Symbolic language (art)

In art, symbolic language refers to the use of characters or images to represent concepts. Symbolic language in art uses imagery to communicate meaning by displaying an accessible concept, the signifier, to represent a signified concept.

Symbolic language in art may be used figuratively, to reference ideas and "convey concepts in terms of images"[1], as when images and positioning of objects such as flowers or animals are used to signify cultural concepts.[2][3][4]

Symbolic language in art may be used more literally, as in floriography, where arrangements of flowers are decoded with the help of special dictionaries, enabling communication of secret, unspoken information as a form of cryptography.[5]

Similarly, in religious iconography, symbolic languages may be developed to communicate between believers in a hostile environment, with progressive teachings providing increasing access to hidden meanings in the images.[6]

See also

References
  1. "Dante's Paradise". Indiana University Press. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  2. "A Victorian Flower Dictionary by Mandy Kirkby | PenguinRandomHouse.com: Books". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  3. "The Grand Medieval Bestiary". Abbeville Press. Retrieved 2019-06-28.
  4. Rampley, Matthew (1997). "From Symbol to Allegory: Aby Warburg's Theory of Art". The Art Bulletin. 79 (1): 41–55. doi:10.2307/3046229. ISSN 0004-3079. JSTOR 3046229.
  5. Greenaway, Kate (1978). Kate Greenaway's Language of flowers. New York: Gramercy Pub. Co. OCLC 1035885726.
  6. "The Icon, History, Symbolism and Meaning". www.orthodox.cn. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
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