| word | iconography |
|---|---|
| definition | (1) The imagery and symbolism of a work of art or an artist. (2) The study of artistic symbolism. |
| eg_sentence | Today scholars pore over the advertisements in glossy magazines, studying the iconography for clues to the ads' hidden meanings. |
| explanation | 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 |
| IPA | ˌaɪkəˈnɑgrəfi |
Tags: mwvb::unit:12, mwvb::unit:12:word, mwvb::word, mwvb::word-cloze, mwvb::word-reverse, obsidian_to_anki
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