Le langage des mains dans l'art. Histoire, significations et usages des chirogrammes picturaux en France aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles

Author(s): Temenuzhka Dimova
Abstract: Old master paintings speak their own language, which is not conveyed by vocal words but mainly by meaningful hand gestures. Painters used them to transmit theological concepts, popular customs, scientific ideas, political values, emotional states and social identities. Despite the importance of the pictorial codified gestures in art history, noteworthy but only partial studies have been dedicated to this subject so far. The aim of this book is to propose an extensive and unifying study of the genealogy and the particularities of the language of hands in art, as well as to establish clear definitions of each one of the main pictorial chirograms (graphical representation of a hand sign). Thanks to their flexibility, the hands are able to form signs of multiples shapes and to cover a vast range of conceptions. Nevertheless, the pictorial chirograms are fundamentally different from real life gestures – they are frozen signs. Painters took advantage of this problem and created a unique well-structured and long-term communicative system. It is based on the combination of complementary signs (forming chirographic accords), the clarity of gestures shared by numerous cultures (such as the deictics), as well as the popularity of the iconographic models. The meanings of the chirograms were deciphered here using a vast repertoire of sources, mainly from social and artistic contexts of the 17th and 18th century, such as art theory, everyday life customs, liturgical rituals, theater, dance, oratory, anatomical studies, physiognomony, monastic sign language, sign language of the Deaf, etc. Around 160 gestures from different fields are addressed in the book and listed in an index. The study of chirology during the Early Modern period does not only reveal the multiple conceptions related to the hands, but also the rich iconography of drawings and engravings, illustrating this knowledge. In painting, some gestures are commonly used and widespread in Europe, while others are extremely rare. The most frequent pictorial chirograms are studied in separate chapters, including: pointed forefinger; joined palms; intertwined fingers of both hands; thumb, forefinger and middle finger raised (benedictio); raised palms; finger on the mouth (signum harpocraticum); hands crossed on the chest; extended open hand; head leaning on the hand (melancholy sign); finger of one hand touching or holding a finger of the other hand (comput); thumb inserted between the forefinger and middle finger bent (fig sign); forefinger and little finger extended (horns); fist; little finger raised; hand shake (dextrarum junctio) and self-holding hands. In addition, some rare pictorial chirograms are also presented in separate chapters, including: joint thumb and forefinger (ring gesture); thumb up or pointing thumb; hand underneath the chin; hand in the elbow (manichetto) and tense extended arms. The study of hands language in art reveals how those frozen signs relate to living cultures and contributes to the conservation of the European gesture heritage.
Organisation(s): Vienna Cognitive Science Hub
No. of pages: 343
Publication date: 12-2019
Peer reviewed: Yes
Austrian Fields of Science 2012: 604019 Art history
Keywords
Portal url: https://ucris.univie.ac.at/portal/en/publications/le-langage-des-mains-dans-lart-histoire-significations-et-usages-des-chirogrammes-picturaux-en-france-aux-xviie-et-xviiie-siecles(9d3225e1-0d40-493c-939d-6e1300b05848).html