About the New Iconology. The Geology of Images: Looking at Mantegna’s Work

Abstract

In this essay about the new iconology the author takes into account the role that style plays in Mantegna’s work, discussing this in the light of geology and archaeology. Interest in the artwork as object (artefact) and as image is at the centre of contemporary theoretical research; the artistic approach intersecting the anthropological one and that of “visual studies”. Through the analysis of the artistic object in its stylistic and structural materials it is possible to capture the artist’s intentionality. Through this principle of action, which Gell calls “agency”, as a causal principle of action and effect. The observer can draw a causal inference. And so it is possible to enter into a complex of social relations which Gell defines as art-nexus, namely interactions between the artist, the work of art, the observer, and the cultural context. The challenge of this study is to reflect on these theoretical presuppositions, linking art, anthropology and visual studies in relation to art in the 15th century...