Dear All,
in Umbria is very common the iconography of the Virgin and Child with a book (copied locally from a a famous Raffaello’s painting now in the Ermitage Museum). How can I code it? It seems that the “book” as an attribute of the Virgin isn’t present in iconclass, is it? Thank you so much, Giovanni
Giovanni,
I assume you are talking about this Raphael painting
for which I would use the following:
- 73B732 Mary teaches the Christ-child to read
- 11F4212 Mary sitting or enthroned, the Christ-child in front of her, sitting in her lap (or in front of her bosom)
- 49MM32 book - MM - book open
If the retrieval software is in place (that is retrieval software at the user’s end…), this picture would be found with simple keywords like Madonna + book. There is no reason not to use multiple Iconclass concepts when tagging this picture. You do not have to (attempt to) express all aspects of this iconography with a single concept.
Hans,
yes, it that.
The code you’ve indicated is relative to Maria.
Before, I tried to find it with “Madonna” or “Virgin”,
maybe this is the reason why the term’s retrieval was not successful…
I will be more careful in searching and in the use of the terms.
Thank you so much, even for the tip about the multiple iconclass’ concepts.
Giovanni,
just a few more examples of the Madonna and child - and a book. They were not (yet) indexed with the concept of the Christ-child learning to read, but perhaps they are relevant to your research…
Giovanni Francesco Rustici (?), (first quarter 16th century)
Martin Schongauer (1470-1490)
Jan Provoost(?), ca 1510
