Titian's mythological paintings: A pictorial personal code

Abstract

This paper aims to introduce pictorial personal codes that differ from linguistic ones. Since individual norms distinguish personal codes, the concept of norms serves as the starting point for extending their scope beyond language. Indeed, there is a strong case for nonverbal norms within the philosophy of normativity. Gestures and drawings can establish these nonverbal norms. Drawn norms, such as those enforced by traffic signals, are part of a pictorial code in our everyday experiences. However, the application of this code view has been challenged in the field of semiotics, particularly in art and visual semiotics. Conversely, the pictorial turn suggests that cultural history involves a struggle between words and pictures. Pictures differ from words, yet are not purely visual media. This distinction can be traced back to Marcello Barbieri's differentiation between the world of perceptual objects and the world of names. I hypothesize that pictorial personal codes lack an abstract system of rules but still present a set of norms that can be categorized into shared and individual. I exemplify this with a case study of the Venetian painter Tiziano Vecellio (Titian). By integrating research results from art history, I show that Titian transformed his workshop into a modern firm and, as a form of legitimization, defined his original style in terms of tragic painting, specifically a personal approach to painting that connotes a literary genre such as Greek tragedy. I also evaluate the role of a graphic code in Titian's productive system. Finally, I draw certain conclusions regarding the social ontology of the firm, suggesting that Titian's tragic painting illustrates how firms endure, thanks to personal or brand-specific codes, and propose that gestural personal codes, like pictorial ones and unlike linguistic ones, should include unsystematic legisigns and a set of norms that can be divided into shared and individual ones.