Interaction between image and text during the process of biblical art reception

Area of Science:

• Art History
• Cognitive Psychology
• Religious Studies

Background:

• Illustrated Bibles were popular during the Reformation.
• Limited empirical research exists on the reception of combined text and image in biblical art.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore how naive observers engage with biblical art combining text and imagery.
• To quantify visual attention and interaction patterns between text and images in biblical art.

Main Methods:

• Utilized eye-tracking to measure visual scanning behavior.
• Analyzed participants' interaction with text and image elements in selected biblical art.
• Focused on text usage, text-image relevance, and narrative formation.

Main Results:

• Text elements capture attention early during visual inspection.
• A significant interaction between text and image elements was observed.
• Semantic relevance of text influences subsequent eye movements within the image, aiding narrative comprehension.

Conclusions:

• Text plays a crucial role in guiding the interpretation of biblical art.
• The interplay between text and image is fundamental to constructing a narrative from visual religious stimuli.
• Naive observers utilize textual cues to build a coherent understanding of biblical narratives presented in art.