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iconography
Sign in to savethumb|Hans Holbein the Younger|Holbein's The Ambassadors (1533) is a complex work whose iconography remains the subject of debate.
Iconography refers to the symbolic meanings embedded in images and artworks—the hidden messages conveyed through objects, gestures, and other visual elements rather than words. Understanding iconography matters because it allows us to read deeper layers of meaning in paintings and other artworks, revealing what the artist intended to communicate beyond what we see on the surface.
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15 sectionsContents
- Scholarship
- Foundations
- Twentieth century
- Brief survey
- Indian religion
- Christian
- Secular Western
- In disciplines other than art history{{anchor|iconography and popular culture}}
- Articles with iconographical analysis of individual works
- Examples
- See also
- References
- Citations
- Sources
- External links
thumb|Hans Holbein the Younger|Holbein's The Ambassadors (1533) is a complex work whose iconography remains the subject of debate.
Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct from artistic style. The word iconography comes from the Greek ("image") and ("to write" or to draw).