iconography

noun

ico·​nog·​ra·​phy ˌī-kə-ˈnä-grə-fē 

plural iconographies

1

: the traditional or conventional images or symbols associated with a subject and especially a religious or legendary subject

2

: pictorial material relating to or illustrating a subject

3

: the imagery or symbolism of a work of art, an artist, or a body of art

4

: iconology

Did you know?

If you saw a 17th-century painting of a man writing at a desk with a lion at his feet, would you know you were looking at St. Jerome, translator of the Bible, who, according to legend, once pulled a thorn from the paw of a lion, which thereafter became his devoted friend? And if a painting showed a young woman reclining on a bed with a shower of gold descending on her, would you recognize her as Danaë, locked up in a tower to keep her away from the lustful Zeus, who then managed to gain access to her by transforming himself into golden light (or golden coins)? An iconographic approach to art can make museum-going a lot of fun—and amateur iconographers know there are also plenty of symbols lurking in the images that advertisers bombard us with daily.

Examples of iconography in a Sentence

the iconography of the 1960s

Recent Examples on the Web

The collaboration pieces that will be presented on the runway combine influences of traditional Chinese characters, Mayan motifs, Brown’s jersey number of 7, Namesake’s iconography of 3, as well as influences from chess in blended, oversized graphics. —Rhonda Richford, WWD, 19 June 2024

And despite the breakthrough of more mature (read: violent) franchises in the years that followed, the golden age of gaming was dominated by family friendly iconography in the larger cultural sphere. —Christopher Cruz, Rolling Stone, 13 June 2024

Jordan Hemingway / Courtesy of A Magazine Curated by Glenn Martens I was raised Catholic, so I was always fascinated by iconography. —José Criales-Unzueta, Vogue, 12 June 2024

In office, Putin has burnished the reputations of the Soviet leader and the Soviet dissident and has embraced the iconography of the Soviet Union and that of the Russian Orthodox Church. —Michael Kimmage, Foreign Affairs, 11 Feb. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Medieval Latin iconographia, from Greek eikonographia sketch, description, from eikonographein to describe, from eikon- + graphein to write — more at carve

First Known Use

1678, in the meaning defined at sense 2