19 - Beyond Iconography: Meaning-Making in Late Bronze Age Eastern Mediterranean Visual and Material Culture

Summary

Artistic interconnections in the Late Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean are often considered through the lens of iconography as a window onto motif transference. The iconographic method is most often associated with Erwin Panofsky and in particular with his elaboration of it first in his 1939 Studies in Iconology and later in his 1955 Meaning in the Visual Arts. First, the chapter pursues an alternative approach to meaning in the visual culture of the Late Bronze Age eastern Mediterranean, with the express intent of moving beyond the shortcomings of the iconographic approach. To do this, author draw heavily upon Keane's theories regarding materiality and signification. The chapter presents an extended study, cylinder seals in the Late Bronze Age Greek mainland, carved monumental ashlar architecture, frescoes, and Mycenaean pottery, in order to explore fully the range of possible meaning-making processes. Finally, it concludes with a short consideration of the continuity of meaning in Hittite-carved architectural reliefs.