W. J. T. Mitchell
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780823239450
- eISBN:
- 9780823239498
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823239450.003.0007
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter addresses the difficult relationship between words and images, as religiously encoded in the Second Commandment (“You shall not make for yourself a graven image”) and as inscribed at the ...
More
This chapter addresses the difficult relationship between words and images, as religiously encoded in the Second Commandment (“You shall not make for yourself a graven image”) and as inscribed at the heart of art history as the clash between logos and icon, meaning and image. A discussion of two paintings by Nicholas Poussin (1594–1665) that depict scenes of idolatry leads to the argument that Poussin's dilemma exemplifies the central problem of art history: How are we to make use of visual representation without lapsing into meaningless idolatry? Poussin's solution, it is suggested, is to focus not merely on what idolaters and iconoclasts believe (or are believed to believe by their adversaries) but also on what they actually do to one another-particularly acts of violence inflicted on alleged idol worshippers.Less
This chapter addresses the difficult relationship between words and images, as religiously encoded in the Second Commandment (“You shall not make for yourself a graven image”) and as inscribed at the heart of art history as the clash between logos and icon, meaning and image. A discussion of two paintings by Nicholas Poussin (1594–1665) that depict scenes of idolatry leads to the argument that Poussin's dilemma exemplifies the central problem of art history: How are we to make use of visual representation without lapsing into meaningless idolatry? Poussin's solution, it is suggested, is to focus not merely on what idolaters and iconoclasts believe (or are believed to believe by their adversaries) but also on what they actually do to one another-particularly acts of violence inflicted on alleged idol worshippers.
Jean H. Duffy
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- May 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780853238577
- eISBN:
- 9781781380499
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5949/liverpool/9780853238577.003.0011
- Subject:
- Literature, European Literature
This chapter analyses the correlation of Claude Simon's Le Jardin des Plantes to Nicholas Poussin's painting The Plague at Ashdod. The chapter focuses on the thematic similarities of the painting and ...
More
This chapter analyses the correlation of Claude Simon's Le Jardin des Plantes to Nicholas Poussin's painting The Plague at Ashdod. The chapter focuses on the thematic similarities of the painting and the novel as a passage from The Plague is properly integrated into the topic and language used in Le Jardin des Plantes.Less
This chapter analyses the correlation of Claude Simon's Le Jardin des Plantes to Nicholas Poussin's painting The Plague at Ashdod. The chapter focuses on the thematic similarities of the painting and the novel as a passage from The Plague is properly integrated into the topic and language used in Le Jardin des Plantes.
