Eye-tracking—the process of capturing and measuring human eye movement—is becoming an increasingly prevalent tool in the cultural heritage sector to understand visual processing and audience behaviours. Yet, most applications to date have focused on individual artworks and distinctions between representative/non-representative topics, with little prior work on the effects of differing written interpretations on the visual exploration of collections of artworks, particularly with devotional themes. This article reports on an eye-tracking study that explored responses to the unique collection of Francisco de Zurbaran paintings in County Durham. Using eye-tracking technology in a laboratory setting, we evaluated the viewing behaviour of three participant groups to determine whether the accompanying written context influences how digital reproductions are experienced. In addition to demonstrating statistically significant variations in aesthetic appreciation, the experiments showed that the gaze can be redirected towards areas of conceptual significance. Most importantly, we were able to challenge the assumption that viewers always look at faces (Bindemann et al., 2005). Our findings make an important new contribution to the scholarly understanding of how audiences view, appreciate, and understand artworks and to museum and heritage practices relevant to the display of art.

中文翻译：

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审美和西班牙艺术：眼动的见解

眼动追踪（捕获和测量人眼运动的过程）正在成为文化遗产领域越来越流行的工具，用于理解视觉处理和观众行为。然而，迄今为止，大多数应用都集中在单个艺术品上以及代表性/非代表性主题之间的区别，而很少有关于不同书面解释对艺术品收藏（尤其是虔诚主题）的视觉探索的影响的先前研究。本文报道了一项眼球追踪研究，该研究探索了对达勒姆郡弗朗西斯科·德·祖巴兰独特绘画作品的回应。在实验室环境中使用眼动追踪技术，我们评估了三个参与者组的观看行为，以确定附带的书面语境是否会影响数字复制的体验。除了在美学欣赏上显示出统计学上的显着变化之外，实验还表明，凝视可以重定向到具有概念意义的区域。最重要的是，我们能够挑战观看者总是看脸的假设（Bindemann等，2005）。我们的发现为学术上对观众如何观看，欣赏和理解艺术品的理解以及与艺术品展示有关的博物馆和遗产实践做出了重要的新贡献。实验表明，凝视可以重定向到具有概念意义的区域。最重要的是，我们能够挑战观看者总是看脸的假设（Bindemann等，2005）。我们的发现为学术上对观众如何观看，欣赏和理解艺术品的理解以及与艺术品展示有关的博物馆和遗产实践做出了重要的新贡献。实验表明，凝视可以重定向到具有概念意义的区域。最重要的是，我们能够挑战观看者总是看脸的假设（Bindemann等，2005）。我们的发现为学术上对观众如何观看，欣赏和理解艺术品的理解以及与艺术品展示有关的博物馆和遗产实践做出了重要的新贡献。