Metonymy and its manifestation in visual artworks: Case study of late paintings by Bruegel the Elder

Abstract

Being the object ofsemiotic studies, metonymy demands investigation in the non-verbal domain, i.e., visual sign systems. When analyzing the metonymies of visual artworks, they prove to have different sources: verbal and visual sources refer to codes, languages, contexts, and sign forms of a work (denotations, connotations, and organizing sign structures). Different particular metonymies promote incarnation of a general metonymy of work. In the work structure (or coding), particular metonymies are joined and organized on the basis of this general metonymy. The metonymies interrelated in a complex way on the basis of general metonymy are revealed in the course ofsemiotic analysis of the paintings by Bruegel the Elder. The sign structures of his works underlie the philosophic generalizations of the great painter and philosopher.