La mer est bleue comme une orange

What is the color of the sea? Blue, of course. Yet, in ancient Greece, the sea is purple like wine. In medieval manuscripts and European paintings, on the contrary, the waves regularly appear in different shades of green. The coloring of the sea is thus an expression of the representations of a soci...

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Main Author: Nicolas Siron
Format: Article
Language:fra
Published: Centre d´Histoire et Théorie des Arts 2023-12-01
Series:Images Re-Vues
Subjects:
Online Access:https://journals.openedition.org/imagesrevues/13441
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author Nicolas Siron
author_facet Nicolas Siron
author_sort Nicolas Siron
collection DOAJ
description What is the color of the sea? Blue, of course. Yet, in ancient Greece, the sea is purple like wine. In medieval manuscripts and European paintings, on the contrary, the waves regularly appear in different shades of green. The coloring of the sea is thus an expression of the representations of a society and varies as much as the conceptions that are linked to it. The textual and iconographic documentation of several societies of the past shows that the color attributed to the waves integrates in fact a whole set of varied characteristics: luminosity, texture, emotions, designation, social values and standards. All these features make it possible to reconsider the relationship of the Western World to the sea: the blue sea is the horizon of tourists’ expectation and influences our imagination in such a way as to transform our seaside territories and our activities that are practiced there.
format Article
id doaj-art-00b32135b12e4d2da9f6f288202de0cd
institution Kabale University
issn 1778-3801
language fra
publishDate 2023-12-01
publisher Centre d´Histoire et Théorie des Arts
record_format Article
series Images Re-Vues
spelling doaj-art-00b32135b12e4d2da9f6f288202de0cd2024-12-09T15:51:10ZfraCentre d´Histoire et Théorie des ArtsImages Re-Vues1778-38012023-12-012010.4000/imagesrevues.13441La mer est bleue comme une orangeNicolas SironWhat is the color of the sea? Blue, of course. Yet, in ancient Greece, the sea is purple like wine. In medieval manuscripts and European paintings, on the contrary, the waves regularly appear in different shades of green. The coloring of the sea is thus an expression of the representations of a society and varies as much as the conceptions that are linked to it. The textual and iconographic documentation of several societies of the past shows that the color attributed to the waves integrates in fact a whole set of varied characteristics: luminosity, texture, emotions, designation, social values and standards. All these features make it possible to reconsider the relationship of the Western World to the sea: the blue sea is the horizon of tourists’ expectation and influences our imagination in such a way as to transform our seaside territories and our activities that are practiced there.https://journals.openedition.org/imagesrevues/13441representationpaintingmiddle agescoloroceanpastoureau
spellingShingle Nicolas Siron
La mer est bleue comme une orange
Images Re-Vues
representation
painting
middle ages
color
ocean
pastoureau
title La mer est bleue comme une orange
title_full La mer est bleue comme une orange
title_fullStr La mer est bleue comme une orange
title_full_unstemmed La mer est bleue comme une orange
title_short La mer est bleue comme une orange
title_sort la mer est bleue comme une orange
topic representation
painting
middle ages
color
ocean
pastoureau
url https://journals.openedition.org/imagesrevues/13441
work_keys_str_mv AT nicolassiron lamerestbleuecommeuneorange