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Art & Art History vocabulary · Describing & Interpreting Art

Depict

Meaning in art & art history, with examples

/dɪˈpɪkt/verbCore term

In art & art history, depict means: To show a person, scene or idea in a picture, sculpture or other artwork.

In Turkish: betimlemek, tasvir etmek, resmetmek

How it is used

One of the most useful verbs for describing art in essays, labels and tours. Typical patterns: The painting depicts…, X is depicted as…, the scene depicted. The noun is depiction. It is more formal than show.

Example sentences

  1. The fresco depicts the Last Judgement, with heaven above and hell below.

  2. Saints are often depicted with objects linked to their stories.

Common collocations

  • depict a scene
  • be depicted as
  • realistically depicted
  • the figures depicted
  • subject matterWhat an artwork shows or is about, such as a battle, a bowl of fruit, a myth or a social issue, as opposed to how it is made.
  • iconographyThe study of the symbols, figures and themes in artworks and what they meant to people at the time; also the set of images linked to a particular subject.
  • figurativeShowing people, animals or objects in a way you can recognise, even if they are simplified or distorted; the opposite of abstract.
  • portraitA painting, drawing, photograph or sculpture of a particular person, usually showing the face and saying something about their character or status.

More terms: Describing & Interpreting Art

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