Use of Images As Historical Evidences

Eyewitnessing
The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence

Peter Burke
Alexandra Busescu, Collin Perciballi, Waqas Shahzad
Introduction
Research question; Overview of Historical studies on the images; Varieties of Images; The idea of Iconography The Warburg School and Panofsky s Three Levels
Iconography and Iconolgy The method exemplified: Sacred and Profane Love
Burkes 3 points Criticism of the Method Landscape
The Cultural History of Images Conclusions
Introduction: The Testimony of Images

Peter Burke (born 1937 in Stanmore, England) is a professor of cultural history at the University of
Cambridge, UK. He emphasizes the relevance of social and cultural history to modern issues. His numerous books include Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe (1978) and, more recently, The Fabrication of Louis XIV (1992).
Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence

was published in 2001 by Reaktion Books, London; is concerned with the use of images as historical evidence;
Overview of Historical studies on the images;

-Historians still dont take the evidence of images seriously enough.
-Neverthless, a significant minority of Historians were already using the evidence of images in their studies about: European prehistory the cave paintings of Altamira and Lascaux Middle Ages history Bayeux Tapestry Renaissance and the autumn of the Middles Ages- Johan Huizinga Interwar period Aby Warburg, Gilberto Freyre History from below in the 60s Raphael Samuel -Criticism : images are mute witnesses and is difficult to translate their testimony in words.
Varieties of Images
Two revolutions in image production: -1930s-1960s the rise of printed image (woodcut, engraving, etching); -19th- 20th century- the rise of photographic image ( including film and television);
Definition: Before attempting to read images between the lines, and to use them as historical evidence, it is only prudent to begin with their meanings. Their makers had their own concerns, their own messages. The interpretations of this messages is known as iconography or iconology, terms sometimes used as synonyms, but sometimes distinguished. The idea of Iconography -the terms iconography and iconology were launched in the art-historical worlds in the 1920s and 1930s; -to be more exact they were re-launched-a famous Renaissance handbook of images, published by Cesare Ripa in 1953- Iconologia; Who they were used at the beginning? -associated with a reaction against a predominantly formal analysis of painting in
terms of composition and colour at the expense of the subject matter;

-emphasised the intellectual content of works of art, their implicit philosophy or theology;
The most famous group of iconographers was to be founded in Hamburg in the years before Hitler came to power. It included: Aby Warburg, Fritz Saxl, Erwin Panofsky and Edgar Wind, all scholars with a good classical education and wide interest in literature and philosophy. The Hamburg groups approach to images was summed up in a famous essay by Panofsky, first published in 1939, distinguishing three levels of corresponding to three levels of meaning in the work itself. 1. Pre-iconographical description, concerned with natural meaning and consisting of identifying objects ( such as trees, buildings, animals and people) and events (meals, battles, processions and so on). 2. Iconographical analysis, concerned with conventional meaning ( recognizing a battle as the Battle of waterloo); 3. Iconological interpretation, concerned with intrinsic meaning, underlying principles which reveal the basic attitude of a nation, a period, a class, a religious or philosophical persuasion; To interpret the message it is necessary to be familiar with cultural codes.
Often used to interpret works of the Italian Renaissance; In Burkes text, he uses Titians Sacred and Profane Love as an example;
Titian, Sacred and Profane Love, 1514 Medium: oil on canvas Location: Galleria Borghese, Rome Source: http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/eamor.htm
Burkes 3 Points
1. The Method joins series of images 2. Attention to detail is paramount 3. Iconographers juxtapose images and text
Speculative Lacks social context Not a sufficient method for all images Emphasizes content over form Assumes cultural homogeneity
The Method enables us to interpret landscape differently

For instance, distinctive vegetation could represent a specific nation
Or, could just be for aesthetic pleasure
Cultural History of Images

Waqas Shahzad
Meaning of Images
What is the meaning of an Image? Meaning for whom?
What Defines the meaning of the image?

The cultural & Social context decide the meaning of the image & also the target viewer. 12345Social Context Political Context Material Context Feminist Theory Reception Theory
1- Social Context
Chastity or Suppression Symbol of Liberty or Nudity
2- Political Context
3- Material Context
4- Feminist Theory
Artist, Patron, Character Represented, Actual Viewer
5- Reception Theory
- Artists view of image - Viewers view of image - Actual Response - Predicted Response - Positive Response - Negative Response
How to Read the Images

- Images give contemporary view rather than social - Testimony of images need to be placed in a series of contexts - A Series of images offer testimony more reliable than that of individual images.
Thanks
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Eyewitnessing

The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence

Alexandra Busescu, Collin Perciballi, Waqas Shahzad

The Cultural History of Images Conclusions

Introduction: The Testimony of Images

Eyewitnessing: The Uses of Images as Historical Evidence

Overview of Historical studies on the images;

terms of composition and colour at the expense of the subject matter;

The Method enables us to interpret landscape differently

Or, could just be for aesthetic pleasure

Cultural History of Images

What Defines the meaning of the image?

Artist, Patron, Character Represented, Actual Viewer

How to Read the Images

Questions & Queries

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