( EATRE |CONOGRAPHY: Trapirions, TECHNIQUES, AND TRENDS Ronerr ERensrein ‘Traditions ‘Theatre iconography, which may be understood as the systematic study of theatrical illustrations, considered as evidence on which to base inferences about various a pects of theatre history, isa relatively new discipline. Ibis, ina sen n outgrowth of the recognition that theatre stuclies,or “theatre research” (Theaterwetenschap in Dutch, Theaterwiscenschaft in German), has to do with a performing artand its conventions, in contrast to the study of dramatic literature, which until the present dy has re stricted itself predominantly to written sources, Theatre research ay an autonomous scientific discipline originated from liter ary research towards the end of the last century.! ‘These roots ae still strongly evi- dent particularly in the Angh concentration within the English Literature Department This does not mean that from the inception of theatre research no use would ‘Saxon world, where the study of dram is often a have been made of nonliterary sources, These certainly were used, because they were necessary for the visualization of both the theatrical presentations that were being examined and the conditions under which these were presented, Researchers snd teachers were grateful enough for the availability of any ancillary material that could be brought to bear, however circumstantial and however fortuitously discovered And! so it happened that each scholar was obliged to collect his awn visual material and touse it ashe saw fit. Offen,asa consequence, he was unwittingly going over the same ground that had been covered by others hefore him. ‘This haphazard state of affairs with respect to visual documentation has re mained the norm fur the better part of this century, despite the isolated existence af 1. Toward te end ofthe nineteen cautury whulars variety ot places all ver the worl Started give lectures on dram anal theagee: Williom Crvive nah stated in Keak i 1988, Rind Werner i Lamba i 1985; Hexthol Lavan in Kil eas Beso 884, red un Berger in Vienna Fem IS85; Gustave Fans i IN anal Fuge Linas 1 at ahs in Pyosctonge Pete ker NN gt Larsan on the USA See tL Kiernan, “Theaterwisensclt i M-Hurlimann el. Pas unibuck dec Theaters Discovasis 1s aUretien beaxecn yey " exemplary theatre-ieonographie stishes by Aby Warburg and May Herriman, re cently uncarthel by Ma. Katritzky (sve section Lot this chapter which cul have made difference in the developnient of our discipline had they received the atte tion they deserved. Consider how the notion of theatre iconuygraphy Ia fared in some landanck studies published from 1949 te 1970 # ‘Theres no mention of “iconography” in Carl Niesen’s monumental theve volume Handbuch des Theater- Wissenschaft (919-58), * There is no separate discussion of icanagraphy in the eleven-valuine Enciclopedia dello spertacalo (W548), + The systematic “Beitrige aur Theaterkunde” section of Das Adensisbuch des Thestess (1966) has nov mention of theatt and its: mportance for theatre studies © Dietrich Steinbeck’s Einleitung in die Theorie und Systematik des Theaterwisienichafe (1970) acknowledges the existence of theatrical “repre sentations in art” (*Darstellungen der bildenden Kunst"), but treats itas he ast of tae least in his overall schematization of information sources in the field of theatre research (see Table 3, at the end of this chapter, p. 149) sal llusteation oe iconography While many other theatre scholars and [ may instinctively disagree with Steinbeck, fon this point, we would probably also acknowledge that we still are lacking a sys tematic framework that gives theatre-iconographie sources the greater importance that we think they deserve. In 1957 Kindermann made passionate plea to et the publication of academic theatre iconograahies in motion, lar, as he put it, “the interpretation of illustrations is one of the most important methodical foundations of the theatte historian,”: He appealed to all his colleagues to document in their publications the iconographic material used by them in order to avoid work being repeated by later researchers, He also made a plea for the collection and publication of illustrations from all nonlit- rary sources berring on subjects nd themes that were popular and deal with fre quently in the field af theatre research. His plea resembled the voice of one crying in the desert, This was probably becauise the theatre researcher of the 1950s wa still engaged in wrestling to escape the grip of the literary disciplines—alisciphines which continue even today to deal with plays sinuply as literatures on perhaps our ceachers were avempting to legit mize the autonomy of theatre research through the decelopmnent of thearetical se systernatic outlines and curricula, Whatever the case, there was Tithe awareness at that dine of the need to take theatrical illustrations seriously, (a survey them thor 2 Hieiny Kineniann, “Wir branche theatcegesstichilshe Uhomagaphien!™ Maske nad Kothinn S187) 287-296,WN Proriiise: Pravonstane ( Whar eyuetly Kindermann envisioned was a series of books published accord: ly as ing to sebjeet oe theme, each uf which would anake visual sources availableas possible, with as many illustrations uf such sourcesas was possible, These were ta be Accompanied by short descriptions, ceferences to the literature and, when possible tn artchistorical or museum catalogue reference, Despite his legendary aptitule for work, Kindermann himself never got around to preducing such a publication series. Recent history, however, does provide one gond “histarie™ example of such 4 work, which came into being in Vienna in 1977, on the occasion of the publication of Nestroy’s collected works: Schwarz, Heinsich. Johann Nestroy im Bild: cine URonographie, compiled and re-published by Johann Hittner and Otto G. Schindler. Vienna: Jugend und Volk, 1977. Here an attempt was made to collect and describe all the illustrations and objects concerning Nestroy, even if these had disappeared with the passing years. Photos af a large quantity of related illustrations and abjects were printed. For every Nesiroy researcher this is a valuable and handy work of reference, although its incomplete: ness remains regrettable. Meanwhile, we who teach theatre as a performing art have continued to rely con textual sources as the only reliable foundation for our discipline, as if "Sola seriprura!” were our creed. This, I shall argue, has put generation after generation of students, no less than teachers, on the wrong track, Nagler’s Sources of theatrical his ‘ory, published in 1952 nota bene, and since 1959 available in paperback, remains even today in numerous places in the world the only textbook of source materials in use. Its many texts (incontestably of great importance—something I would never deny), with an illustration here and there, requite young theatre researchers to de- velop their ingenuity in reading, but earely ifever to use their eyes The same can be said for a good and much-used handbook such as Oscar G. Brockets History of she sheatve, which has gone into five editions since its appear ance in 1968, Here the author cries to draw the reader's attention to thewritten sources of theatre history at the end of each chapter. Methodically it is very conscientious, but saully again these are exclusively written sources: the many illusteations are insull ciently integrated into the disquisition to function as evidence. ‘These are two arbitrarily chosen examples from a list that can be endlessly enlarged, but ic allows uy all to see how generally ill-prepared we are to make useof the teasure-house of information which resides in print rooms, museums, snd pho tograpluc archives. The aim of this article, and indeed af the present book, 1s to raise consciousness within the profession, especially among its younger members, of the ‘opportunities that Ke at hand 9 seek, to Find, pictorial matertals that relate to the performing set we call the theatre. Much re rains to he done nil 10 use in appropriate ways the Dascatieses any Avpiien Icoscn arity hw Techniques Currently itis almost impossible w propose universally valid methodological steps ‘hat should invariably be Followed by anyone seriously proposing to undertake Jhieal study. le should, however, he self-evident that pictorial source ast, of serving as unique historical and cultural ev theatee-iconoge material his the potential, at dence on which wselul inferences may be based, Therefore they should be treated with all the care and circumspection that any potentially valid and meaningful evidence eserves. Here ste some basic steps that I recommend when dealing with visual material 1. Verify the Fvidence Benedetto Croce, che noted Italian linguist and philologist, insisted on three steps in evaluating literary evidencc:accertare, qualifcare,econoscere, meaning roughly “verily, qualify” [putin context], and “be well-versed in it.” In general, these would be excel- lent axioms for evaluating iconographic evidence, too. The first of them lays the requirement on us of “being certain,” beingas sure as humanly possible, of the origin of the picture, its attribution, its date, and so forth, It obviously also extends to our correctly identifying the pictorial elements in the painting, Often art-historical ex pertise is neededat this “pre-iconographie” (Panofsky) or “icononomic” (Heck) level of “reading a painting” in order to avoid making serious mistakes, One must there: fore not be shy in sceking the advice and help of trained aet historians and other subject specialists wherever appropriate. One example ofa frequently misread element in Dutch paintings, causing them to be misunderstood as theatre sets, is the presence ofa painted cloth in che upper thied (or so) of « picture (see Figure 3.4.1). To the untrained eye (and t0 many 2 ‘museum curator who should know better) this fabric may seem to be a theatrical curtain deawn up, ifnot to reveal an actual stage seene, perhaps to imply a theatrical dimension to what is shown, No one would dispute that there are possible theatrical allusionsin some of Steen’ figures in The life of man. But cloes the cloth eeally repre Senta theatrical curtain Att historians who teuly know this period tellus otherwise, pointing out thac it was common in the seventeenth century far owners of Fine paintings to drape dust cloths over them, only palling them up when wishing to show or view the work Thecelure many paintings in the Dutch provinces had, as | mitter of course, cloth gatherings” at their top cage when being viewed. Artists began to paintsuch “dus cloths” ante their x show of painterly skill i's Isard to paint cloth convincingly) and for theirerempe foil effect Such pated dus. cloths have nothing to da with the real curtains found in theatrical practice at the snvases proper asa four de virtuose tine, and should nat be mistaken far them1 Peovunine Peariiar ance ( inhuis starring role as Achilles in the exceptionally populis tragedy ofthe same name byy Balthasar Huydecopee, Pant depicts himself at the climas ofthe play when Achil les has heard about Patroclus’ death and at last makes the decision to go int battle ‘once more, ina stirring ttade (which the whole oftheatee-going Amsterdam evi- clently knew by heart We should be able to expect that if anyone were in a postion to deliver an sccurate visual document depicting a famous dramatic scene, Punt would have been the man, initiated as he was in both the theatrical and the pictorial codes of his age That his audience was of the same opinion appears fram a passage ina biography of Punt by an admirer who wrote: Other actors have also been represented in their favorite roles... But they are always depicted by a different hand which, however able, could never avail itself of the inner fire which Punt could give to his own. Just look at the carriage, the face, those eyes, brows, mouth, . all threatens al calls: shal goto the fia, yea! But f return victorious, emble, Agamemnon tremble! IF the great Rubens knew how to depiet two conflicting passions at the same time on one face, this Master knew how 10 express in his own face all that Homer and Huydekoper could ever lay on the lips of the most famous hero on earth; while, with the most powerful movement of the limbs, which would flatter Hercules, he added the fine figure of Apollo. No other hand could bring forth three marvels in one counte- nance, the Artist, the Stage-player, the Hero, each vying forthe best claim to our imagination.” ‘What is being praised here, Hogendoorn points out, is not so much the auto biographical nature of the engraving, but the intensity and complexity of the passion depicted. We are dealing with the ideal Achill not just Huydecoper’, but also Homer's. On seeing this illustration the admirer ideally relives the emotions that he felt when he saw the scene on the stage. In the porteait he cecognizes likewise the actor who accorded him such rapture hhowever, let us look at the reaction of one of Punt’s actor colleagues, iver, to the passage written by the admirer Now we come the portrait of Master Punt, engraved by himselt. Tavow that it reyembles him fully: but char it represents chills in his wrath, and that it should convey ail calls, all threatens: I shall go into the fray, yea ‘and semble, Agamemnon tremble! is tnistaken, Punt did this with a very Hogan pit $16 conagsns ox AvouteD Te dlifferent stance and a very sifferent countenance te that repraduced in his portrait surely, I wonder, you have never seen hinn do this, especially snot an his best years, Ibis noteworthy that Gorver states here that the portrait is perfectly accurate as 4 representation of the man, bur unreliable as a representation of the actor. Whereas the admirer above reacted to the pictorial codes deployed by Punt as an engi Corver, Punts fellow actor and pupil, reacted to the incorrect representation of the actor's stance, elements that belong to the actor’s code, Punt, however, fashioned this engraving for hisown generation and posterity as a monument to immortalize the _greatest role in his career, not asinsteuction and a document for younger actors, and isage:F 4 visual document pertaining to the sn doing so he reviined the pictorial codes of rendered literally, bt sublimated. Therefor reconstruction of an acting style, which on the basis ofits creator is seemingly of the ‘utmost trustworthiness, is suddenly rendered a good deal less trustworthy duc to a coincidental remark made by an actor-colleague. This is a consequence of the pur- pose the actor-engraver had in mind when making this depiction. This example should make it clear that a visual document remains a some: what isolated source of information as long as the exact relationship between stage and depiction has not been explained. This relationship becomes even more impor- tant as soon as we start to egaed stage depictions as independent artistic documents, 1 a special form of reportage covering a particular theatre culture during a particu: lar period, The value proper of the stage depiction exceeds that of purely “source material.” On the grounds of its own internal logic, the stage depiction will start co function less as a document proving something and increasingly as an artifact sub- jected to its own laws, the contents of which will not be decipherable exclusively by the art-historical approach nor through its use as an illustrative document. When querying a visual document, attention will have to be concentrated on the manner in wrich the theatrical content of the illustration is elaborated. In this ‘way, besides the ilustration’s factual information, something of the period's theatri- cal vision should become manifest: not only that which an audience thought they perceived, but also that which in a particular cultural system could be perceived by an audience. ‘This means that 9 visual document such as a portrait should be investigated as a sort of symbolic contract between the actor and the public in relation to the tical comtert in a particular period. Figures depicted in a theateical illustration ean be considered mouthpieces for and interpreters of an anonymous callestive. Within the system of prevalent cultural cles, they give, in aa individual and wnrepeatable ‘manner, expressinn to whatever at that time was vital and valid, ft isthe task of the en this reason, ceality was nox,”46 Povunne Penroxstanct ( theatre iconographer to conoicere—to be well acquainted with —the theatrical con text of the particular period during which the visual document was ceated Trends Itis clear that the performing arts (theatee, music, dance) often overlap in significant ways, It should therefore be self-evident that those who study any of these arts will have comparable needs and goals and will encounter similar problems when they seek to identify and understand the extant visual evidence of live performances of the past. Small wonder, then, that there i serious talk today of combining the elforts of theatrical iconographers, musical iconographers, dance iconographers, museum curators, and archivists into some kind of global performing-arts conogeaphy ini- tiative or network. Given the diversity of scholarly languages that such af system will have to accommodate, it seems clear that a symbolic or nurnerical/decimal system of nota tion should be seriously considered by any group thinking about creating future da- tabase projects which would index collections of visual representations of any or all of the performing arts The basic elements of such a system for Western at already are in place inthe Tconographic Classification System (Iconclas for short), which was developed by art historians at the University of Leiden, introduced into art-historical circles over twenty years ago, and has since functioned well and been adopted widely. During the period between 1975 and 1985 it was published in seventeen part ands already in use in many places around the world. The system works very well in combination with a comple- mentary alphabetical register and a very complete iconographical bibliography” ‘The overall headings for Iconclas ae nine in number. Most theatrical activity fits squarely in the fourth division Religion and magic Nature (the elements, the heavens, the earth, etc) Human being, man in general Society, civilization, culture Abstract ideas and concepts (beauty, calumny, eloquence, ete) History (events, persons, places, situations, etc.) Bible Literature |. Classical mythology and ancient history 7. A general introduction wo feonclas is found in the front of Vol. 2-3, System, pi Note that a full Iconclass notation can be qualtied with proper name where watranted as shown it the tables below for Garrick and Hales Straten, Ineiding in de Icanngraphic(Muiderberg: Catinho, Dutch readers ay also want tread Roelof van 5),Ch.7. Discounsts as Aveiro Ieoxocn MW? C Here are some of the basic headings already developed and in use. Note that there are deliberate gaps let between extant numbers so that, as needed, more nota tions can be requested from the Ieonclass office at the University of Leiden and au. ‘thorized in a centrally coordinated way. 48A71 performance (see 48 C8 for the arts ofthe stage) 48A7I1 rehearsal 48A712 —theaudience 48A7121 applause; elaque’ 48A 713 interval {levels 49 still to be defined] 48.A72 buildings for performance -AA- open air A8A721 theatre 48A722 concert hall 484723 opera house 4807 music -C- indoors, - CC - outdoors 48C8 the arts of the stage: ballet, theatre, musical drama, motion picture 4880 symbolic representations, allegories and emblems 48C81 the stage and its equipment 48C811 stage design 48C812 behind the stage A8C813_— setyscenery 48C8131 backdrop. 48C814 dressing room 48C82 people associated with the stage 48C821 director, producer 48C83_ performer, artist (non-work situations) 488311 portrait of a dancer 488312 portrait of acior, actress [NOTE: A portrait of Garrick would have the notation 48 83 12 GARRICK) 48C85 theatre, theatrical performance ABCASI rehearsal, studying the role 48852 group of actors, troupe; actors on the stage actor [on stage]us Prorumine Pexrommanes 488523 troupe en route’ SC 8541 celigious drama 48C8543 —commedia dell’arte 4885431 types INOTE: Harlequin would be 48 C85 43 1 (HARLEQUIN)] ete. ete Iconographic classification is but one aspect of the information that theatre and performing-arts iconographers will be demanding of any visual-resources data- base that already exists or may be developed. Other fields would be needed as well: artist, genre, title (known or descriptive), date oF periad, school or provenance, me dium, dimensions, and so forth, More will be said about current and futuee on-line retrieval possibilities by Thomas Heck in Chapter Six of this handbook, in the con text ofthe exciting new developments in graphic display thatthe Internet has begun to make available Finally, the table that follows, by Dietrich Steinbeck (Table 3), was alluded to earlier in this essay for it sobering classification of iconogeaphic evidence:* Steinbeck regarded it in 1970 as highly unreliable, placing it among the last ofthe least of the information sources to be used in theatre research. Might we not hope that in the future, with a better understanding of the nature of theatre iconography, theatre scholars could raise the reputation and the rating of iconographic evidence toa higher level? My thanks so Prank Pesters tur easing avaceness of this challenging schema among the members of the NIAS Theatre Leanography resatch group in 1PA-95; Peeters akes i up si in his essay om scenography, in Chapter Four ofthis bk Upecourss am Avni leomaneary Mo “Table 3. Dietrich Steinbeck’s schema of information sources in the field of theatre research, from his Hineitung in die Theorie und Sytematik der Theaterurisenschafi (Berlin W. de Gruyter, 1970), pp. 159-161. With the kind permission of Walter de Gruyter Ine 1. Director un-mediated sources (2) in “Objccapracie” (which speak () in "Metasprache” which speak 1 us tous as objects) one level removed) theatre buildings stage photogeaphs theatrical spuces fleas stages stage apparatuses seenogeaphie pitures decorations cast pictures costumes other views props masks _stage-sec photograph plans and elevations icector’s booksscripts costume sketches (presumably actors’ port- ook as designed) souleurs series stage-manager books stage model, d-awings files, contracts, Jeeds, and ‘theatrical bill 2 Indirect (or mediated) sources (2) in “Objectsprache” (which speak (b) in" Mexasprache” (which speak to us tousas objec) ‘one level removed) textbooks accounts of the performance ‘Notea" (ils or descriptions of characters ‘musical scores) sinus of pertinent meetings annual reports, calendars theatrial press leners, open letters, diaries, memoirs biographies ancedones| theatrical aovels pamphlets Uhoretieal wrings sketches of decor, photos, costume sketches (presumably a seen) choreograpy sketches plaques, depiction in art