Cette thèse est une enquête sur les peintures murales et sur panneaux représentant l’archange Michel en Italie, entre 1200 et 1518. Elle propose une large mise au point historiographique et un panorama du développement du culte et de l’iconographie michaélique des origines à 1200. À travers un corpus de plus de 500 images, les représentations de l’archange sont étudiées dans les moindres détails, et leur évolution générale est située dans un cadre spatio-temporel, propre à en faire ressortir les spécificités. Au niveau formel et iconographique, la figure de Michel est partagée entre évocation de la spiritualité de sa nature et monstration de sa force physique, à forme humaine, alors que son image se simplifie par une cristallisation autour du guerrier dès le milieu du Trecento. Cette étude considère en outre la peinture en tant qu’objet fabriqué, pensé, reçu et utilisé. Les évolutions iconographiques participent à une sanctification de l’archange et sont au cœur d’expériences visuelles mêlant images peintes, représentations et visions miraculeuses de l’archange. Symbole universel du bien contre le mal et de la justice divine, et acteur efficace de l’au-delà intermédiaire, organisé et géré par l’Église, l’iconographie michaélique est un outil de son système pénitentiel. Mais Michel est un être sans apparence réelle et sa représentation est donc un reflet de sa perception par les hommes. Les représentations du plus humain des anges et du plus céleste des saints, sont ainsi un moyen de penser l’homme, dans sa relation avec l’Église, avec Dieu, et surtout dans la perception de l’homme par lui-même, de son rôle et de sa responsabilité au moment même du salut. / This work is an investigation into murals and panel paintings depicting Archangel Michael in Italy, between 1200 and 1518. It presents a broad historiographical update and an overview of the development of the michaelic cult and iconography from its origins to 1200. With a corpus of over 500 paintings, the images of the Archangel are scrutinized in their finest details and their general evolution is put back into a spatiotemporal framework, so as to bring out its specificities. On both formal and iconographical levels, Michael's figure is split between evoking his spiritual nature and showing his physical strength, in human form, and it crystallises around the image of the warrior in the middle of the fourteenth century. This study considers a painting to be a manufactured object, a thought-through object, a received object, an used object. The iconographic developments play a role in the archangel's sanctification and are at the heart of visual experiences using painted images, representations and miraculous visions of the archangel. Universal symbol of the fight of Good against Evil or divine justice, and efficient agent in the intermediate afterlife, organised and managed by the Church, the michaelic iconography is a tool of its penitential system. But Michael has no real figure, therefore his representation is a reflection of how men perceive him. The representations of the most human of angels and the most heavenly of saints, are no less than a way of thinking Man itself, in his relationship with the Church, with God, and especially in the way Man perceives himself, perceives his role and his responsibility when time of salvation arises.

A dissertação examina, a partir de um enfoque multidisciplinar que contempla aspectos estéticos, históricos e antropológicos, as imagens de negros de ganho realizadas por Christiano Jr. em cerca de 1865 no Rio de Janeiro. O objetivo é sublinhar seu caráter contraditório quando colocadas em perspectiva de longa duração. Mesmo sem romper com os padrões estéticos da época, as fotografias de Christiano Jr. introduzem elementos que representam uma diferenciação, uma vez que subvertem certos elementos estruturais da imagem do negro, temáticos e compositivos, quebrando o código de silêncio, ocultamento e disfarce que marca a relação da sociedade brasileira com o tema da escravidão. O trabalho desdobra-se em três movimentos. O primeiro capítulo apresenta uma análise detalhada do trabalho de Christiano Jr., ressaltando sua trajetória e o sistema de consumo e circulação em que suas fotografias se inserem. O segundo caracteriza os padrões tradicionais de representação da figura do negro e das camadas populares estabelecendo relações entre esses gêneros consolidados e as fotografias de Christiano Jr. O último capítulo sublinha uma espécie de fissura no rígido código de representação iconográfica do escravo e propõe que o trabalho do fotógrafo açoriano seja lido não mais como um documento neutro sobre os usos e costumes da época ou apenas como reiteração de um olhar preconceituoso, mas como registro de uma relação complexa entre o fotógrafo e seus modelos, como um elemento constitutivo - e, portanto, carregado de sentidos, mesmo que paradoxais - daquela sociedade que se via às voltas com a crise aguda do regime escravagista. / The aim of this work is to examine, from a multidisciplinary approach (aesthetic, historical and anthropological), images of black slaves and black wage earners made by the Azorean photographer Christiano Jr. in mid of the 1860\'s in Rio de Janeiro. The purpose is to emphasize their contradictory character when placed in a long-term perspective. Even without breaking with the aesthetic standards of the period, the pictures of Christiano Jr. introduce elements that represent a differentiation as they subvert certain thematic and compositional structural aspects of images of black labors, thus breaking the code of silence, concealment and disguise that characterizes the relationship between the Brazilian society and the system of slavery. The work develops in three movements. The first chapter presents a detailed analysis of the work of Christiano Jr. highlighting his career and the system of consumption and circulation of his images. The second features the traditional patterns of representation of the figure of the black working classes relating them with the pictures of Christiano Jr. The last chapter stresses a kind of fissure in the strict code of the iconographic representation of the slaves and proposes that the work of the azorean photographer be read not as a neutral document about the uses and customs of the time or only as a reiteration of a biased look, but as a record of a complex relationship between the photographer and his models as a constituent component - therefore charged with meaning - of a society that was itself grappling in an acute crisis of the slavery regime.

Dès la loi impériale du 23 Prairial an XII (12 juin1804) qui impose l’obligation d’inhumation pour tous au cimetière, la sculpture se met au service du portrait du défunt, dans cet espace si particulier qui tient à la fois du cadre privé et du cadre public. Héritier d’une tradition jusqu’alors réservée aux nobles et au roi, le portrait funéraire s’affiche dans une iconographie qui oscille entre symbolique et réalisme des traits physiques; le militaire est honoré comme héros tandis que le curé est vénéré par les paroissiens. S’inscrivant dans la mode de la statuomanie galopante des années 1880, les cimetières lorrains rejoignent la volonté publique d’honorer ses Grands Hommes, à une époque où la « Petite Patrie », la Lorraine, rencontre la « Grande Patrie », la France, où des artistes connus et parfois moins connus mettent leur savoir-faire et leur notoriété au service de portraits de notables. Le portrait funéraire connaît alors son âge d’or. Alors que le cimetière moderne se construit peu à peu grâce à son organisation parcellaire, les familles éprouvent très rapidement le besoin impérieux de matérialiser, sur ces concessions familiales, le souvenir des traits de leur défunt et le portrait sculpté leur en offre la possibilité et le voilà qui quitte l’intimité des salons pour être installé soit sur la stèle de la tombe familiale. C’est ainsi que l’époux éploré se souvient du visage de sa chère épouse, que des parents effondrés peuvent se consoler d’avoir perdu un petit ange en lui substituant un autre visage, plutôt idéalisé, ou mieux la figure d’un autre ange, plus solide car en marbre et plus protecteur. Peu à peu, le cimetière se pare d’un peuple de statues que viennent compléter quelques motifs professionnels, rares toutefois. La personnalisation de la tombe reste toutefois très discrète, la douleur contenue. La sculpture funéraire, et le portrait en particulier, se mettent au service de l’expression de sentiments filiaux ou conjugaux, réservés jusqu’alors à l’intimité, mais traduisent un élitisme que la législation du 23 prairial an XII ne souhaitait pas. Pendant la période 1880-1930, les commanditaires des portraits funéraires bénéficient d’une offre élargie de produits notamment grâce à l’essor de la photographie et au procédé de vitrification. Sans concurrencer le portrait sculpté porté principalement par le médaillon de bronze et la ronde-bosse, le vitrail photographique permet de promouvoir le souvenir du défunt dans un écrin luxueux, où, pour la première fois, la présence de la couleur fait animer ces visages et les rend presque vivants. Mais, c’est un luxe que peu de familles peuvent s’offrir. Alors, le médaillon photographique sur plaque émaillée, plus modeste, permet à une clientèle moins fortunée d’accéder au portrait funéraire au cimetière. Après 1930, alors que chapelle et vitrail disparaissent des allées du cimetière, le médaillon peut définitivement prendre place sur les sépultures. Très vite, c’est un succès assuré qui ne se dément pas, aujourd’hui encore. La période de 1940 à nos jours est de loin la plus riche en portraits funéraires et ce grâce à des techniques bien maîtrisées, celle de la photographie sur médaillon de porcelaine et celle de la gravure mécanique ou artistique, grâce également à de nouveaux supports que sont les plaques funéraires, les urnes, les vases. Et il n’est pas rare qu’une famille ait recours à des techniques différentes pour chacun de ses défunts. La façon de présenter le défunt a également évolué ; le modèle de studio photographique cède la place à un modèle présenté « au naturel », c’est-à-dire issu de l’album photographique familial et de nouveaux symboles montrent le défunt sous des aspects plus personnels. Désormais, le portrait funéraire du défunt au cimetière n’est plus seulement un visage mais c’est aussi un sportif, un chasseur, un motard, un professionnel, un amoureux des bêtes, un amateur de pétanque / From the imperial law of 23 Prairial year XII (June 12, 1804) which imposes the burial obligation for all in the cemetery, the sculpture puts itself at the service of the portrait of the deceased, in this very special space which is at the same time of the private frame and the public setting. Heir to a tradition hitherto booked with noble and to the king, the funerary portrait is displayed in an iconography which oscillates between symbolic system and realism of the physical features; the soldier is honored as hero while the priest is venerated by the parishioners. Falling under the fashion of the “statuomanie galopante” years 1880, the Lorraine cemeteries join the public will to honour its Great men, at one time when the “Small Fatherland”, Lorraine, meets the “Great Fatherland”, France, where known artists and sometimes less known put their know-how and their notoriety at the service of portraits the notable ones. The funerary portrait knows its golden age then. Whereas the modern cemetery is built little by little thanks to its compartmental organization, the families test the imperative need very quickly to materialize, on these family concessions, the memory of the features of their late and the carved portrait give of it them the opportunity and here it is which leaves the intimacy of the living rooms to be installed either on the family stele of the tomb. Thus the tearful husband remembers the face his dear wife, that ploughed up parents can comfort themselves to have lost a little angel in him substituent another face, rather idealized, or best the figure of another angel, more solid because out of marble and more protective. Little by little, the cemetery is avoided of people of statues which some professional reasons come to supplement, rare however. The personalization of the tomb remains however very discrete, the pain contained. The funerary sculpture, and the portrait in particular, are put at the service of the expression of subsidiary or marital feelings, hitherto booked with the intimacy, but translate an elitism which the legislation 23 Prairial An XII did not wish. For the period 1880-1930, the silent partners of the funerary portraits profit from a widened offer of products in particular thanks to rise of the photography and with the process of vitrification. Without competing with the carved portrait carried mainly by the bronze medallion and the sculpture in the round, the photographic stained glass makes it possible to promote the memory of late in a luxurious house, where, for the first time, the presence of the color makes animate these faces and makes them almost alive. But, it is a luxury which few families can offer. Then, the photographic medallion on enamelled plate, more modest, makes it possible to less fortunate customers to reach the funerary portrait with the cemetery. After 1930, whereas vault and stained glass disappear from the alleys of the cemetery, the medallion can definitively take seat on the burials. Very quickly, these is a assured success which is not contradicted, still today. The period of 1940 to our days is by far richest in funerary portraits and this thanks to techniques controlled well, that of photography on porcelain medallion and that of mechanical or artistic engraving, grace also to new supports which are the funerary plates, the ballot boxes, vases. And it is not rare that a family resorts to different techniques for each one of her late. The way of presenting the late one also evolved; the photographic model of studio gives way to a model presented “to the naturalness”, i.e. resulting from the family photographic album and new symbols show the late one under more personal aspects. From now on, the funerary portrait of late with the cemetery is not only any more one face but it is also a sportsman, a hunter, a motorcyclist, a professional, in love with the animals, an amateur of game of bowls.

Jusqu'à la fin du XIIe siècle, la vie de Clovis, roi mérovingien et premier roi chrétien qui a régné sur le royaume franc sûrement à partir de 481 et jusqu'à sa mort, le 27 novembre 511, ne paraît avoir été que rarement transposée en images. À partir de 1200, en revanche, l'iconographie figurant le souverain mérovingien se développe, diffusée de plus en plus largement dans le royaume de France. Cette évolution traduit un changement qui s'opère dans l'intérêt porté à Clovis durant les trois derniers siècles du Moyen Âge. Afin de saisir la teneur de ce changement, la présente étude se propose d'analyser l'importance octroyée à l'image de Clovis dans le royaume de France entre 1200 et 1500. Pour ce faire, l'examen de l'iconographie clodovéenne encore connue a été effectué. Celui-ci permet d'abord, grâce à l'évaluation de l'abondance et de la propagation de l'imagerie clodovéenne dans le royaume, de rendre compte de l'importance de la diffusion de l'image du roi et de cerner l'étendue et la diversité du public auquel celle-ci s'adressait. Cet examen permet ensuite d'analyser les modalités de la mise en images de l'histoire du souverain, renseignant sur les variations du discours diffusé par l'iconographie. Enfin, l'étude de la signification des images et de leur fonction permet, à une époque où se forme ce que Colette Beaune nomme le « sentiment national » et où l'histoire du royaume est traversée par un des conflits majeurs de la période, la guerre de Cent Ans, de comprendre les raisons du développement de l'imagerie figurant Clovis et des variations de la place conférée au roi dans le discours iconographique diffusé, entre 1200 et 1500, dans le royaume de France. / Until the end of the 12th century, the life of Clovis, a Merovingian king and the first Christian king of the Frankish kingdom, who reigned from about the year 481 until his death on November 27, 511, seems to have been rarely depicted in images. From 1200 onwards, however, iconography picturing the Merovingian king expanded, spreading more and more widely in the kingdom of France. This evolution reflects a change in the interest accorded to Clovis over the last three centuries of the Middle Ages. In order to grasp the substance of this change, this study analyzes the importance attributed to the image of Clovis in the kingdom of France between 1200 et 1500. To this end, an examination of known Clodovian iconography has been conducted. First, this evaluation of the quantity and spread of Clodovian imagery in the kingdom allows us to determine the magnitude of the dissemination of the king’s image as well as the scope and diversity of the public to which it was addressed. This examination then allows us to analyze the modalities of depicting the sovereign’s history, based on variations in the message spread by the iconography. Finally, the study of the meaning of the images and of their function yields – at a time when what Colette Beaune calls the “national sentiment” is forming and when the kingdom encounters one of the major conflicts of the period, the Hundred Years War – an understanding of the reasons for the development of the imagery depicting Clovis and for the variations in the place accorded to the king in the iconographic discourse spread between 1200 and 1500 in the kingdom of France.

Que cherchent à représenter et à percevoir les Romains, lorsqu’ils décrivent un parcours topographique ou géographique dans le cadre de l’art figuré ? Comment construisent-ils mentalement les déplacements géographiques réels ou imaginaires ? Comment se construit la carte mentale entre l’image et le récit ? La « mosaïque aux Îles » d’Haïdra est un parfait exemple qui nous permet de réfléchir sur ces questions. Elle a été découverte en 1995 sur le sol d’une pièce d’un grand édifice dans le quartier suburbain de la cité antique d’Ammaedara en Afrique proconsulaire. Attribuée à la fin du IIIe ou au début du IVe siècle, cette mosaïque offre la vue d’un espace insulaire avec une série de quinze îles et villes de la Méditerranée orientale et de la Sicile dont douze sont désignées par une légende en latin : Cnidos, Cnossos, Cypros, Cytherae, Egusa, Erycos, Idalium, Lemnos, Naxos, Paphos, Rhodos et Scyros. La représentation des îles et des villes ainsi que la manière de restituer leur succession ne correspondent pas à la réalité géographique, alors que ces zones ont été décrites par les auteurs anciens. Ce travail se propose d’étudier la structuration spatiale, la coordination et le montage des éléments réalistes et imaginaires des lieux dans l’art romain, à partir de cette mosaïque. Il s’agira d’analyser les différentes images qui rendent compte de la dualité à la frontière entre la notion de paysage figuré et celle de la cartographie ; il s’agira également de recueillir dans les sources écrites les descriptions spatiales de la géographie physique et littéraire évoquant un paysage culturel. / What do the Romans aim to represent and perceive when they describe a topographical or geographical trajectory within the framework of figurative art? How do they mentally build real or imagined geographical journeys? How is the mental path created from the image and the narrative? The "Mosaïque aux Îles" of Haidra is a perfect example that allows us to think about these issues. It was discovered in 1995 on the floor of a room in a large building in the suburban district of the ancient city of Ammaedara in Africa Proconsularis. Attributed to the end of the 3rd or the beginning of the 4th century, this mosaic offers the view of an insular space with a series of fifteen islands and cities of the eastern Mediterranean and Sicily, twelve of which are designated by an inscription in Latin: Cnidos, Cnossos, Cypros, Cytherae, Egusa, Erycos, Idalium, Lemnos, Naxos, Paphos, Rhodos, and Scyros. Therepresentation of islands and cities as well as the manner of reconstructing their succession do not correspond to the geographical reality, although ancient authors have described these areas. This work aims to study the spatial structuring, the coordination, and the assembly of the realistic and imaginary elements of places in Roman art, on the basis of this mosaic. The different images that represent the duality at the boundary between the notion of landscape painting and that of cartography have been analysed. Also, the spatial descriptions of the physical and literary geography evoking a cultural landscape have been collected in the written sources.

Le sujet de ce doctorat prend comme point de départ les découvertes faites dans la nécropole romaine de la Porte Médiane de Cumes (Campanie, Italie), où les fouilles archéologiques du Centre Jean Bérard (CJB, 3133-CNRS-EfR) ont révélé des tombes monumentales d’époque antonine et sévérienne aux décors funéraires bien conservés. Ces données étaient précieuses car insérées dans un contexte archéologique parfaitement documenté, ce qui donnait l’occasion de reprendre le dossier de la peinture funéraire d’époque impériale en Campanie, méconnue, en raison notamment de sa position chronologique située entre les grandes découvertes des cités vésuviennes et l’essor des catacombes chrétiennes, qui ont attiré toutes les attentions jusqu’à une époque récente. Après avoir dressé un état de la situation de ce corpus longtemps négligé, l’étude a permis, sur la base du matériel inédit de Cumes, de préciser : le cadre chronologique, les caractéristiques iconographiques et techniques, et les liens qui unissent le décor et le contexte architectural. Des questionnements qui reflètent les aspirations des commanditaires, permettant une lecture sociale de l’époque. / This doctorate takes as its starting point the discoveries made in the roman necropolis of the Porta Mediana of Cumae (Campania, Italy), where the archaeological excavations made by the Centre Jean Bérard (CJB, 3133-CNRS-EfR) revealed monumental graves from Antonine and Severian times, whose funerary paintings well preserved.These pieces of information were really precious, as being inserted in a pretty well documented archaeological background, giving the chance to reopen the file of funeral painting from imperial ages in Campania, little known, especially because of its chronological position situated in between the vesuvian cities' great discoveries and the christian catacombs' rise, which until recent times have been focusing most of the attentions.After presenting the situation of this corpus disregarded for a long time, this study, based on the new material from Cumae, permitted to define : the chronological frame, the technical and iconographical features, and the link between the decoration and the architecture. Issues reflecting the graves owner ‘s aspirations, by offering a social reading of the age

Foi nossa intenção neste trabalho estudar a imagética das emissões locais das vinte e três cidades cunhadoras da Palestina, durante os séculos II a.C. ao II d.C., a fim de entender em que medida a tipologia dessas emissões locais revelam a afirmação política e/ou contraposição à dominação romana no caso das populações locais e os aspectos de instrumentalização política da moeda por parte dos romanos. Também foi nossa intenção neste trabalho, a partir dos estudos monetários, analisar a paulatina influência que a civilização romana estabelecera na região da Palestina, assim como seu relacionamento com a cultura grega e hebraica já presentes na região. Para tanto analisamos as moedas que foram cunhadas nas cidades costeiras: Acco (Ptolemaida), Ascalon (Ashkelon), Cesaréia Marítima, Dora (Dor), e Gaza; nas cidades do interior: Jerusalém (Aelia Capitolina), Citópolis (Nysa, Beth-Shean, Beisan), Gaba, Gamala, Marisa (Maresh), Neápolis (Nablus, Shechem), Sebaste (Shomron, Samaria), Séforis (Zipori, Diocaesarea) e Tiberíades (Tveriah) e nas cidades da Transjordânia: Bostra (Beser), Canata (Keneth), Filadélfia (Rabbat Ammon), Gadara (Gader), Gerasa (Geresh), Hippos-Susita, Panias (Cesaréia Filipe, Banias), Pella (Pehal), e Petra (Reqem) durante o período acima apontado; procuramos nos aprofundar no estudo das fontes textuais e da bibliografia existente; e por fim utilizamos os métodos de análise disponíveis para a iconografia monetária de sorte a atingirmos os objetivos propostos. / It was our intention in this work was to study the imagetic of local coinage from Palestine of the twenty three city-coins during the roman domination between II century BC. until II century AD. Observing the monetaries types we intended to understand how the local typology revels: a) aspects of political instrumentalization of the coin for the romans; b) political affirmation and the counterpoint to roman domination in the case of the local populations. Also it was our intention in this work from the moneatries studies, to analyse the gradual influence that the roman civilization establishes in the region of Palestine, as well as its relationship with the greek and hebrew culture present in the region. For this we analyse the coins that was struck in the coastal cities: Akko (Ptolemais), Dora (Dor), Caesarea, Ascalon (Ashkelon) e Gaza; in the inland cities: Jerusalem (Aelia Capitolina), Nysa-Scythopolis (Bet-Shean, Beisan), Gaba, Gamala, Marisa (Maresh), Neapolis (Nablus, Shechem), Sebaste (Shomron, Samaria), Sepporis (Sippori, Diocaesarea) e Tiberíades (Tveriah) and in the cities of Transjordan: Bostra (Beser), Canatha (Keneth), Philadelphia (Rabbat Ammon), Gadara (Gader), Gerasa (Geresh), Hippos-Susita (Susita), Paneas (Caesarea Philippi, Banias), Pella (Pehal), e Petra (Reqem) during the period above pointed; we tried to deep in the study of literal sources and the actual bibliography; finally we use the available methods of analysis for the monetary iconography with the finality to attain our goals.

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.

Animal art is one of the more mystical aspects of Scandinavian Iron Age culture. It has foremost been regarded in the light of art and style history. Interpretation has also – mainly from the 1990s and onwards – been made through iconographic analysis. But the problem here is that iconography requires textual analogy, something that the Scandinavian Iron Age lacks. The purpose of this paper is to lift some of the ”mystical fog” that engulfs the scandinavian animal art, by developing a method for interpretation of pre-historic images that evades the flaws in the iconographic method. This by doing an interpretation of the gripping beast motif on Gotlandic Viking Age animal-head brooches. The study is divided into three parts. Part one focuses on reception within research history and how the use of language and methodological approaches shapes the perception of animal art within it's own time, it also discusses animal art in the light of style, motif and communication. Part two aims to outline a method for pre-historic image interpretation, a structuralistic iconology with addition of contextualization and anthropological theories of agency. The chapter also discusses the cosmological order through means of ”structuralistic iconology”. Finally part three contextualizes the gripping beast to the object – the animal head-brooch – through notions of use, combination and age. Concluding that the gripping beast should be understood as a hybrid creature closely linked to ancestry, odal and the fatalistic worldview of Iron Age Scandinavia.

Las relaciones existentes entre el cinematógrafo y las artes plásticas durante las primeras décadas del siglo XX son una de las señas de identidad de un período artístico protagonizado por los movimientos vanguardistas. En efecto, fotografía y cine se unen a pintura y escultura en el maremagno de creatividad y experimentación que vivió el arte al calor de las vanguardias históricas. Pese a ser numerosas y evidentes las influencias que el cine recibió de las artes plásticas en esas primeras décadas del siglo, lo que se quiere abordar en esta investigación no es esta vinculación sino, precisamente, su inversa. De lo que se trata, pues, es de investigar, evidenciar y explicar las influencias del medio cinematográfico en las artes plásticas, a nivel formal, expresivo o iconográfico, influencias que, como es lógico, resultan especialmente significativas en la pintura. / The existing relations between the cinematograph and the plastic arts during the first decades of the 20th century are one of the identity signs of an artistic period led by the avant-garde movements. In fact, photography and cinema join painting and sculpture in the maremagnum of creativity and experimentation that art lived with the historical avant-garde. In spite of the fact that the influences that cinema received from plastic arts in these first decades of the century are numerous and evident, what must be faced in this investigation is not this link but, precisely, his opposite. What we are dealing with, thus, is investigating, demonstrating and explaining the influences of the cinematographic means in the plastic arts, at a formal, expressive or iconographic level, influences that, naturally, turn out to be specially significant on painting.