The aim of this diploma thesis is to explore the possible influence of the idea of the end of the world on the process of conquest and colonization of America. The author tries to answer this question through the study of selected images of the Last Judgment. The purpose aim of this thesis is not to describe or stylistically classify given works of art, but to interpret them using the methodology based on the semiotic conception of culture as public symbolical system that allows to interpret the culture and its expressions in their social connections. As the topic of this work is related to the question of death and finality, the chosen works of art are interpreted also in connection with A. van Gennep's idea of "rites of passage", which enables to pass from one life stage to another. The main source for analysis is the photographic material, which illustrates images and reliefs of the Last Judgment in their natural environment.

Il s’agit dans cette thèse de penser les conditions de possibilité d’une philosophie de l’art à partir d’un examen précis et rigoureux de la production artistique picturale de la Renaissance italienne. Cherchant d’abord à définir une méthode, nous étudions en détail les présupposés de l’iconologie afin d’établir ce qui nous en semble être les limites. Puis, forts de cette analyse, nous en déduisons la nécessité d’une philosophie de l’art qui, loin de se contenter d’une analyse érudite de l’icône, cherche à extraire la signification de l’œuvre à partir de sa forme sensible. Si les pensées de Platon, Hume et Kant nous semblent échouer à proposer pareille démarche, les leçons de Hegel consacrées à l’Esthétique nous offrent un schéma analytique opérant, grâce auquel l’espace, le dessin et le coloris fournissent le lieu même à partir duquel peut surgir le sens. C’est ainsi que les œuvres de Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Léonard de Vinci et Michel-Ange constituent le matériau artistique grâce auquel nous mettons à l’épreuve la pertinence du triptyque espace-dessin-coloris, tel qu’il fut élaboré par Hegel. En outre, ce sont les pensées philosophiques consacrées au lieu, à la lumière ou encore à la couleur que nous convoquons – tant chez Thomas d’Aquin que chez Marsile Ficin, chez Albert le Grand que chez Plotin, chez Aristote que chez Nicolas de Cues – afin de proposer un sens philosophique des œuvres picturales, que ne nous semblent paradoxalement pas pouvoir délivrer les théories de l’art que proposent ces derniers. Chercher le sens philosophique des œuvres à même leur sensibilité et non dans une théorie de l’image, tel est donc le projet essentiel de cette thèse. / This thesis discusses the conditions of possibility for a philosophy of art based on a precise and rigorous analysis of the pictorial artistic production of the Italian Renaissance. After attempting at defining a method, the presuppositions of iconology are studied in detail with a view to establishing what appear to be their limits. On the basis of this analysis, the author deduces the need for a philosophy of art which, rather than just carrying out an erudite analysis of the icon, endeavours to extract the meaning of a work of art on the basis of its sensitive shape. While Plato, Hume and Kant’s thoughts seem to fail in proposing such an approach, Hegel’s teachings dedicated to aesthetics offer an operational analytical framework, thanks to which space, drawing and colour provide the very place out of which sense can come into being.Hence the works of Fra Angelico, Botticelli, Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo constitute the artistic material out of which the relevance of the space-drawing-colour triptych, as developed by Hegel, is put to the test. Furthermore, reference is made to the philosophical thoughts on space, light and colour – as expressed by authors like Thomas Aquinas, Marsilio Ficino, Albert the Great, Plotinus, Aristotle and Nicholas of Kues – with a view to proposing a philosophical sense of pictorial works of art, which paradoxically the theories of art provided by these authors do not seem able to deliver. It is the fundamental aim of this thesis to look for the philosophical sense of works of art through their own sensitiveness and not through a theory of the image.

Ce mémoire de maîtrise étudie le traitement de l’espace dans les films Badlands (1973) et Days of Heaven (1978), du cinéaste américain Terrence Malick. Je m’intéresse dans un premier temps à montrer comment le traitement spatial de ces œuvres se démarque des conventions cinématographiques classiques en développant autour de la multitude de procédés et stratégies mis en œuvre par Malick pour rendre sensible et réflexif l’espace - sonore et visuel – des deux films, lequel est conçu pour être littéralement «habité» par les personnages mais également par les spectateurs. J’observe ensuite les implications (esthétiques, narratives, iconologiques, philosophiques, poétiques, etc.) de ce traitement singulier de l’espace filmique en montrant comment le cinéaste parvient à créer différents types de sensations et construire son discours par et à travers l’espace de ses œuvres. Le mémoire porte une attention particulière à la notion de «paysage filmique» et se structure en trois chapitres, lesquels étudient respectivement l’espace chez Malick en termes de «sensations» (sensibilité de l’espace, «mise en vue» du paysage au sein des deux films), de «relations» (relations entre les différents espaces et relations entre les personnages et l’espace) et de «mémoire» (densité «iconologique» du paysage). Aussi, j’aborde d’autres questions importantes au cours du projet et je reviens à plusieurs endroits sur la dimension «poétique» du cinéma de Malick et sur la «réflexivité spatiale» de ses films (réflexivité et aspect «attractionnel» du paysage, réflexivité de la voix-off, réflexivité de l’organisation et de la structure spatiales du récit, réflexivité du «tissage spectral»). Enfin, il est question de montrer au fil du mémoire que Malick parvient à édifier avec le cinéma, et par là avec l’espace et le paysage, un véritable espace de pensée qui «déborde» du cadre filmique. / This Master’s thesis studies the treatment of space in Terrence Malick’s films Badlands (1973) and Days of Heaven (1978). First I apply myself to show how the treatment of space in these films distinguishes itself from classical cinematographic conventions, developing on the multitude of strategies used by Malick to make space (both visual and sound) sensitive and reflexive in the two films. Space here is created to be literally «inhabited» by the characters as well as the spectators. I then observe and comment on the implications (esthetical, narrative, iconological, philosophical, poetical, etc.) of this peculiar treatment of film space by showing how the filmmaker creates different types of sensations and constructs his discourse with and through space of his films. The thesis pays special attention to the concept of «film landscape» and structures itself in three chapters, which respectively study space in Malick’s work in terms of «sensation» (space sensitivity, «mise en vue» of the landscape in both films studied), of «relationship» (relationships between the different spaces and relationships between characters and space), and of «memory» («iconological» density of the landscape). In the project I also touch other important questions, coming back several times on the «poetical» dimension of Malick’s cinema and on the «space reflexivity» of his films (reflexivity and «attractional» aspect of the landscape, reflexivity of the voice-over, reflexivity of the organization and space structure of the story, iconological reflexivity). Finally, throughout the thesis I try to show that through filmmaking, and therefore through space and landscape, Malick creates a true space of thoughts that goes «beyond» his films. / Pour respecter les droits d’auteur, la version électronique de ce mémoire a été dépouillée de ses documents visuels et audio‐visuels. La version intégrale du mémoire a été déposée au Service de la gestion des documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

The thesis presents a detailed analysis of the late medieval murals in the so-called 'green chamber' of Žirovnice Castle and similar late-medieval mural paintings. Compared to the earlier literature the study focuses on the interrelations between the scenes depicted in the 'green chamber': the Judgement of Paris, Judith beheading Holofernes, the exemplum An Old Woman Is Worse than the Devil as well as an image which was previously described as the Judgement of Solomon (perhaps rather a parable about legitimate and illegitimate progeny). They are compared with other depictions of these themes and their treatment in contemporary literature. These comparisons link them with the popular concept of a critique of the power of women (Weibermacht). In Žirovnice, and similarly elsewhere, this concept was connected to the allegory of the transcience of love and the ephemeral nature of the world overall. The ostensible genre depictions of the hunt and tournament can be interpreted in this sense as well. This is demonstrated by numerous details subverting the meaning of these images. The study then compares Žirovnice to other similar murals in Bohemia and addresses the questions of their function as well as of the art-historical phenomenon of 'green chambers' as various secular murals are called following the...

Traditionnellement perçu comme expression de la politique impériale de Marguerite d’Autriche, régente des Pays-Bas, dans le duché de Savoie dont elle était douairière en Bresse, le couvent Saint-Nicolas de Tolentin à Brou monumentalise en fait la dévotion de son défunt époux Philibert II. Le souverain avait hérité des derniers ducs de la branche aînée son inclination ignorée pour l’influente congrégation observante des Augustins de Lombardie qui participant de la création renaissante, fournit, transcrit dans un style local, le schéma claustral de Brou. L’idée maîtresse de Marguerite fut le prestige de la Renaissance, découverte au dôme Saint-Jean de Turin. A l’encontre des lectures erronées du XIXe siècle, la princesse ne s’inspira pas de Champmol. Pour son italianisme, elle confia les tombeaux et l’église au français Perréal. Seules des impossibilités pratiques l’amenèrent à recruter fin 1512 le bruxellois van Boghem. Son art et son réseau brabançons accompagnaient le tropisme ibérique de la cour de Bourgogne mais dès 1524-25, il insuffla à Brou les touches maniéristes que permettait la pénétration de la Renaissance aux Pays-Bas, plus tardive qu’en France. Le programme de l’église sotériologique emphatise la piété du duc et à un second rang, celle de la maison de Marguerite, mais aussi les devoirs du regnum, que Philibert et sa veuve exercèrent dans des pays distincts : ils culminent dans l’exercice de la justice dont le modèle est le Christ du Jugement dernier qui jadis, figurait sur le vitrail nord du transept de Brou. Marguerite signa l’œuvre : promouvant l’échange compassionnel, elle incitait autant à la conversion de chacun qu’à la prière d’intercession et à la mémoire, par-delà les siècles, de l’archiduchesse dont la naissance d’exception, impériale, avait engagé la vie et le monument d’exception. / Instead of expressing, as it is traditionally regarded, the imperial politics in Savoy of Margaret of Austria, regent of the Netherlands, the convent Saint Nicolas of Tolentino in Brou she erected in her dower of Bresse embodies the devotion of her late husband Philibert II, duke of Savoy. The sovereign had received from the last dukes of the eldest branch that unrecognized inclination towards the soaring observant congregation of the Austin Friars of Lombardia, which joined the Renaissance and provided the claustral scheme of Brou. Margaret’s main idée was the search of the Renaissance she had discovered through the Duomo San Giovanni of Torino. Against the incorrect readings of the XIXth century, she was not inspired by Champmol. She entrusted the graves and the church of Brou to the Italianizing French artist Perréal, and only practical impediments prompted her to sign on van Boghem at the end of 1512. His brabantine Gothic’s practice and circle accorded to the Spanish tropism of the burgundian court but around 1524-1525, the arrival of the Renaissance in the Netherlands allowed him to bring mannerist accents. The iconology of Brou reveals its soteriological aim. It magnifies the duke’s devotion and at a second rank, the one of Margaret’s house, but also the duties of the regnum that Philibert and his widow both practiced in different countries. Their acme is the ministry of Justice whose reference is the Christ of the Last Judgment, which once figured on the lost northern glass window of the transept. Margaret signed the work: ruled by a will of compassion and exchange, it induced anyone both to the conversion for one’s own salvation, to intercede for the princes, and to remind through ages the memory of the archduchess, whose exceptional imperial birth had involved her unique life and memorial.

Le mythe de Médée, reçu par la première modernité comme un paradigme complet depuis la Conquête de la Toison d’or jusqu’à son retour sur le trône de Colchide, compose un prisme à multiples facettes : « Médée-tueenfant » (La Péruse), le personnage légué par la tragédie attique et devenu archétype d’une violence contrenature, y croise Médée magicienne, qui bouleverse le lignage et la ligne du temps, mais aussi la princesse orientale éprise d’un héros civilisateur. Pétrie par la culture chrétienne et admise au répertoire des arts officiels, cette figure ambivalente se rend perméable aux recherches esthétiques et aux débats éthiques des Temps modernes, en vue de l’expression de l’horreur, de l’allégorisation de la gloire, comme dans la représentation des passions.Or, la fondation de l’Ordre de chevalerie de la Toison d’or au duché de Bourgogne, en 1430, jusqu’à la fin de la Guerre de succession d’Espagne où se redessine la carte des puissances européennes, fait de la fable un miroir fictionnel privilégié des jeux de pouvoir entre les grandes dynasties européennes, en tant qu’instrument du discours programmatique du Prince. Dans le paysage culturel d’influences communes que forment les Cités-États de l’Italie et le royaume de France, cette étude montre, par la réunion de l’iconographie de Médée, l’analyse de saprésence dans les imprimés et de ses réécritures à la scène d’après l’antique, comment les échanges entre les arts visuels et les arts du texte oeuvrent à l’établissement d’un motif héroïque paradoxal. Ou comment Médée « devient Médée », renouvelant le serment que lui avait fait jurer Sénèque : « Fiam ». / The exceptional scope provided by the myth of Medea, which spans from the Conquest of the Golden Fleece to her return to the throne of Colchis, was received in its entirety by the Early Modern Arts and offers a multi-faced prism : Medea “tue-enfant” (La Péruse), the character left by the Ancient ancient Greek tragedy that became an archetypal figure of monstrous violence, crosses the path of the oriental lover of a civilizing hero, and also the enchantress who scatters lineages and timelines. Sculpted by the Christian culture and allowed into the official artistic repertory, this ambivalent figure absorbs the aesthetics and ethical debates of modernity. Indeed, Her Medea’s myth can be used for the expression of horror, allegories of glory, as well as expression of the passions.In addition, from the establishment of the Order of the Golden Fleece, by the Duke of Burgundy in 1430, to the end of the War of the Spanish Succession (which redefined the entire map of major European powers), Medea’s myth becomes one of the most efficient fictional mirrors of the political disputes between the most influential families of Europe, as an instrument of the publication of the Prince programme. Into the landscape of the cultural influences shared by the States of Early Italy and the French Kingdom, this study intends to show, by analysingthe spread of iconography of Medea, her presence in printed material and her classical performance reception and rewriting, how the exchanges between visual and literary productions work towards the definition of a paradoxical heroic standard. Where Medea “becomes Medea” and renews the oath that Seneca made her take: “Fiam”.

Dans une perspective d’histoire culturelle, cette thèse, fondée sur une approche iconologique, se propose de montrer, à partir de l’exemple de la littérature illustrée, que la culture de guerre enfantine allemande n’apparut pas ex nihilo en 1914. Elle avait ses racines dans la culture mémorielle d’avant-guerre. Issu de la peinture historique, un imaginaire héroïque en constituait les fondements. 1914 provoqua une intensification de la culture de guerre. Alors que les éditeurs commercialisèrent des livres patriotiques au moment où la guerre de position était déjà en place, ces ouvrages continuèrent à véhiculer l’image d’une guerre de mouvement. À mesure que les hostilités duraient, des dessins kitsch aux motifs enfantins et des caricatures de l’ennemi permirent de justifier le conflit, stylisé en une guerre défensive. Ces strates ludiques de la culture de guerre enfantine, qui provenaient de l’iconographie politique pour adultes, favorisèrent un élargissement du lectorat, auparavant scolaire, aux jeunes enfants. Les auto-images apologétiques l’emportaient toutefois sur la ridiculisation de l’ennemi. Conjointement aux caricatures, elles renforçaient la communauté nationale et traitaient des liens entre le front et l’arrière, qui devinrent une préoccupation croissante des familles, séparées durablement. Face aux difficultés matérielles, les livres, au ton moralisateur et performatif, cherchèrent à mobiliser matériellement les enfants à l’arrière. Dans ce contexte, des albums furent vendus au profit d’associations patriotiques. D’après les tirages, la littérature patriotique, probablement adressée aux enfants issus des milieux bourgeois, connut un certain succès. / In a cultural history perspective based on the methods of the “visual turn” this thesis deals with the illustrated children’s literature before and during the First World War and shows that the German children’s “war culture” did not appear ex nihilo in 1914. It had its origins in the memorial culture of pre-war time, which glorified the warfare. It relied on a heroic fantasy that came from historical paintings and used emotional reflexes. 1914 provoked an intensification and development of the “war culture”. While publishers put patriotic books on the market when the war of attrition took place, these books continued to convey familiar and reassuring images of a war of movement. As hostilities lasted, kitsch drawings with children’s characters and caricatures of the enemy used to justify the conflict, stylized in a defensive war. These fun strata of the children’s “war culture”, which came from the political iconography for adults, created an expansion of readership: children from the age of three up were concerned as well as school children. However, apologetic self-images were more important than the hatred and jeer of the enemy. Together with caricatures, they reinforced the national community and dealt with the bonds between the soldiers and the home front, which became a growing concern for permanently separated families. Because of deprivations, the books became sanctimonious and aimed at mobilizing children in the home front. In this context, albums were sold to raise funds for patriotic associations. According to the number of books printed, this patriotic literature, probably targeting children from both the middle and upper classes, were a success.

In my dissertation, I inquire into the phenomenon of monastic architecture and its plastic decoration in 16th century New Spain. The aim of this work is to present Mexican monasteries and their artistic significance. In my analysis, I build on the interpretation of monastic architecture from the perspective of early colonial society, I also reflect on the individual level, assessing its impact on the conquest and colonization of America. The methodology of this research project combines analysis of historical (e.g. study of historical sources) and art historical processes (iconological analysis of E. Panofsky) with analysis of anthropological concepts (e.g. rituals of transition of A. van Gennep, thick description of Cl. Geertz, concepts of liminality, structure and communitas of V. Turner). During my PhD studies, I conducted a field trip in Central Mexico (2013), supported by a grant from the Government of Mexico. I visited and documented one hundred and sixteen monasteries and the photographic documentation is the main empirical source of my analysis which further draws from the study of historical sources and academic literature. My research primarily focuses on three aspects: 1. the monastic architecture and art; 2. the role of the monastery in the process of European conquest and colonization...

In this diploma thesis I will deal with verbal and visual expressions of selected electoral campaigns. Especially the campaigns of Barack Obama and Andrej Babiš, selected on the basis of distinct similarities, but also the campaigns of Karel Schwarzenberg and Miloš Zeman competing during the presidential election. I will introduce the techniques and strategies of political marketing in different media types. I will also describe the functioning and effects of a political self-representation. I will also examine the ideological function of a political campaign. I will use the critical discourse analysis of individual campaigns as a method of my research. My work will be based on different definitions of ideology, especially Althusser's, and Barthes' concept of amplification. Another tool will be an iconologic interpretation of the above mentioned campaigns. I will draw from Vilém Flusser's communicology, but also from the works of Pierre Bourdieu and Susan Sontag. In my work I will also pursue the concept of media reality that affects our daily lives. In this part I will be based on Niklas Luhmann and Jean Baudrillard and his theory of simulacra.

This thesis examines the possibility of expanding the toolset for art historical studies of digital art, doing so by studying if older influential art theories can be used in image analysis of digital artworks. More specifically, the study centers around the application of Heinrich Wölfflin’s objective classifying principles as well as Erwin Panofsky’s iconology and iconography on the digital art form pixel art. The aim of the thesis is to research the level of applicability of these well-used image analysis methods on the art style, arguing for the legitimacy of pixel art as an art form as well as contributing to the expanding knowledge about digital art within the Swedish art history field. The results of the study showed that both Wölfflin’s and Panofsky’s image analysis methods are applicable on pixel art artworks, but in different ways with different prerequisites. The objective classifying principles of Wölfflin as well as the pre-iconographical stage of Panofsky’s method center around “surface level” aspects of a work of art such as lines, shading or image composition. These are aspects that in many ways differ greatly in execution between traditional painted art and pixel art, so for these methods to work there needs to be some translation to terms and aspects more applicable to pixel art. Panofsky’s iconography and iconology are on the other hand interested in “deeper” as well as contextual aspects of a work of art such as symbols or references. These aspects of pixel art artworks function in the same way as most other art, traditional or otherwise, and can therefore be directly applied without “translation”.