The shoe in art

The shoe in art has been an inexhaustible topic since the Greek and Roman antiquity. He actually has a protective function for the foot, but depends on changing fashion symptoms and has a strong symbolism .

Mass shoes are considered the characteristic of professional success and boots can stand for male rule and power. The lady boots, on the other hand, link sexual desire with female dominance.

High heels associate eroticism , but also express a cramp and bondage, because the lady cannot run away with such shoes. In many fairy tales and stories, the shoe is even given magic power.

Therefore, as a art object, the shoe is paid for the respect for it.

Sandals by Apollo and Aphrodite

A first known work in which the shoe is the focus of the shoe is seen in the ancient marble sculpture of the naked “Apollo von Belvedere” . It was discovered in the Villa Neros near Rome at the end of the 15th century.

The statue is a copy of a Greek bronze plant from the 4th century before our era, which is assigned Leochares

In the sculpture, footwear in particular sets accents. The straps look so fine and noble that it seems as if the sandals were created for the feet - and the feet for the sandals.

In Greek mythology, the relationship between the gods Hermes and Aphrodite around their sandals ranks. Because of his unrequited love for the goddess of sensuality, Hermes Zeus for help. This sent an eagle, the Aphrodite sandal steel. To regain this, Aphrodite had to submit to the Hermes.

sculpture “Eros and Pan” is still known , from the 1st century BC. Today she is in the National Museum in Athens. A scene is captured in which the shepherd god Pan wants to step into an Aphrodite. This takes out with the sandal to ward off the attacks.

Halms of the Arnolfini

Also in the painting “Die Arnolfini wedding” by the Flemish painter Jan van Eyck from 1434 shoes a deeper symbolism. In this case, the shoes were pulled out and put aside so that the bride and groom stand barefoot on the floorboards.

The artist thus refers to the Old Testament in which the soil is sacred during the marriage vow and can only be entered barefoot.

High heels as an art object

The history of the “high heel” has its origin among the ancient Egyptians. The butchers of this era wore heels so as not to sink into the blood. In addition, Mongolian riders used shoes with high heels to find a stop in the stirrups. During the time Katharina von Medicis (1519-1589), shoes with paragraphs of up to 50 cm triggered a fashion boom .

Then the high heels disappeared from the focus. It was only again Marlene Dietrich showing up in public with high heels at the beginning of the golden twenties of the last century. To this day, they remained an object that inspires artists from different styles again and again.

The effect of high heels

The extension of the female foot to the vertical is interpreted as a signal of female sexual arousal. According to measurements, the curvature of the female POS increases by 25 % when the woman wears high heels.

Many assessments even go so far as the high heel transforms an ordinary woman into a seductor. To date, a highly cut -out high shoe, which gently lets the wearer float over the ground, is one of the most tempting motifs in art .

The attraction of the viewer

Many art objects that only show one shoe deliberately neglect the associated body. It is up to the imagination of the viewer to imagine the scene or the person to whom the shoe belongs and to get involved.

This addresses the appeal of the invisible . Emotions are caused that develop stories in the brain that are only available in the subconscious. The attraction of the viewer is to still want to discover a little more in the artwork.

Joachim Rodriguez y Romero

Owner and managing director of Kunstplaza . Publicist, editor and passionate blogger in the field of art, design and creativity since 2011. Successful conclusion in web design as part of a university degree (2008). Further development of creativity techniques through courses in free drawing, expression painting and theatre/acting. Profound knowledge of the art market through many years of journalistic research and numerous collaborations with actors/institutions from art and culture.

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