the citizen classes wore a long, simple black robe, a small black hat, and a stole over the shoulder or sometimes, as here, over the head. Red gowns worn by senators were also prescribed for certain ceremonial occasions. In fact, the elderly saint and his lion companion, shifted to the lower right, occupy only a small area of the painting. The landscape commands center stage, filled with a distant view and abundant life, all washed with a radiant light. Many of the plants and animals have various symbolic meanings—the rabbits, for example, could serve as reminders of lust or Christian meekness. Rather than intending that we "read" them as symbols, perhaps Bellini means us to see them simply as part of a vast and rich nature.

His sumptuous coloring and fluent, atmospheric landscapes had a great effect on the Venetian painting school, especially on his pupils Giorgione and Titan, but also on his contemporaries.

Antonello da Messina (c 1430 –1479), was from Sicily, but he travelled around He went to Venice in 1475, and remained there until the fall of 1476. His works of this period begin to show a greater attention to the human figure, regarding both anatomy and expressivity, indicating the influence of Piero della Francesca and Giovanni Bellini. His experiments in oil were matched by his proficiency in rendering minute detail in the fashion of Northern European paintings which we will look at later.

LImbourg Brothers – International Gothic. Stylistic features are a dignified elegance, which replaces monumentality, along with rich decorative colouring, elongated figures and flowing lines. It also makes a more practised use of perspective, modelling, and setting. Figures begin to be given more space in their settings, and interest is taken in realistically depicted plants and animals. In some works, above all the famous calendar scenes of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry, the beginnings of real landscape painting are seen. Decoration became increasingly ornate as the style developed in Northern Europe, whereas in Italy the increased sophistication of figure painting was absorbed into Early Renaissance painting.

The versatility of oil paint made it an essential factor in realizing the new artistic vision of early Netherlandish painting, which combined extraordinary realism with brilliant color

But it was the virtuoso handling of the medium on panel by early Netherlandish painters such as Jan van Eyck and Rogier van der Weyden in the fifteenth century that represented a turning point in its eventual adoption as the major painting medium in Europe in the sixteenth century.

The work of Bosch was quite unpalatable in its own time; in modern times viewers found the works easier to read, to absorb. It is believed that he was influenced by the thinking of Erasmus, a Dutch humanist, catholic priest and theologian, who lived against the background of the growing European religious Reformation; but while he was critical of the abuses within the catholic church,and called for reform, he continued to recognise the authority of the pope. Erasmus emphasized a middle way, with a deep respect for traditional faith, piety and grace, and rejected Luther's emphasis on faith alone.

Bosch – crowning with thorns; ‘Four torturers surround Christ, pressing towards him, while he looks out at us. Bosch's picture emphasises the contrast between the brutality of the tormentors and the mild, suffering Christ. emotional intensity is achieved in a variety of ways. The half-length figures create a sense of proximity, and the lack of recession in the painting makes it appear very claustrophobic. From the centre of the picture Christ seems to appeal to us to share in his suffering.

The characterisations here are not just grotesque, but reflect specific ideas. Christ's torturers were often referred to as savage beasts, which may explain why the man at the top right appears to wear a spiked dog collar. The figure at the lower left has a crescent moon of Islam and yellow star of the Jews on his head-dress, which mark him as an opponent of Christianity’.

SEcond session.

BERGER Ways of SEeing Episode 2

FEMINISM

"Lady Lilith" is one of the many "mirror pictures" completed by Rossetti during this period, of narcissistic female figures, each with potentially fatal characteristics"

The space is at once realistic and mythic. As both an interior boudoir space and a sheltered exterior alcove, this background space of "Lady Lilith"

Lilith's clothing, "clothes that look as if they are soon to be removed" (Marsh, 1985, 235). Her body, barely able to be contained by the clothing, invites the viewer to read Lilith as sensual and beautiful.

It is not only the nearly removed nature of Lilith's attire that draws attention to her image as a sexualized being. What is absent from the picture is just as important. Lilith's sexual availability is more prominently signalled by "the absence of corsetry, tight-lacing, and other marks of bourgeois moral rectitude" is evidence of a well- disciplined mind and well-regulated feelings" Her hair loose and corset absent, this Lilith is assuredly a symbol of open sexuality.

Lilith's role, therefore, is just as powerful as it ever was. The result of this portrayal is to bring her from the mythical past into what was, for Rossetti, a realistic present. One of the most essential elements of this painting is Lilith's seductive beauty, extolled especially by the "erotic entrapment" of her beautiful hair. It is this object which plays the primary role in the picture, occupying the center space and being held out by Lilith to show its full extent and beauty. This focus on the hair harkens back to earlier portrayals of Lilith, including the hair imagery of Goethe that so highly influenced Rossetti, and foreshadows the emphasis which Rossetti will place on Lilith's "castrating, cutting" golden hair in his poem entitled "Lilith" (Bullen 130).

The metaphor of women's hair has always been potent, but, during the Victorian period, this was especially so. In her article on "The Power of Women's Hair in the Victorian Imagination," Elizabeth G. Gitter states:

The more abundant the hair, the more potent the sexual invitation implied in its display. For folk, literary and psychoanalytic traditions agree that the luxuriance of the hair is an index of vigorous sexuality, even of wantonness.

Thus, Lilith's excessive hair indicates an excess of sexuality. The manner in which she holds it out, purportedly to comb it, serves to openly display her sexuality on the canvas. It is the first and last impression that a viewer will receive.

The beautiful Lady Lilith does not appear to be inviting the audience or any other to watch her. Instead, she holds a look of self satisfaction. By resisting compliance with the male gaze, Lilith, therefore, threatens the identity of the male voyeur.

Representing "beauty gazing at itself," Lilith arouses desire in men but also threatens them with her power (Bullen 148). She is an unobtainable beauty filled with power. And while this combination makes her irresistible, it also leads to the capture, castration, and death of any male who enters her presence.

Extracts from Dante Gabriel Rossetti's painting "Lady Lilith" (1863: watercolor, 1864-1868?: oil)

http://feminism.eserver.org/theory/papers/lilith/ladylil.html

There are tools and methods that you can use to assist you in reading images, which in turn will assist you in making an analysis of the impact of images.

You could say that the reading of an image consists of how an image looks and how it is looked at.

Reading images is something that we will do must begin with looking at images – how an image looks. First kind of interpretation that you need to do with any image is technological – what kind of an image is it, what are the technologies that have gone into its making - a painting, a film, an ad, a piece of sculpture. Following this assessment, as part of looking at the image, you should apply a formal analysis.

When you set out to ‘read’ an image, you always need to be aware that the image has been produced and distributed within a set of social conditions that determine how the image is received both by you and by other people. No image is produced in a social vacuum.

Wallis campaign - Dress to Kill series from 1997. Placed in women’s magazines, targeted at middle to upper class females of 20-35 years of age, from all ethnic backgrounds, around page 14 which is a prime site, often more expensive. The context in which the series of advertisements are found is predominantly feminine, fashion magazines, appearing amongst articles based on beauty and fashion.

Formal analysis

Content; what does the image actually show?

Photograph, showing an attractive, well dressed woman walking across the platform of an underground station. The image includes a man on an underground train, which is distant and apparently moving away from the platform. We know that the man on the train is a guard because of his uniform. The image includes a caption Dress to Kill. At the centre of the image is a small sign which reads ‘danger’.

Colour; Black and white, lit from the front, shadows in the distance, tunnel and stairs.

Light; frontal, off-camera, the woman is walking towards the source of the light.

Spatial organisation; Interior, underground space, deep space, multiple volumes, movement in two directions.

Expressive content;
The feel of the image – combination of glamour and grit, black and white makes it a bit classic, timeless, serious.

How does the organisation of space position the spectator? We are positioned as observers of a scene, not directly involved. The caption is an imperative, which is directed at us as the viewers, but none of the figures catch our eye so we are also at a remove from what is happening.

Iconographical analysis.

This is about the meaning that is woven into these images, and how that meaning is carried.

We are straying into quite an advanced area here, called SEMIOTICS – you wouldn’t be expected to get to grips with semiotics until 3^rd year. So this is a kind of beginners guide

Based on an analysis of ‘signs’ and codes, operates on the basis that images are coded - particularly true of advertisements and images that have a commercial purpose, therefore loaded with codes that are about selling something.

The codes and sub-codes that may underlie the image/sign; 

bodily codes - the appearance of the women and men, facial expressions, physical orientation and movements they make, commodity codes because the company are selling fashions which is a commodity in itself

behavioural codes- which refer to the traditional codes of behaviour men are recognised here as having when a woman walks by!

aesthetic codes due to the connotations of romanticism and class associated with black and white, and genre, black and white, which generally signifies class or nostalgia in films and television. If this applies to advertisements, then black and white could signify a romantic or reminiscent feel to the product, romance being associated with femininity. It is perhaps more likely that the black and white signifies importance, the advertisers were probably trying to establish the importance of buying quality and fashionable Wallis clothing

rhetorical and stylistic codes.

textual codes

ideological codes due to the sub-codes of individualism, freedom, patriarchy, class and gender

social codes.

Every sign is made up of two things – a signifier and a signified. Signs take the form of words,images, sounds, odours, flavours, acts or objects, but such things have no intrinsic meaning and become signs only when we invest them with meaning. 'Nothing is a sign unless it is interpreted as a sign', declares Peirce (Peirce 1931-58, 2.172). Anything can be a sign as long as someone interprets it as 'signifying' something - referring to or standing for something other than itself. We interpret things as signs largely unconsciously by relating them to familiar systems of conventions. It is this meaningful use of signs which is at the heart of the concerns of semiotics.

Figure 1 First sign; the woman herself. Within that one sign there are a number of signifiers, pointing to different meanings. Signifier #1 is her appearance; she is well groomed, she can afford to buy nice clothes and make up her face and hair meticulously, so she has money and leisure time. Her appearance signifies a young, confident woman with a healthy sexuality, wants to display her attractiveness and her body.

Signifier #2; her gaze. She is not looking at us or at the man who is ogling her. She is looking away, which signifies that she has somewhere to be, she is a woman with a purpose who is going somewhere.

Second sign; the man. Signifier #1; his uniform. This signifies that he is a working man, working class. He has a job to do, he is not at liberty to go where he likes.

Signifier #2; his gaze. His mind is dominated by the body of the woman, to the point of his own death.

The meaning is anchored by the caption – imperative dress to kill, with symbol of dagger in place of the I.

The images draw on typical contrasting pairs of male and female power and sexuality, using sexuality to objectify women. In this case, the ads simultaneously subvert this 'tradition', thus making the man an object of empowerment for the woman from the way she dresses.

Other kinds of pairings have to do with dominant/subordinate; the dominant figure thus being the woman over the subordinate man. Black/white, and mind/body are also binary oppositions in the text, the text presented in black and white, and the fact that the man's mind is dominated by the body of the woman.

behind the reading of the text lit other opposites are producer/consumer and freedom/oppression, the latter referring to the portrayal of the modern free woman in adverts compared to the rather oppressed, stereotypical woman of advert history which household products were mainly aimed at, whereas in these images the women are liberated, arguably, and the men are all portrayed as working men.

The three adverts connote that women can have sexual control over men, and all of these connotations can be associated with modern day views on femininity, aspects of which can almost always be found in a woman's magazine whether on the problem pages or in beauty articles.

Figure 2, we are presented with a man watching a pretty woman outside a window whilst shaving another man; his life at risk. The man who is shaving the person in the chair is indexically signified as a barber from being dressed in a white coat of his profession; the man in the chair thus signifying a customer due to his suit.

The girl is a very important sign here yet again. Such a stance in a public street could be a signifier of seduction since she assumes a provocative pose with her left leg slightly bent, her hair blowing in the wind and a sultry smile on her face. She does not seem to be looking at anything in particular either, but simply posing outside the window; perhaps a signifier that signifies her deliberate intention to attract attention, however fatally. Moreover, her dress is short and exposes her legs and arms which adds to this signified 'flirty' image.

Hair is a very important signifier in this context, as it seems to be associated with the binary opposites; enclosure and freedom. The girl's hair is free and tossing in the wind, thus signifying her independence and a carefree attitude to life, whereas the barber, himself slightly bald and cutting hair as his living, is thus enclosed and entrapped inside the shop. This signification is accentuated by the fact that he looks at the girl from the inside, while she is outside, and the shop is more shaded with blacks and greys than where the girl is standing, despite the photo being black and white. Like figure 1, this advert again presents the woman as a sign; her code of dress and appearance thus being the main signifiers which signify the concept of 'dressing to kill'.

Other aspects of the sign;

Icon; The images are iconic in that the photo of the woman signifies the clothes that Wallis are aiming to sell.

Index; The images are indexical in that the representational signs of the men near death are directly connected to the signified concept of Dress to Kill.

Symbol; The images are symbolic in that the woman is portrayed as an object of desire, and the text symbolically signifies Dress to Kill.

 of an image is it, what are the technologies that have gone into its making - a painting, a film, an ad, a piece of sculpture. Following this assessment, as part of looking at the image, you should apply a formal analysis.

 content to follow