Realism and Art

The depictions of coats of arms
Ryan Shuflin
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Realism and Art

Postby Ryan Shuflin » 28 Apr 2013, 21:10

Heraldry is very much an art form, and has been effected by the advances in art. The changes can be exemplified by the fact that some have even introduced the term stylized into blazon, when really all traditional heraldry has been "stylized" In fact it is in the blazon where we see a lot of the effects of realism in heraldic art. Traditional charges such as lions tend to be depicted traditionally. Some animals have developed two varieties, this is certainly the case with the tiger and the antelope. What are your thoughts on this?

Jonathan Webster
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Re: Realism and Art

Postby Jonathan Webster » 02 Jul 2014, 10:54

I think in some respects some 'realistic' depictions of heraldic charges (but by no means all) are the result of heraldry moving away from the battlefield and the tournament to 'paper' heraldry. I don't this, however; is a development from that move that should be decried, like landscape heraldry or outsize helmets. I guess the only problem with blazoning something as 'stylised' is that a.blazon should be easily understandable in order for a reader or heraldic artist to easily reproduce the arms, and b. how does one depict something as 'styilised' exactly, and given that the actual depiction of a animal (or any) charge doesn't really matter as long as that charge is clearly and obviously what it says in the blazon, is it even neccesary? Surely how a charge is depicted is a matter for the heraldic artist and artistic license, along with the shape of the shield for example. That's what I think anyway. Thoughts?

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Chas Charles-Dunne
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Re: Realism and Art

Postby Chas Charles-Dunne » 02 Jul 2014, 14:48

Ryan Shuflin wrote:Heraldry is very much an art form, and has been effected by the advances in art. The changes can be exemplified by the fact that some have even introduced the term stylized into blazon, when really all traditional heraldry has been "stylized" In fact it is in the blazon where we see a lot of the effects of realism in heraldic art. Traditional charges such as lions tend to be depicted traditionally. Some animals have developed two varieties, this is certainly the case with the tiger and the antelope. What are your thoughts on this?


Ryan, can you give us some examples of where a charge has been blazoned 'stylized'?

I have seen depictions of charges that have been stylized, but they merely reflect the artistic interpretations of the time. The blazons remained the same.

As for tigers and the antelopes - there are two different beasts. The heraldic tyger and the heraldic antelope are very ancient varieties of the original animal. At a time when nobody had seen a tiger or an antelope. I believe the natural ones came later, after people started to travel.
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Chas
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Ryan Shuflin
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Joined: 26 Jul 2012, 13:00
Location: Germany

Re: Realism and Art

Postby Ryan Shuflin » 07 Jul 2014, 05:16

Chas Charles-Dunne wrote:Ryan, can you give us some examples of where a charge has been blazoned 'stylized'?

I have seen depictions of charges that have been stylized, but they merely reflect the artistic interpretations of the time. The blazons remained the same.

It may be a TIOH exclusive thing. here is an example of a stylized mountain range:http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Catalog/Heraldry.aspx?HeraldryId=7858&CategoryId=4371&grp=2&menu=Uniformed%20Services&from=search and if this link works it should be all the ones with stylized in the blazon: http://www.tioh.hqda.pentagon.mil/Search.aspx
Chas Charles-Dunne wrote:As for tigers and the antelopes - there are two different beasts. The heraldic tyger and the heraldic antelope are very ancient varieties of the original animal. At a time when nobody had seen a tiger or an antelope. I believe the natural ones came later, after people started to travel.


Interestingly, with beavers, we have this:
Image
but also this:
Image

As they are from wikicommons, I can't say if one is truly blazoned different than the other, but I have never heard of a heraldic beaver.


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