Iconography is the study of the meaning and identification of images, symbols and depictions in art and architecture. Where the form of a building or ornament is the technical side, iconography concerns the content: what an image represents, what story or idea it conveys, and why it was placed exactly where it is.
Iconography in architecture
For centuries buildings have carried messages. Sculpture, stained glass, frescoes and façade ornaments were not merely decoration but also a way to convey stories, power or faith to a largely illiterate public.
- Religious iconography — saints, biblical scenes and symbols (lamb, dove, cross) on churches and cathedrals
- Secular iconography — coats of arms, dates, allegorical figures and guild symbols on town halls and houses
- Nature and virtues — flowers, animals and personifications of virtues as recurring motifs
Application
Iconography matters most in:
- Restoration — to correctly restore a decorative scheme you must know what it depicts
- Building-history research — depictions help date and interpret a building
- Design — architects deliberately choose symbols that suit a building’s function
Iconography describes the meaning; iconology goes a step further and places that meaning in the broader cultural-historical context.
Related terms
- Ornament
- Decorations
- Gothic
- Fresco
- Stained glass
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