Iconography.

Iconography refers to the meaning or symbolism of a work of art. It includes a branch of art history that studies identification, classification, description, and interpretations of the content of images: the subjects depicted, symbols, themes, composition, and other elements specific to artistic style. Iconography may also refer to the artist’s use of imagery in a particular work and the identification of sources (literary or visual) used. Iconography is also concerned with analyzing certain pictorial themes, especially their development, traditions, and content through the ages. A secondary meaning applies to the production of religious images, also called "icons" in the Byzantine and Orthodox Christian tradition. The term is also used in many academic fields other than art history, such as semiotics, cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, or media studies, broadly referring to the content of images, the typical depiction in images of a subject, and related senses.