Elucidating the Visual Language of the Venus Table in the Dresden Codex: A Visual Semiotics Approach

Abstract

The visual language of the paintings has undergone a theoretical and pragmatic process, which is different than that of textual linguistics. In this paper we propose a method of analysis based on semiotics to elucidate and compare the visual response of six paintings of the pre-Columbian Maya Dresden Codex. The Venus table was chosen because it presents a calendrical-astronomical message through a visual language that makes its interpretation complex. We consider that the visual semiotics of the Quebec School represented by Saint-Martin and Shannon´s entropic comparison of the Venus table paintings may be applied to both classical and contemporary pictorial works to support the work of art historians.