Léal souvenir? La photographie, la peinture et le serment de l’image fidèle
The aim of this paper is to question the objectivist conception of photography by confronting it with the history – and epistemology – of the painted image. I suggest that the idea of photography as an objective testimony seems to rest upon a phenomenon already described by ancient rhetoric – enarge...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Firenze University Press
2018-11-01
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| Series: | Aisthesis |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/aisthesis/article/view/972 |
| _version_ | 1818155874079735808 |
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| author | Bertrand Rougé |
| author_facet | Bertrand Rougé |
| author_sort | Bertrand Rougé |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | The aim of this paper is to question the objectivist conception of photography by confronting it with the history – and epistemology – of the painted image. I suggest that the idea of photography as an objective testimony seems to rest upon a phenomenon already described by ancient rhetoric – enargeia, which Cicero latinized into evidentia. Thus the question is raised whether the objectivity of the photographic image is not the mere continuation of an old rhetorical and pictorial tradition about the epistemic-rhetoric evidentia of testimony. Moreover, through the detailed analysis of two paintings by Jan Van Eyck – The Arnolfini Portrait and Léal Souvenir –, I argue that what guarantees an image’s objectivity to the point of its being accepted as evidence ultimately is not the non-subjective mechanical process or the automatic indexical device used to make the photographic image but the image’s built-in pledge of faithfulness which was at the heart of painters’ thoughts long before the invention of photography. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-11T14:49:20Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-429f7e9d910948338c30d2bc8da3fb54 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2035-8466 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-11T14:49:20Z |
| publishDate | 2018-11-01 |
| publisher | Firenze University Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Aisthesis |
| spelling | doaj.art-429f7e9d910948338c30d2bc8da3fb542022-12-22T01:01:32ZengFirenze University PressAisthesis2035-84662018-11-01112Léal souvenir? La photographie, la peinture et le serment de l’image fidèleBertrand Rougé0Université de Pau et des Pays de l'AdourThe aim of this paper is to question the objectivist conception of photography by confronting it with the history – and epistemology – of the painted image. I suggest that the idea of photography as an objective testimony seems to rest upon a phenomenon already described by ancient rhetoric – enargeia, which Cicero latinized into evidentia. Thus the question is raised whether the objectivity of the photographic image is not the mere continuation of an old rhetorical and pictorial tradition about the epistemic-rhetoric evidentia of testimony. Moreover, through the detailed analysis of two paintings by Jan Van Eyck – The Arnolfini Portrait and Léal Souvenir –, I argue that what guarantees an image’s objectivity to the point of its being accepted as evidence ultimately is not the non-subjective mechanical process or the automatic indexical device used to make the photographic image but the image’s built-in pledge of faithfulness which was at the heart of painters’ thoughts long before the invention of photography.https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/aisthesis/article/view/972photographypaintingindexicalityevidenceobjectivity |
| spellingShingle | Bertrand Rougé Léal souvenir? La photographie, la peinture et le serment de l’image fidèle Aisthesis photography painting indexicality evidence objectivity |
| title | Léal souvenir? La photographie, la peinture et le serment de l’image fidèle |
| title_full | Léal souvenir? La photographie, la peinture et le serment de l’image fidèle |
| title_fullStr | Léal souvenir? La photographie, la peinture et le serment de l’image fidèle |
| title_full_unstemmed | Léal souvenir? La photographie, la peinture et le serment de l’image fidèle |
| title_short | Léal souvenir? La photographie, la peinture et le serment de l’image fidèle |
| title_sort | leal souvenir la photographie la peinture et le serment de l image fidele |
| topic | photography painting indexicality evidence objectivity |
| url | https://oajournals.fupress.net/index.php/aisthesis/article/view/972 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT bertrandrouge lealsouvenirlaphotographielapeintureetlesermentdelimagefidele |