A Dictionary of Symbols
Cirlot's classic decoder of the images that recur across art, myth and dream, from the labyrinth to the moon.
Cirlot’s reference work traces the meanings that images have carried across mythology, alchemy, religion and art: what a labyrinth signifies, why the moon recurs, what a serpent has meant to different civilisations. Drawing on Jung and comparative mythology, it is a tool for reading the symbolic language buried in paintings, dreams and stories. Guillermo del Toro calls it a vital book, saying it helps him interpret paintings, cipher and decipher art, and view the world.
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Guillermo del Toro
A vital book. It helps me interpret paintings, cipher and decipher art and view the world.
Tweet · April 2016
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