Article:

Vom Bild zur Medienikone. Bedingung der Entstehung von Medienikonen am Beispiel des Bildes DER MANN MIT DEN BLUTENDEN AUGEN

This article analyses the way a medial icon comes into being by means of the photography DER MANN MIT DEN BLUTENDEN AUGEN, shot and published during the protests against the highly controversial railway and urban development project Stuttgart 21. While looking at the specific features, characteristics and requirements of modern icons, it also goes back to the religiously rooted origin of icons as being symbols of faith and spirituality. Accordingly, by then comparing the photography with Bellinis famous painting DEAD CHRIST SUPPORTED BY TWO ANGELS significant parallels, for instance in terms of certain characteristic ways of depiction and portrayal – such as the recurring use of the pathos formula in iconologic images –, are being made visible. Based on these steps, the analysis aims to show what conditions must be given in order to produce and distribute a medial icon such as DER MANN MIT DEN BLUTENDEN AUGEN.