A Question for Art Historians!

[smittysmitty]

I've recently been looking at some black and white plates of paintings from the tomp of Eurydice. One is said to be the rape of Persphone. Having always found this identification of ancient paintings,reliefs,statues a mystery, I was wondering if any one could inform me as to how such works of art are identified. I presume there are some features that stand out that makes such recoginition possible.Having looked at numerous pictures on vases, statues and reliefs, I find it rather hard to identify the science/art behind such identification. I'm sure that there is some methodology behind determening these works of art.In appreciation to anyone that may respond.
cheers!

[marcus]

Hi Smitty,I'm not an art historian, but I have seen some colour photos of the same, and it is quite clear that it is Persephone.I think a lot of the time the identification is done through symbolism, unless the composition and nature of the picture leaves absolutely no doubt as to the subject matter - you know the sort of thing: sheaves of corn for Demeter, owls for Athena, etc. etc.; and sometimes the context of the picture helps, too - the rape of Persephone, being as it is all about the seasons and therefore representing the idea of rebirth, would have been fairly obvious in the context of a tomb.All the bestMarcus

[Kit]

Yeah, it's not always easy. I seem to recall a statue that probably wielded either a thunderbolt, or a trident, and hence Art Historians to this day still argue as to whether it represented Zeus or Poseidon- unfortunately the offending article is now missing from the statue!Sometimes it's the context of the picture, or the time period/geographical location it is dated to. Some scenes were popular at different times and in different places. regardsKit

[smittysmitty]

Hi Marcus and Kit,thanks for your response :)I guess the chariot seems to be the main symbol suggesting the painting is of 'the rape of persephone'. It was the only thing that I could pick that was similar to some clay reliefs representing the myth. But hey, what do I know about art :(I guess another aspect of the ancient world I'll have to explore when I've got some time.( still got to make an attempt on learning ancient Greek )Cheers!