ICONOSOPHY. RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLOUR THEORY AND ICONOGRAPHY (GOETHE AND TURNER. THE LABYRINTH OF WORD AND LIGHT)

The article argues that from a theoretical and philosophical point of view we must see colour as having an independent and autonomous language, which is essential for the interpretation of a work of art. The first part discusses the limits of the method of iconography, and the role of perception. The second part unveils the general meaning of the rhetoric of colour. The last part applies the theoretical observations to a specific work of art, Turners’ “Light and Colour (Goethe’s theory) – the Morning after the Deluge – Moses Writing the Book of the Genesis” interpreted through Goethe’s theory of colour.