Symbolism in Visual Images
When one chooses to cross the boundary between visual symbolism (pictures),
and textual symbolism, there are a few factors that should be noted. As
the old adage goes "a picture is worth a thousand words." Visual symbolism
can be complex, because often times there much more going on in the image
than in, say, a given paragraph.
Issues of size, perspective, location, and shading all play roles in the
message a viewer derives from an image. Color is a major part of pictures
too, serving to layer meaning on top of meaning. For example, in St.
George Fighting the Dragon we can see a green
dragon situated below and in front of George,
who is wearing gray armor,
astride a white horse.
In the background we can see a woman in red
and white with folded hands, presumably in
Since George occupies a central location in the picture, and is larger
than the other objects, it can be assumed that he is the parametric center
of the painting, with all the other symbols interacting with and through
Symbolism is not merely a literary device, but occurs in all art forms.
Below are several paintings which have been converted to imagemaps, and
certain items in the paintings have been hyperlinked to entries in the
St. George Fighting the Dragon
The Inspiration of St. Matthew by Michelangelo
Stuppach Madonna by Matthias Grunewald
The OnLine Symbolism Dictionary is maintained by Geoff
Brown, Jamie Smith, and Dr. Eric Rabkin, of the University of Michigan.