The Collaborative International Dictionary
Iconology \I`co*nol"o*gy\, n. [Gr. ?; e'ikw`n an image + ? discourse: cf. F. iconologie.] The discussion or description of portraiture or of representative images. Cf. Iconography.
Wiktionary
n. The study of icons in art or art history.
WordNet
n. the branch of art history that studies visual images and their symbolic meaning (especially in social or political terms)
Wikipedia
Iconology is a method of interpretation in cultural history and the history of art used by Aby Warburg, Erwin Panofsky and their followers that uncovers the cultural, social, and historical background of themes and subjects in the visual arts. It is derived from synthesis rather than scattered analysis and examines symbolic meaning on more than its face value by reconciling it with its historical context and with the artist's body of work – in contrast to the widely descriptive iconography, which, as described by Panofsky, is an approach to studying the content and meaning of works of art that is primarily focused on classifying, establishing dates, provenance and other necessary fundamental knowledge concerning the subject matter of an artwork that is needed for further interpretation.
Though Panofsky strongly differentiated between iconology and iconography, the distinction is not very widely followed, "and they have never been given definitions accepted by all iconographers and iconologists". Few 21st-century authors continue to use the term consistently.
It should also be noted that Panofsky's "use of iconology as the principle tool of art analysis brought him critics." For instance, in 1946, Jan Gerrit Van Gelder "criticized Panofsky's iconology as putting too much emphasis on the symbolic content of the work of art, neglecting its formal aspects and the work as a unity of form and content." Furthermore, iconology is mostly avoided by social historians who do not accept the theoretical dogmaticism in the work of Panofsky.
Usage examples of "iconology".
And it all fits perfectly with their fascination for goddess iconology, paganism, feminine deities, and contempt for the Church.
Furthermore, none of the language on this ship resembles the iconology we witnessed on Iconia nor does it match the known roots of the Icco-bar, Dewan, and Dinasian languages which we already know to be formed from Iconia.
I am also grateful to Philip Katz for allowing me to read his remarkable undergraduate dissertation on the iconology of Benjamin Franklin.
Japanese camera had been only borrowed and from now on he would carry his specialized literature, his thick tomes on Baroque iconology, in a crocheted or knotted string bag, on his way, for instance, to Ruhr University.