Rothko: the Iconography of Color

Referring to the representation of Death in modern art, this article argues that there are two distinct approaches to the subject, one iconographic and the other esthetic. Furthermore, while the iconographic method stresses the concept of beauty and harmony in dealing with spiritual topics, the second method based on esthetics focuses on the concept of the “tremendum” to elicit spiritual reactions in the observer by means of unsettling uses of motives and colors. It is argued that the emphasis on the “tremendum” is based on specific esthetic rules already used in the Renaissance and has come to identify the approach of contemporary art. Finally, through the use of color the artists emphasizing this second approach have been able to give a time-flow dimension to their paintings, capable of creating a connection between their own suffering and spiritual angst and those of the observer. As well exemplified in the work of Rothko, the artist attempts to bring the image inside the observer who by his own psychological and spiritual involvement contributes to give meaning and life to the image itself.