Iconography in Words: Constructing a Glossary of the Iconographic Method

Abstract

The article describes the experience of compiling and classifying an extensive, but poorly unified terminological base used by researchers in the field of iconography. We are not talking about terms used to put the content of images into words, but about key theoretical terms, such as “sample”, “model”, “original”, “copy”, “quote” and other similar concepts employed in iconographic thought. The paper discusses the usage of these terms by both classical and modern authors, such as N. V. Pokrovsky, A. Grabar, F. Bruno, G. Svartsensky, J. Alexander, etc. Further, we propose to arrange the concepts into four classes: (1) definitions referring to an entire image and its components; (2) definitions relating to the content of a single work or a cycle in their entirety or divided into units of meaning; (3) terminology around a “sample – copy – quote” type of relationship between individual images and the copying process itself; (4) the terms describing the visual toolkit of a particular master or a group and ways of its transmission both within and outside his workshop, including guides, manuals and instructions for craftsmen. In each class, the terms are listed in the order from basic and elementary to more complex and sophisticated. The classification is not complete and requires further work.