Bildtolkningen som metafor.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate a theory of the interpretation of artistic images. The thesis is that such interpretations operate as metaphors. The method is shown through an analysis of a late work by Henri Matisse—the "Apollon", 1953 (now owned by the Modern Museum in Stockholm). Firstly, two earlier interpretations are analysed to show how different views can be regarded as consistent and illuminating but nevertheless conflict deeply with each other. Then, the main interpretation undertaken in this article is pursued to show how artistic images are understood through patterns of interaction. The features of the image are seen to interact with meaningful material of different kinds—the comparative material of interpretation set in motion by the most dominant features of the picture as a whole. The dominant features chosen are: the title "Apollon" (joining the picture with the tradition of representations and myths concerning this God); the image of the sun; the image of the face and a possible hidden "body"; the principle of symmetry and dynamism in the pictorial organization; the principle of oneness as opposed to multiplicity; the fact that Matisse was 84 years old and approaching death when the picture was made; the fact that the picture is a paper cut-out with painted elements. The work is seen to deal with themes concerning the creative process in art as such and to develop, into modern terms, a classical French tradition oriented towards the sources of Mediterranean culture. Each time the picture is held to interact with the comparative material through the different dominant features, a special pattern of meaning is stressed. The picture interacts with the comparative material and the different patterns of meaning also interact. These processes of interaction are analysed as equivalent to the process of achieving meaning through metaphor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]