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

As with nearly everything Beyoncé releases, the Cowboy Carter iconography became fodder for polarizing public discourse. —Leah Faye Cooper, Vogue, 4 July 2025

To explain the iconography for the works' museum debut, Newfields curators worked with Henry Skerritt, an assistant professor in art history at the University of Virginia. —Domenica Bongiovanni, IndyStar, 3 July 2025

As the United States hurtles toward the 250th anniversary of the nation’s founding on July 4, 1776, certain subjects seem to dominate the iconography of American independence. —Karin Wulf, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 July 2025

Tesfaye is the only child of Ethiopian immigrants, and both the tower at the center of the stage and his robe play into his cultural iconography. —Chris O'Falt, IndieWire, 16 May 2025

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Late Latin īconographia "making of images," borrowed from Greek eikonographía "sketch, description" (Late Greek, "making of images"), from eikono- icono- + -graphia -graphy

First Known Use

1678, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for iconography

• bibliography
• choreography
• chromatography
• crystallography
• hagiography
• lexicography
• metallography
• myelography
• oceanography
• physiography
• plethysmography
• polarography