The structure and meaning of janiform images in Greek art (6th – 4th centuries B.C.)
https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2022-1-197-210
Abstract
The article focuses on the structural and semantic characteristics of “janiform” images in Greek art of the 6th – 4th centuries B.C. Composite depictions of two connected heads (which can be either different or identical), facing in the opposite directions are conspicuously “artifcial” constructs. They are created to express a particular relationship between two entities. In this article, I propose four types of connotation in “janiform” imagery: unity of opposites, complementary connection, emphasis through duplication, interaction and spatial relationship both within the object and between the object with its surroundings. These structural observations are applied to the corpus of East Greek miniature vessels of the 6th century B.C. and janiform Attic plastic vases of the late 6th–5th centuries B.C. Analysis of semantics is reinforced by crossreference to other objects from the same visual milieu.
About the Author
T. P. Kisbali
Lomonosov Moscow State University
Russian Federation
Russian Federation
Tamás Péter Kisbali, Cand. of Sci. (Art Studies)
bldg. 4, bld. 27, Lomonosovsky Av., Moscow, 119192
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Review
For citations:
Kisbali T.P. The structure and meaning of janiform images in Greek art (6th – 4th centuries B.C.). RSUH/RGGU Bulletin: “Literary Teory. Linguistics. Cultural Studies”, Series. 2022;(1-2):197-210. (In Russ.) https://doi.org/10.28995/2686-7249-2022-1-197-210
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