Art imitating life...Or is it the other way around?

Emanuel · 27th April 2012, 05:31 AM

Hello,

In European mediaeval illuminations we often find nearly identical scenes in widely different contexts and different places. Consider that at some point some depictions become iconic and subject to considerable copy. Either one of your paintings might have copied one another, or more likely both were interpretations of a common painting. So it's not necessarily that they are two renditions of the same event as seen by different artists, but they are renditions of a common illustrations, perhaps from an important original.

If Indian art and monasticism worked anything like in Europe, then one cultural/political/religious centre would have had an original depiction of this particular event. That depiction was subsequently either studied and copied by artists from other centres, or it was lent out to those centres for further copy and re-interpretation. A few central images and themes would remain, the rest subject to artistic license.

Emanuel

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27th April 2012, 05:31 AM	#8
Emanuel Member Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Toronto, Canada Posts: 1,242	Hello, In European mediaeval illuminations we often find nearly identical scenes in widely different contexts and different places. Consider that at some point some depictions become iconic and subject to considerable copy. Either one of your paintings might have copied one another, or more likely both were interpretations of a common painting. So it's not necessarily that they are two renditions of the same event as seen by different artists, but they are renditions of a common illustrations, perhaps from an important original. If Indian art and monasticism worked anything like in Europe, then one cultural/political/religious centre would have had an original depiction of this particular event. That depiction was subsequently either studied and copied by artists from other centres, or it was lent out to those centres for further copy and re-interpretation. A few central images and themes would remain, the rest subject to artistic license. Emanuel