Semiotics and Art

I recently read the article "Semiotics and Art History" by Mieke Bal and Norman Bryson. The article was very difficult to read because it was written for a knowledgeable audience, and I am not educated in art history. However, in my own words, from my understanding of the article, semiotics, in reference to art, is analyzing the signs and symbols in an artwork. Many pieces of art, especially religious artworks, use symbols to convey the idea of the painting. Many paintings contain metaphors, using one sign to represent something different. A semiotic approach to interpreting art can better help to determine how these signs, symbols, and metaphors contribute to the overall meaning we see in a particular artwork.

One of the most famous forms of art that uses these kinds of symbols very heavily are religious icons that can be found in Orthodox churches. The picture below is a picture of one such icon:

Sources:
Picture- http://www.ancientsculpturegallery.com/iconsproducts2.html