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Art & Art History vocabulary · Describing & Interpreting Art

Symbolism

Meaning in art & art history, with examples

/ˈsɪmbəlɪzəm/nounCommon term

In art & art history, symbolism means: The use of objects, colours, animals or figures to stand for ideas or qualities, for example a dog for loyalty or a skull for death.

In Turkish: simgecilik, simge kullanımı, sembolizm

How it is used

Writers discuss the symbolism of a work, colour symbolism or hidden symbolism. With a capital S, Symbolism is also a late-nineteenth-century movement (Moreau, Redon). The verb is symbolise (UK) or symbolize (US), and the adjective is symbolic.

Example sentences

  1. The symbolism of the lilies would have been clear to fifteenth-century viewers: they stood for purity.

  2. Is there any symbolism in the colours, or did the artist choose them just for the composition?

Common collocations

  • religious symbolism
  • colour symbolism
  • hidden symbolism
  • rich in symbolism
  • 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.
  • motifA shape, image or theme that is repeated in one work or across many works, such as a flower in a textile pattern or a symbol that keeps returning in an artist's paintings.
  • 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.
  • still lifeA painting or drawing of objects that do not move, such as fruit, flowers, vases, books or dead game, arranged by the artist.

More terms: Describing & Interpreting Art

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