Archaeologies of the semantic field of the term 'screen' often insist on the logical and chronological priority of its denotation as an object that hides and protects, maintaining that the first occurrence of the word designating a surface used to depict an image dates back only to 1864. However, examples from Classical culture (the shield of Achilles in Homer's Iliad and that of Athena in the myth of Perseus and Medusa), Italian literature around 1300 (Dante's concept of 'woman of the screen') and history of religious art and architecture (the iconostasis) reveal a long-lasting tradition of screens and dispositifs that combine both protecting and displaying functions at the same time.
Avezzu', G., Intersections between Showing and Concealment in the History of the Concept of Screen, in Chateau, D., Moure, J. (ed.), Screens: From Materiality to Spectatorship – A Historical and Theoretical Reassessment, Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2016: 29- 41 [http://hdl.handle.net/10807/94786]
Intersections between Showing and Concealment in the History of the Concept of Screen
Avezzu', Giorgio
2016
Abstract
Archaeologies of the semantic field of the term 'screen' often insist on the logical and chronological priority of its denotation as an object that hides and protects, maintaining that the first occurrence of the word designating a surface used to depict an image dates back only to 1864. However, examples from Classical culture (the shield of Achilles in Homer's Iliad and that of Athena in the myth of Perseus and Medusa), Italian literature around 1300 (Dante's concept of 'woman of the screen') and history of religious art and architecture (the iconostasis) reveal a long-lasting tradition of screens and dispositifs that combine both protecting and displaying functions at the same time.
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