Meaning of Iconography (What is, Concept and Definition)

What is Iconography:

iconography is a discipline, detached from Art History, which is responsible for the study, description, analysis and classification of images about characters, themes or traditions contained in portraits, paintings, altarpieces, statues and monuments, as well as their symbology and attributes.

In addition, it is dedicated to the study of the origin and the evolution of the images, the use of symbolic resources and their relations with the allegorical.

As iconography it can also be called a treatise or collection of images that studies, describes and analyzes the images in relation to its artistic theme.

See also Art History.

As such, the iconography is distinguished from the iconology because while the first is about the origin and evolution of the themes that are represented in the works of art, the iconology is responsible for deciphering their meaning and in interpret it.

The word iconography comes from the Latin iconographĭa , and is in turn from the gr.εἰκονογραφία (eikonografia), which is composed of the terms εἰκών (eikon), which means 'image', and γράφειν (grafein), which translates 'writing'.

See also Analysis.

Religious iconography

As religious iconography is known that dedicated to the study and description of the images referring to religious doctrines, their symbols, motifs and characters.In this sense, it is constituted by the set of paintings, portraits, sculptures and monuments that are based on issues related to their beliefs, their cosmogony and their vision of the world.

As such, there are many religious iconographies in the world, among which probably those that are most familiar to us are the Christian iconography , the classical iconography (when attending to motives and mythology gr ecolatina), and the indigenous or pre-Columbian iconographies (associated with aboriginal cultures of the American continent and therefore multiple).