The study of iconography—how symbols and allegories function in art—offers a way to understand masterpieces that have puzzled scholars for generations. In the third program of a series, art historian Noah Charney explores the use of allegory and the personification of ideas. When figures represent abstract concepts—such as justice, envy, or time—an artwork enters the world of allegory.
Charney breaks down how allegories were constructed by artists, sometimes following conventions like those in Cesare Ripa’s book of symbols, Iconologia, and sometimes entirely original. He compares Titian’s relatively straightforward Allegory of Prudence with a brilliant and baffling painting by Bronzino, Allegory with Venus and Cupid, a complex riddle whose layers of eroticism, disease, deceit, and time have long fascinated scholars.
Additional Secret and Symbols in Art Program
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