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Thetis och Pelée: Berättad av brasfläktar

Karlsson, Annika LU (2026) KOVK03 20252
Division of Art History and Visual Studies
Abstract
This paper examines how handheld fire screens, specifically those depicting operas or plays, can provide a visual narrative through its various visual elements depicted in their motives. The material in question depicts the Swedish opera Thetis och Pelée from 1773 and is today part of the Royal Collections Department at Drottningholm, serving as prime examples of lost and forgotten decorative arts from the 18th century that tend to be neglected in academia. The aim of this study is therefore to contribute with new scientific research on how handheld fire
screens once functioned as visual storytellers for people who didn’t have access to the theatre, or for those who simply wanted to reexperience the play before the fireplace at home.

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This paper examines how handheld fire screens, specifically those depicting operas or plays, can provide a visual narrative through its various visual elements depicted in their motives. The material in question depicts the Swedish opera Thetis och Pelée from 1773 and is today part of the Royal Collections Department at Drottningholm, serving as prime examples of lost and forgotten decorative arts from the 18th century that tend to be neglected in academia. The aim of this study is therefore to contribute with new scientific research on how handheld fire
screens once functioned as visual storytellers for people who didn’t have access to the theatre, or for those who simply wanted to reexperience the play before the fireplace at home.

To read and analyze the fire screen’s visual narrative, intertextual theories and methods have been applied that take immediate inspiration from Nathalie Rizzoni’s research on fire screens and Mieke Bal's Reading Rembrandt (1991). First, a summary of the opera’s plot is given that functions as a skeleton for the descriptions of the fire screens’ motives. The visual elements are then later interpreted iconographically in Peircean terms in relation to the libretto of the opera and ultimately read narratively à la Bal. The theory applied suggests that handheld fire screens tell a visual narrative and that pictures can be read as texts, both semiotically and iconographically through different levels of narrative devices and syntagms. The results of the analysis are then finally brought together to build a more cohesive, visual narrative as depicted on the screens. (Less)
Popular Abstract
This paper examines how handheld fire screens, specifically those depicting operas or plays, can provide a visual narrative through its various visual elements depicted in their motives. The material in question depicts the Swedish opera Thetis och Pelée from 1773. The aim of this study is therefore to contribute with new scientific research on how handheld fire screens once functioned as visual storytellers for people who didn’t have access to the theatre, or for those who simply wanted to reexperience the play before the fireplace at home.
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Karlsson, Annika LU
supervisor
organization
alternative title
Thetis and Pelée - Told by Fire Screens
course
KOVK03 20252
year
type
M2 - Bachelor Degree
subject
keywords
Thetis and Pelée, visual narrative, fire screens, hand screens, cardboard screens, decorative arts, rococo, Sweden, 18th century, opera, theatre, greek mythology, roman gods, love-triangle.
language
Swedish
id
9221880
date added to LUP
2026-02-05 13:22:31
date last changed
2026-02-05 13:22:31
@misc{9221880,
  abstract     = {{This paper examines how handheld fire screens, specifically those depicting operas or plays, can provide a visual narrative through its various visual elements depicted in their motives. The material in question depicts the Swedish opera Thetis och Pelée from 1773 and is today part of the Royal Collections Department at Drottningholm, serving as prime examples of lost and forgotten decorative arts from the 18th century that tend to be neglected in academia. The aim of this study is therefore to contribute with new scientific research on how handheld fire
screens once functioned as visual storytellers for people who didn’t have access to the theatre, or for those who simply wanted to reexperience the play before the fireplace at home.

To read and analyze the fire screen’s visual narrative, intertextual theories and methods have been applied that take immediate inspiration from Nathalie Rizzoni’s research on fire screens and Mieke Bal's Reading Rembrandt (1991). First, a summary of the opera’s plot is given that functions as a skeleton for the descriptions of the fire screens’ motives. The visual elements are then later interpreted iconographically in Peircean terms in relation to the libretto of the opera and ultimately read narratively à la Bal. The theory applied suggests that handheld fire screens tell a visual narrative and that pictures can be read as texts, both semiotically and iconographically through different levels of narrative devices and syntagms. The results of the analysis are then finally brought together to build a more cohesive, visual narrative as depicted on the screens.}},
  author       = {{Karlsson, Annika}},
  language     = {{swe}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{Thetis och Pelée: Berättad av brasfläktar}},
  year         = {{2026}},
}