Hans Belting’s thesis of image anthropology
(Bild-Anthropologie) for the analysis
of image characteristics has its roots
in the tradition of philosophical anthropology.
He holds that in the analysis of every
image the trinary components of medium,
body and image together must be taken
into consideration, and these components
are thus inseparable. Belting’s definition
of each of these components also differs
from the traditional view, such that he
doesn’t regard the medium as merely the
mediator for the image, rather each image’s
existence is dependent on a medium.
Also, the body (Körper) can play multiple
roles, as the medium of the image, the image
itself, or the recipient of the image. He
believes that every image is a substitutionary
body for an absence hence the idea of
loss or death can in a way be regarded as
the origin of the image. Belting’s view as
to image anthropology gives rise to a new
iconology, the aim of which is the analysis
of images on the grounds of their own
logic, rather than analyzing them on the
basis of written texts.