Image Analysis: the student perspective

Image Analysis: the student perspective 

By Katharine Weber ’20

As a student, my strengths have always been in the humanities. My interests have primarily centered around English and art. Despite my interest in History, the memorization aspect of the class has previously interfered with my ability to succeed. Learning European History through image analysis has provided me with a way to incorporate my interest in art, imparting visual cues to aid in memorization. The use of image analysis, for example, learning about and understanding Humanism through the Arnolfini Portrait, has created a multi-faceted way to understand the concepts we are meant to learn. 

Through learning about the Arnolfini portrait, we explained how the elements featured in the portrait symbolize and explain Humanism, and how what the portrait itself in the context of the Renaissance means for Humanism. Prior to analyzing The Arnolfini Portrait, we analyzed several works of art from the Middle Ages, serving as a frame of reference. We could contrast the lack of religious themes in the portrait, symbolizing the change in relationship to God that people in the Renaissance experienced. This fact illustrates the shift in focus from God to the individual: a defining factor of Humanism. Although by looking at the frame of the mirror in the center of the portrait, the stages of the cross are shown, providing evidence that religion was not irrelevant to the people in the Renaissance. Next, by moving our focus to the mirror, the artist, Van Eyck, is portrayed. The reasoning for this was described to us as the changing role of the artist in the Renaissance. By contrasting Van Eyck’s featuring himself as a centerpiece of the Arnolfini Portrait to the Medieval artworks which no artist is credited, it becomes easy to understand how Humanism transformed man’s perception of himself as an individual. The class was also made to understand that the fact that Giovanni Arnolfini even had an elaborate portrait made of himself, points to and embodies Humanism. Through analyzing images the class works together to dissect the image itself: to understand each aspect of the image and to understand the historical context through which the image was produced. 

The structure of the class resembles somewhat of a scavenger hunt: Mr. Villaamil projects an image on the board, and after providing us with some basic context: the name of the painting, the year it was created, and the name of the artist, we begin our process of analyzing the image. The class is encouraged to notice everything from what the image is concerning, in the case of the Arnolfini Portrait, we are questioned on what the notion of the image is a portrait means, (a symbol of the Bourgeoisie, the development of Capitalism, and Humanism.) The class is directed to analyze other objects in the painting: The mirror, the clothing of the Arnolfini’s, their placement, the perspective of the painting etc… As a class, we discuss many inaccurate answers to someone, usually with the guidance of Mr. Villaamil, articulating the accurate meaning of the symbols. 

Through analyzing several different images throughout our units, beginning with the fall of Ancient Rome, the class has adapted our eyes to look for certain symbols. Through looking at the roof of churches, we learned that a square represents humanity, a circle represents divinity, and an octagon represents the window between the two. Through analyzing  "Pantocrator from San Clemente the Tahul," we learned how to identify the Holy Trinity in the artwork. By attuning our eyes to look for certain elements in the art from different time periods, my experience of going to an art museum has been transformed. I am able to value paintings and sculptures from Medieval Times and The Renaissance not only for their artistic value but for their historical value. 

The class is assessed on our knowledge of a subject by individually analyzing images on a test. Instead of having a question which we are meant to respond to without guidance, having the image on our test allows for a facilitated process of not only recalling what we have learned in the class but by thoroughly dissecting the image, greater depth of understanding and interest in the subject is produced.

The historical characters in the painting

Through studying Jan Van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait, one is led to further research and analyze Giovanni Arnolfini and his role as an Italian merchant in the late fifteenth century. Giovanni Arnolfini was an early observer and contributor to the developing capitalist economy of the early Renaissance. This is evidenced by his appointment by Louis XI of France to the position of finance minister and collector of taxes in Normandy. This representative of Arnolfini’s significant social status. As one follows this line of discovery, one is led to understand the changing social status and significance of merchants in the changing European economy of this period. 

“In the early 15th century, a merchant’s life was still thought to be socially and morally suspect. By placing Arnolfini with his wife in a domestic setting with a bed ornamented with a carving of ST. Margaret, patroness of childbirth, the painting offers evidence of Arnolfini’s familial values.”. 

Van Eyck’s portrait of the Arnolfinis can be interpreted as an attempt to exemplify the good faith of the couple. Van Eyck portrays them in a bedroom, in front of a bed on which is engraved Saint Margaret, the patroness of Childbirth. This can be interpreted as both a symbol for fertility in the new marriage, as well as an attempt to define Arnolfini’s familial values. The Arnolfinis’ wealth is blatantly displayed in the portrait, shown by the luxury furniture and clothing Van Eyck has included. The display of wealth can be seen as social climbing --a concept previously non-existent in the Middle Ages, where social mobility was not possible. “The dress Giovanna is wearing is similar to one worn by one of Isabeau de Baviere ladies-in-waiting”. Merchants were members of the newly forming bourgeoisie, stuck between nobility and the lower classes in cities. However, Van Eyck’s representation of the Arnolfini’s portrays them in clothing and among furniture fit for nobility. 

The religious symbols in the Portrait are representative of the changing views on religion in the early Renaissance, as well as the growing relationship between religion and money. In the Middle Ages, there was no relationship between these two seemingly irreconcilable integral parts of life. The relationship remains tense throughout the early Renaissance. “Of crucial importance in the late Middle Ages was a merchant’s reputation for Christian Piety— attested in this painting by the historiated mirror frame with scenes of the passion and the amber prayer beads on the wall next to it. Late medieval contracts and business documents are laced with oaths, invocations of God and profit.” Van Eyck justifies Arnolfini’s Christian Piety by the amber prayer beads hanging on the back wall, and by the stages of the cross portrayed on the frame of the mirror. Christian Piety was valuable to merchants for reasons beyond social reputation and standing: “Good faith was one concern about which medieval merchants were most anxious to receive and offer reassurance”. In the early Renaissance, no legislation protected merchants from losses occurring through contract violations in their travels and businesses. This lack of security led to merchants’ dependence on the concept of good faith.