Offending Images, or Nero plays the lyre

Writing about web page http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnOPQSu3DM0

'A picture is less like a statement or speech act, then, than like a speaker capable of an infinite number of utterances. An image is not a text to be read but a ventriloquist's dummy into which we project our own voice. When we are offended by what an image "says", we are like a ventriloquist insulted by his own dummy.'

Mitchell, What do Pictures Want?, p. 140

'He placed the sacred crowns in his bed-chambers around the couches, as well as statues representing him in the guise of a lyre-player; and he had a coin too struck with the same device.'

Suetonius, Nero 25.2

In the book What do Pictures Want, Mitchell makes the point that images are, in and of themselves, rarely offensive. Rather it is the individual's interpretation of an image, or a description or verbal report, that makes the image objectionable. Thus a description of a picture, given to people who may not have actually seen the image itself, is enough to offend the viewer, or, in this case, hearer.

Coin of Nero showing a lyre player

Reading this reminded me of the various ancient mentions of 'offensive' numismatic iconography. These instances are often an interpretation of a coin type that may have differed from the message intended by the creator. Perhaps the most famous example is the coin of Nero playing the lyre, mentioned by Suetonius. There is a coin of Nero showing a figure playing the lyre, but the coin itself does not necessarily declare the figure as Nero - the artist may have intended, for example, to depict the god Apollo. It was the individual viewer, or verbal reports or interpretations of the image, that transformed it into a statement of Nero's delinquency. It was the verbal and written discourse that accompanied the image that gave offense. A reminder that as much as we may focus on the 'power of images', words have a vital and influential role in how images are viewed.

(Image reproduced courtesy of Classical Numismatic Group Inc., (Electronic Auction 276, lot 379) (www.cngcoins.com)

Clare Rowan : 20 Sep 2013 18:28 |  Tags: Lyre Nero What Do Pictures Want |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem