DIGITAL ICONOGRAPHY AND ICONOLOGY STUDIES

The course focuses on the study of digital and digitised images in art history and visual culture, addressing questions concerning the relationship between image and technology, digital reproduction and representation, digital art history, and media theories. The course, structured around 30 hours of instruction, is part of the curriculum of the Master's Degree in Digital and Public Humanities and is affiliated with the Venice Centre for Digital and Public Humanities (VeDPH) within the Department of Humanistic Studies.

Knowledge and Understanding
Students will acquire the theoretical foundations of iconology and iconography, rooted in the method of Aby Warburg and the studies of Erwin Panofsky, as applied to the study of digital images. They will also develop a foundational knowledge of contemporary artistic practices shaped by the spread of digital visual culture, and will understand the principal distinctions between digital and digitised images, with specific reference to digital resources for art history.

Applying Knowledge and Understanding
Students will be able to identify the diverse modes of presentation of digital images within the online collections of museums, archives, and cultural institutions, and to understand the use of specific digital tools for different purposes of research, study, and communication. They will also be able to conduct iconographic research within online art collections and to distinguish the specific interfaces developed by Digital Art History projects to facilitate engagement with digitised works, texts, and documents.

Making Judgements
Students will be able to analyse digital platforms for the study of art history, identify their thematic specificities and emerging lines of research, and employ graphic tools for the presentation of projects or for critical analysis. They will further develop the ability to discuss their findings with appropriate linguistic precision and rigorous formal analysis.

Communication Skills
Students will be able to employ accurate and field-specific terminology, to present and communicate the outcomes of their work effectively, and to engage with peers and instructors in a respectful and constructive manner.

Basic knowledge of the history of art from the 16th to the 20th century is preferable.

Drawing on the theoretical concepts of iconography and iconology, the course examines the digital transformations of art images. The principal themes are the theories, projects, and tools of Digital Art History, as well as the evolution of the iconography of electronic media in the practices of contemporary artists.
The first part of the course analyses the main art image databases developed within Digital Art History projects. Specific case studies will examine the diverse elements involved in image reading, descriptive metadata, thesauri, and classification standards, including ICONCLASS. The course will also address digitised images and the role of technologies in enhancing the perception and study of art history and museum collections. Art collections, digital archives, photographic archives, and Digital Art History projects will be analysed, with particular attention to the challenges and risks associated with the hyper-visualisation of artworks.
The second part of the course focuses on theories of image production relating to the era of mechanical reproduction and their development toward an image science, from photography to digital art. The course will examine the interpretation of visual culture through the means of artistic production, the evolving role of digital art archives in art-historical inquiry, and the contribution of artistic practices in revealing the ambiguities of contemporary digitised images.

Chapters and essays will be defined during the lessons.

H. Belting, An Anthropology of Images: Picture, Medium, Body, Princeton University Press, 2011 (Chapters from).
C. Bishop, Against Digital Art History, in «International Journal of digital Art History», 3 (2018), pp. 123-132.
J. Drucker, Is there a “Digital” Art History? in «Visual Resources. An international journal on images and their uses», 29 (2013), pp.5-13.
J. Drucker, The Digital Humanities Coursebook: An Introduction to Digital Methods for Research and Scholarship, London: Routledge 2021.
E. Huhtamo, Art in the Rear‐View Mirror. The Media‐Archaeological Tradition in Art, in C. C. Paul, Companion to Digital Art, Wiley Blackwell 2016.
E. Panofsky, Meaning in the Visual Arts. Papers in and on art History, Anchor Books edition,1955, https://monoskop.org/images/0/0c/Panofsky_Erwin_Meaning_in_the_Visual_Arts.pdf
V. Stoichita, The Pygmalion Effect. From Ovid To Hitchcock, The University of Chicago Press, 2008 (Chapters from).
W. Beshty, Th picture Industry. A provisional history of the Technical Image 1844-1918, Luma Arles, October 12, 2018-January 6, 2019 (Chapters from).

The final exam will consist of an oral presentation of a project developed on one of the topics covered during the course. It will be accompanied by a critical essay of at least 2500 words.
The evaluation will take into account the following elements
- The scholarly quality of the critical essay on the project developed (30%);
- The theoretical depth of the topics (30%);
- The clarity and accuracy of the project presentation (30%);
- The level of interaction in the lectures, seminar activities, and conferences offered (10%)..

The exam program for non-attending students remains the same, but they must contact the teacher to agree on the topic to develop.

oral

The lecturer has a duty to ensure that the rules regarding the authenticity and originality of exam tests and papers are respected. Therefore, if there is suspicion of irregular conduct, an additional assessment may be conducted, which could differ from the original exam description.

The oral examination requires students to present the topic developed in their written essay, which focuses on an exempted design subject. The criteria for the assessment are: a) the academic quality and thoroughness of the essay, including in-depth bibliographic research and the clarity and coherence of the topic’s presentation; b) knowledge of the main theories and themes related to iconology and image science in the context of Digital Art History; c) critical analysis of projects and technologies within Digital Art History, particularly those related to image pattern recognition and iconographical standards; d) In-depth study of specific topics and the use of relevant technologies.

Grading will be based on the evaluation of the following knowledge, skills, and competencies:

Insufficient (≤17) – Limited knowledge. Inadequate to reflect and present ideas.
Sufficient (18-20) – Uncertain or partially reworked knowledge. Basic or adequate skills.
Fair (21-23) – Sufficient or fair knowledge, reworked with some uncertainties. Decent skills.
Good (24-26) – Correct or complete knowledge, confidently reworked. Good skills.
Distinct (27-28) – Complete and confident knowledge. Notable skills.
Excellent (29-30) – Extensive knowledge, independently reworked. Excellent skills.
Outstanding (30 with honors) – Broad and in-depth knowledge, independently reworked. Full mastery of the language.

Slides and power-points will be used in class, and there will be discussion of specific case studies, interaction between professors and students, critical reading of texts, and use of digital art historical resources.
The texts covered and discussed in class, with any supporting tools, are provided by the teacher during the course and made available on the Moodle platform. These texts, collected in a list at the end of the course, are an integral part of the exam program.

Attendance strongly encouraged.

The program is provisional and there could still be changes in its contents and texts.

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Human capital, health, education" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development