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An Anthropology of Images: Picture, Medium, Body
A compelling theory that places the origin of human picture making in the body
In this groundbreaking book, renowned art historian Hans Belting proposes a new anthropological theory for interpreting human picture making. Rather than focus exclusively on pictures as they are embodied in various media such as painting, sculpture, or photography, he links pictures to our mental images and therefore our bodies. The body is understood as a "living medium" that produces, perceives, or remembers images that are different from the images we encounter through handmade or technical pictures. Refusing to reduce images to their material embodiment yet acknowledging the importance of the historical media in which images are manifested, An Anthropology of Images presents a challenging and provocative new account of what pictures are and how they function.
The book demonstrates these ideas with a series of compelling case studies, ranging from Dante's picture theory to post-photography. One chapter explores the tension between image and medium in two "media of the body," the coat of arms and the portrait painting. Another, central chapter looks at the relationship between image and death, tracing picture production, including the first use of the mask, to early funerary rituals in which pictures served to represent the missing bodies of the dead. Pictures were tools to re-embody the deceased, to make them present again, a fact that offers a surprising clue to the riddle of presence and absence in most pictures and that reveals a genealogy of pictures obscured by Platonic picture theory.
In this groundbreaking book, renowned art historian Hans Belting proposes a new anthropological theory for interpreting human picture making. Rather than focus exclusively on pictures as they are embodied in various media such as painting, sculpture, or photography, he links pictures to our mental images and therefore our bodies. The body is understood as a "living medium" that produces, perceives, or remembers images that are different from the images we encounter through handmade or technical pictures. Refusing to reduce images to their material embodiment yet acknowledging the importance of the historical media in which images are manifested, An Anthropology of Images presents a challenging and provocative new account of what pictures are and how they function.
The book demonstrates these ideas with a series of compelling case studies, ranging from Dante's picture theory to post-photography. One chapter explores the tension between image and medium in two "media of the body," the coat of arms and the portrait painting. Another, central chapter looks at the relationship between image and death, tracing picture production, including the first use of the mask, to early funerary rituals in which pictures served to represent the missing bodies of the dead. Pictures were tools to re-embody the deceased, to make them present again, a fact that offers a surprising clue to the riddle of presence and absence in most pictures and that reveals a genealogy of pictures obscured by Platonic picture theory.
216 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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About the author
Hans Belting
77 books39 followersHans Belting is a German art historian and theorist of medieval and Renaissance art, as well as contemporary art and image theory.
He was born in Andernach, Germany, and studied at the universities of Mainz and Rome, and took his doctorate in art history at the University of Mainz. Subsequently he has held a fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks (Harvard University), Washington, D.C.
He was born in Andernach, Germany, and studied at the universities of Mainz and Rome, and took his doctorate in art history at the University of Mainz. Subsequently he has held a fellowship at Dumbarton Oaks (Harvard University), Washington, D.C.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
March 10, 2013
I came to read this book by chance: an illness had rendered me incapable of completing an assignment that was meant to be on Ferdinand de Saussure, so my lecturer reassigned me to Hans Belting's 'Anthropology of Images' instead. As a young, burgeoning nineteen year old who was just beginning to explore and understand the Art Theory field beyond the boundaries of first year university classes, 'Bild-Anthropologie' helped shape my fundamental understanding of and interests within the field.
Belting's theory itself is fascinating, and has many hallmarks of contemporary, scientific thought: his understanding of how we view, consume, and store images within ourselves has a pseudo-neuro-scientific vibe. The notion of the locus of images resonated with me in particular: the idea that each and every human being views and stores enough images over a lifetime in order to be considered a 'library of images' is deeply fascinating. Indeed, how does one really destroy an image, without having to erase the memory of that image, or bild, from the consciousness of all those who still continue to carry it within their own minds?
Of course, the book is translated from German, and Belting himself elected to exclude certain chapters as he felt that English could not truly capture what they were trying to communicate (but apparently, Spanish, French, German and Italian do... ah well). Despite this, the writing flows, and has a steady structure and forward motion to it: each fact is presented methodically, each argument is clearly outlined, presented, and defined, each idea is culminated and concluded in a neat little arc at the end of the chapter. At times, the writing itself is prosaic, particularly with the imagery of elderly Middle Eastern men carrying within them ancient images of Islamic symbolism, acting as Islamic Bild-libraries. Perhaps this is a wonderful remnant from the book's German origins.
I do indeed recommend this book, of course I do: someday, I hope to expand upon Belting's ideas and bring about the unification of Belting's art theory with a proper, well researched, neuroscientific base. Until then, I can merely rant and rave about it on the internet, waiting for the day I finish my undergraduate studies and can truly sink my teeth into the Bild-Anthropologie.
March 21, 2023
Un buen libro para introducirse en lo que algunos han llamado el pictorical turn" (el giro desde la "historia del arte" tradicional a una cultura antropologica de las imágenes), esto es, la tendencia filosofico-artistica representada por autores como Didi Huberman, Mitchell o incluso Regis Debray (Vida y muerte de la imagen) y anticipada por aquel gran intelectual llamado Aby Warburg.
No obstante, junto con "¿Qué quieren las imágenes?" o "Iconología" (ambas de Mitchell), debe tenerse en cuenta que de trata de una obra de referencia para promover un nuevo modelo de análisis y sensibilidad que refute la concepción estética, positivista y frígida de la historia del arte académica. Su finalidad es introductoria y metodológica, lo que puede resultar algo aséptico o frío para muchos.
Lo cierto es que, retrospectivamente, prefiero con creces (y aconsejo preferiblemente) la lectura de ”Ante la imagen" de Didi Huberman, ”Vida y muerte de la imagen" de Regis Debray o las obras citadas de Mitchell (todas tienen un fin introductorio).
Lo que Belting propone en Antropología de la mirada es importante, pero, tras haber leído estas otras obras, me resulta algo descentrado, atomizado y esquivo. Nada que ver con su obra. "Imagen y culto" puede resultar densa pero es fruto de una labor monumental. Lo mismo se puede decir de "Florencia y Bagdad", una lectura imprescindible para todo aquel interesado en el Renacimiento o en el arte Islámico
No obstante, junto con "¿Qué quieren las imágenes?" o "Iconología" (ambas de Mitchell), debe tenerse en cuenta que de trata de una obra de referencia para promover un nuevo modelo de análisis y sensibilidad que refute la concepción estética, positivista y frígida de la historia del arte académica. Su finalidad es introductoria y metodológica, lo que puede resultar algo aséptico o frío para muchos.
Lo cierto es que, retrospectivamente, prefiero con creces (y aconsejo preferiblemente) la lectura de ”Ante la imagen" de Didi Huberman, ”Vida y muerte de la imagen" de Regis Debray o las obras citadas de Mitchell (todas tienen un fin introductorio).
Lo que Belting propone en Antropología de la mirada es importante, pero, tras haber leído estas otras obras, me resulta algo descentrado, atomizado y esquivo. Nada que ver con su obra. "Imagen y culto" puede resultar densa pero es fruto de una labor monumental. Lo mismo se puede decir de "Florencia y Bagdad", una lectura imprescindible para todo aquel interesado en el Renacimiento o en el arte Islámico
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July 2, 2019La traduzione italiana è assolutamente illeggibile, peccato perché il saggio è molto interessante e avrebbe meritato un'edizione migliore. L'edizione Carocci offre la perturbante esperienza di leggere un testo che sembra in italiano ma che per lo più in italiano non significa nulla o che, se confrontato all'edizione inglese o francese (che il tedesco purtroppo non lo conosco), significa tutt'altro. Il traduttore (e curatore) si dovrebbe vergognare per aver devastato in questo modo il saggio di Belting, come per l'aver intrapreso un compito che evidentemente non era in grado di svolgere (siamo a livello di google translator se non peggio). Idem l'editore, perché evidentemente nessuno ha letto questo libro prima di mandarlo in stampa (e costa pure 38 euro!).
Se si è interessati al saggio, che merita indubbiamente una lettura, consiglio dunque un'edizione in un'altra lingua. Se invece si vuole vedere, per pura curiosità, com'è fatta la peggiore traduzione che mi sia mai capitato di leggere, allora vale la pena di fare un giro in biblioteca e dare un'occhiata all'edizione Carocci.
Se si è interessati al saggio, che merita indubbiamente una lettura, consiglio dunque un'edizione in un'altra lingua. Se invece si vuole vedere, per pura curiosità, com'è fatta la peggiore traduzione che mi sia mai capitato di leggere, allora vale la pena di fare un giro in biblioteca e dare un'occhiata all'edizione Carocci.
January 21, 2012
Hans Belting is undoubtedly one of the greatest living Art Historians, this book (now also in Italian Edition) is a further demonstration of his brilliant mind and great culture.
March 11, 2025
In this fascinating study, Belting outlines his anthropological approach to the issues surrounding the nature of images and their interpretation in human life and experience. He utilizes a triadic approach: image, medium, and body encompass the human experience of images. An image is distinct but inseparable from its medium; it is only by means of a medium in which the beholder perceives the image, but the image itself can, and must, transcend any medium in which it manifests. The transcendence of images is easily seen in the depiction of one image across cultures and generations, but is ultimately seen in the embodied condition of the human subject, who is fundamentally a “locus of images” (37). Indeed, according to Belting, “the body is a place in the world, a locus in which images are generated and identified (recognized)” (37). So strong is Belting’s emphasis on memory and the embodied condition of humanity that he contends that “images do not exist in nature, they exist only in the mind’s eye and in memory” (47). Image, medium, and body are thus inextricably connected, which is why an anthropological approach to images is crucial to the task of understanding images.
Belting further reflects on historical aspects of image making and how technological developments, cultural-ritual contexts, and the nature of place have all influenced the understanding of perception, image, and body. One important example for Belting includes the funerary origins of the image. Images are bound up with the experience of death in human history; once the living body has perished, it is replaced with an image, an image that paradoxically embodies presence and absence. The image of the person now dead in one sense revitalizes their social presence within the community, but the very fact that it is an image testifies to the absence of the one imaged. “Through death, images were once entangled in the mystery of that final absence to which they owed their deepest meaning. The image was the chosen medium for making good the absence of life” (126). Strangely enough, Belting points out that the dawn of photography as a medium for images inverts the relationship between death and images: “at the precise moment of exposure, every photograph falls into the trap of time. Death is different, of course: it prevents the possibility of taking another image from life. But there is a sense in which, during our lifetime, we die the moment we are photographed” (121). Such are some of the interesting reflections on images that Belting discusses in this work.
As one can see, Belting’s reflections on the nature of images, their media, and the body are incredibly thought-provoking. As for any criticisms, I am not persuaded of Belting’s philosophy of mind concerning the existence of the image only residing in the human mental life and memory. That is no doubt an essential component of the image and its existence; I am just unsure of whether it is definitely the only place where the image truly and properly exists. Importantly, Belting does not so much argue for this view, he simply asserts it as a premise. Perhaps he argues for this view in more depth elsewhere. Additionally, the flow of argumentation at points can be unclear, especially in the beginning chapters. Belting seems to lay a lot of weight on the reader to make certain connections rather than making them abundantly clear.
Overall, this work is well worth reading and contemplating and has significant implications for several disciplines, such as aesthetics, the nature of embodiment, and more.
Belting further reflects on historical aspects of image making and how technological developments, cultural-ritual contexts, and the nature of place have all influenced the understanding of perception, image, and body. One important example for Belting includes the funerary origins of the image. Images are bound up with the experience of death in human history; once the living body has perished, it is replaced with an image, an image that paradoxically embodies presence and absence. The image of the person now dead in one sense revitalizes their social presence within the community, but the very fact that it is an image testifies to the absence of the one imaged. “Through death, images were once entangled in the mystery of that final absence to which they owed their deepest meaning. The image was the chosen medium for making good the absence of life” (126). Strangely enough, Belting points out that the dawn of photography as a medium for images inverts the relationship between death and images: “at the precise moment of exposure, every photograph falls into the trap of time. Death is different, of course: it prevents the possibility of taking another image from life. But there is a sense in which, during our lifetime, we die the moment we are photographed” (121). Such are some of the interesting reflections on images that Belting discusses in this work.
As one can see, Belting’s reflections on the nature of images, their media, and the body are incredibly thought-provoking. As for any criticisms, I am not persuaded of Belting’s philosophy of mind concerning the existence of the image only residing in the human mental life and memory. That is no doubt an essential component of the image and its existence; I am just unsure of whether it is definitely the only place where the image truly and properly exists. Importantly, Belting does not so much argue for this view, he simply asserts it as a premise. Perhaps he argues for this view in more depth elsewhere. Additionally, the flow of argumentation at points can be unclear, especially in the beginning chapters. Belting seems to lay a lot of weight on the reader to make certain connections rather than making them abundantly clear.
Overall, this work is well worth reading and contemplating and has significant implications for several disciplines, such as aesthetics, the nature of embodiment, and more.
December 12, 2023
Na sua análise do culto colonial das imagens, que as ordens religiosas incentivaram no México em aberta polémica contra as representações indígenas, Serge Gruzinski relaciona o papel das imagens oficiais com o papel das imagens milagrosas e do sonho. A experiência visionaria exercia-se como propaganda no sentido de familiarizar as populações índias com o além cristão. «É aqui muito estreito o parentesco entre a visão e a imagem». Os sonhos dos indígenas refletiam «a estrutura das imagens eclesiásticas da segunda metade do seculo XVI. [...] É a mesma ordem visual, alimentada pelas mesmas formas e fantasmas, que rege a pintura e a experiência subjectiva. Lógica pictural e lógica fantasmática seguem durante peço menos um século vias paralelas: o invisível torna-se visível, a convenção pictórica informa o subjectivo». A experiência do sonho e da visão era, ao mesmo tempo, simulada e regulamentada pelas imagens oficiais, que para tal forneciam uma síntese. Pode falar-se de uma isometria entre a imaginação privada e o poder criador de normas das imagens oficiais que encarnam o imaginário colectivo.
February 4, 2018
Un libro compuesto por una serie de ensayos que exploran la relación entre cuerpo, imagen, medio, y las relaciones en las transformaciones, a través del tiempo, de la imagen a través de la teoría antropológica. Muy recomendable.
December 5, 2014
Spændende og revolutionerende ny tilgang til at forstå billedmediet inden for kunsthistorien!!
August 29, 2017
Saggi apprezzabili, ma un po' spezzettati: la natura di raccolta in definitiva regge ma a tratti traballa. Se a ciò si aggiunge che la prosa non è esattamente trascinante, il libro può generare una lettura molto frammentata e dispersiva. Lato positivo: ognuno dei capitoli può essere preso come storia a sé.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews