Symbols

I have always been fascinated by symbols. Symbols can mean so much and provoke us to analyze the context of whatever we are looking at. The analytical part of art is really what I enjoy if you read my above post I mentioned it. Understanding the content of the painting and how the artist used symbols to represent certain things interests me a lot. This stems from church and the scriptures that are full of symbols and have been fascinating to me ever since I have started to understand them.

Appendix two of the book was officially last week’s reading but this week we read chapters 14 and 17 that dealt with understanding art analytically. I have had the opportunity to go to quite a few museums throughout the world and started to understand the paintings this way. I wish I had the knowledge that we are learning right now because I could have understood so much more. I found that in Egypt they loved symbols and coming to understand the alphabet I could understand the art even more.

In the art that we are studying of the western world I have not yet understood the Greek gods to understand some things but I can often seen symbolism pointed towards the Bible and this is what really interests me. In Michelangelo and Bernini’s different David sculptures we can definitely see the symbolism involved. Bernini has a harp and armor at David’s feet showing celebration and trusting in the Lord. Michelangelo has a more idealized sculpture that symbolizes the power of David in the rest of his life and celebrates his later successes.
It is analysis that I enjoy over emotion and again I believe that might be the left brain right brain argument going on in my head. I look forward to analyzing the different paintings that we will see throughout the semester and that I will see later on in life.