Media and Methodological Nesting. Two Theoretical Paintings by Lorenzo Lotto

Two of Lorenzo Lotto’s paintings, Christ Taking Leave of His Mother, with Elisabetta Rota (1521) and the Portrait of Fra Gregorio Belo (1547), are interpreted as theoretical objects according to the definition of this concept by Hubert Damisch. The compositional structure and iconography of these paintings illustrates the theory later made clear, independently, by William J. Thomas Mitchell. According to him the visual medium and the verbal medium cannot be separated, despite their having clearly different characteristics. The method used here brings together Iconology and Visual Semiotics as if they were embodied in each other. This allows us to recognize the nesting media theory expressed in Lotto’s two paintings, beyond the specific historical subjects they represent.

Dvije su slike Lorenza Lotta, Krist se oprašta od majke s Elisabettom Rota (1521.) i Portret fra Gregorija Bela (1547.), prema definiciji Huberta Damischa, interpretirane kao “teorijski objekti”. Kompozicija i ikonografija ovih dviju slika potkrijepit će kasniju teoriju W. J. Thomasa Mitchella prema kojoj se vizualni ne može odvajati od govornoga medija, unatoč njihovim karakteristikama, koje su vidljivo različite. Metoda koja se koristi u ovom slučaju sjedinjuje ikonologiju i vizualnu semiotiku. Ovakav nam pristup omogućuje prepoznavanje “medijske teorije gniježđenja” u dvama slikama Lorenza Lotta te se proteže iznad konkretnih povijesnih tema koje su na njima prikazane.