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Iconography is the branch of art history which studies the identification, description and the interpretation of the content of images. The word iconography literally means "image writing", or painting, and comes from the Greek εικον (image) and γραφειν (to write). A secondary meaning is the painting of icons in the Byzantine and Orthodox Christian tradition. A third meaning lies in the field of semiotics, see below.

Iconography in religious art

Icons are used by many different religions, including both Dharmic and Abrahamic faiths.

Icons in Judaism

It is commonly thought that the Jews absolutely prohibit "graven images"; this, however, is not entirely true. There are numerous instances within the scriptures that describe the creation and use of images for religious purposes (the angels on the Ark of the Covenant, the bronze snake Moses mounted on a pole, etc). What is important to note is that none of these are worshipped as God. Since God is incorporeal and has no form, He cannot be depicted. During the Late Antique period of Jewish history it is clear that restrictions on representation were relaxed considerably; for example, the synagogue at Dura Europas had large figurative wall paintings. It is also clear there was a tradition of painted scrolls, of which the Joshua Roll and the Utrecht Psalter are medieval Christian copies, none of the originals having survived. There are also many medieval illuminated manuscripts, especially of the Haggadah of Pesach (Passover). There does not seem to have been a Jewish tradition of icons as panel paintings, however.

Icons in Christianity

Christianity was born of the idea that the immaterial God took flesh in the form of Jesus Christ, making it possible to depict in human form the Son of God. It is for this reason that the Early Christians overturned the old proscriptions against images. Also, the concept of archetype was redefined by the Early Church fathers in order to better understand that when someone shows veneration toward an image, the intention is rather to honor the person depicted, not the substance of the icon.

Icons flourished within the Christian world, but by the 6th century, certain factions arose within the Church to challenge the use of icons, and in 726-30 they won Imperial support. The Iconoclasts actively destroyed icons in most public places, replacing them with the only religious depiction allowed, the cross. The Iconodules, on the other hand, argued that icons had always been used by Christians and should continue to be allowed. Finally, after much debate at the 7th ecumenical council, held in Nicaea in 787, the Iconodules, supported by the Empress, upheld the use of icons as an integral part of Christian tradition.

Eastern Christianity

In the traditions of Eastern Christianity, only flat images or bas relief images are used. They believe the first icons of Christ and the Virgin Mary to have been painted by St. Luke. Because the Greeks rejected statuary, the Byzantine icon style was developed in which figures were stylized in a manner that emphasized their holiness rather than their humanity. Symbolism allowed the icon to present highly complex material in a very simple way, making it possible to educate even the illiterate in theology. The interiors of Orthodox Churches are often completely covered in icons of Christ, Mary and the saints. Most are portrait figures in various conventional poses, but many narrative scenes are also depicted. Today, icons are still used extensively by the Eastern Orthodox and the Eastern Catholics. Icons are kissed, carried in procession, and venerated.

Western Christianity

Until the 13th century, icons followed a broadly similar pattern in West and East, although very few such early examples survive from either tradition. Western icons, which are not usually so termed, were largely patterned on Byzantine works, and equally conventional in composition and depiction. From this point on the Western tradition came slowly to allow the artist far more flexibility, and a more realistic approach to the figures.

In the 15th century the use of icons in the West was enormously increased by the introduction of prints on paper, mostly woodcuts which were produced in vast numbers. With the Reformation, after an initial uncertainty among early Lutherans, Protestants came down firmly against icon-like portraits, especially larger ones, even of Christ. Many Protestants found these idolatrous. Catholics maintained and even intensified the traditional use of icons, both printed and on paper, using the different styles of the Renaissance and Baroque. Popular Catholic imagery to a certain extent has remained attached to a Baroque style of about 1650, especially in Italy and Spain.

Islamic view of icons

See also: Islamic art

Muslims view sanctified icons as idols, and strictly forbid their worship, nor do they pray in front of one. However, the various divisions of Islam take different positions on the role of visual depictions of living (or once-living) creatures, including people. At one end of the spectrum, sects such as the Wahhabis totally ban drawings and photography. Some branches of Islam forbid only the former but allow the latter. The majority of Sunni Muslims permit both. Some Shia allow even the depiction of the Prophet Muhammad and the twelve Imams, a position totally unacceptable to most Sunnis.

Icons in Hinduism

Images of Hindu gods and goddesses use a rich symbolism. Some figures are blue-skinned (the color of heaven) or have multiple arms holding various symbols which depict aspects of the god.

Iconography in other academic research

In other academic disciplines such as anthropology, sociology, media studies and cultural studies, iconography refers the study of images or signs, such as those images that have an important significance to a particular culture or time. Discussing imagery as iconography in this way implies a critical "reading" of imagery that often attempts to explore social and cultural values. Iconography is also used within film studies to describe the visual language of cinema, particularly within the field of genre criticism.

Iconography in Dharmic Religions

• Iconography of the Buddha (Thailand and Laos)
• Buddhist art
• Greco-Buddhist art
• Korean Buddhist sculpture
• Mudra
• Ashtamangala

Dharmic Religious iconography and hagiography includes aureola, halo and divine qualities and attributes represented by mudra, asana and ritual tools such as the dharmachakra, vajra, dadar, phurba, sauwastika, symbolic use of color to denote the Classical Elements or Mahabhuta and letters and bija syllables from sacred alphabetic scripts.

See also

• Art history
• Anthropology of religion
• Semiotics
• Sociology of religion
• Symbolic anthropology
• Symbology
• Symbolism
• Theology and The Arts
• Unusual depiction of a religious figure
• Specific religions:
  • Islamic art
  • Christian art
    • Christian icons
    • Early Christian art
    • Holy card
    • Images of Jesus
    • Saint symbology

Works cited

• Cook, Pam and Mieke Bernink, eds. 1999. The Cinema Book. 2nd ed. London: BFI Publishing. ISBN 0851707262.

Notes

1. Cook and Bernink (1999, 138-140).

External links

• Iconography in the dictionary of The History of Ideas
• What iconographers do - case study
• Iconography of Deities and Demons in the Ancient Near East (Project of the Swiss National Science Foundation at the Universities of Zurich and Fribourg
• Web site for European Sacred Mountains, Calvaries and Devotional Complexes

• Art history
• Art genres
• Study of religion
• Iconography