Betty Bowen wrote:
> <snip> Today I received a very
> thorough reply, the gist of which is that most "action" in icons happens
> left to right, and that, in the two icon writing handbooks he consulted,
> there is no other symbolism involved. He continued to tell me that often
> symbolism is attached to items in icons when there really is not any
> intended.
Thanks for clarifying this. Like you, I'm very interested in scenes of
the Annunication and enjoy teaching the iconography behind so many
Renaissance works. I checked my best resource, Signs and Symbols in
Christian Art, about the left-to-right placement, and came up with
nothing. I wondered if maybe the convention was because we read left to
right; since most people back then couldn't read, the paintings served
as religious instructional "texts."
