mbp #4

According to Edwards and Winkler, an ideograph is a picture that evokes some sort of ideology or general concept of a type of ideology. The most common example is that of the flag raising of Iwo Jima. That iconic photograph is a representation of the ideologies of the United States. This is due to the context, the U.S. soldiers, and the American flag in the picture. The ideology that the viewer may feel is that of independence, freedom, and democracy. When looking at an ideograph, the ideology should come to you naturally.

In this visual representation of Jesus, which is one of many similar portraits, the true character of Jesus is not known. This is a picture that was made to represent what Jesus would look like. There is no proof in the pudding that Jesus looked like this, yet we mutually agree that this is a viable representation of Jesus. The ideology that this, or any image of Jesus evokes is one of Christian value. If this picture of Jesus is to be an ideograph, then there is cultural knowledge and context that must be understood. Given any circumstance, an image that pulls from man’s mutually agreed upon representation of Jesus brings with it the morals and ideologies that Christians and the bible itself carry with them. These ideologies make up Christianity, but there are multiple ideologies that this picture evokes. One broad ideology is love, and to love your neighbors.