Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - iconography

 noun  (plural -phies)  Etymology: Medieval Latin iconographia, from Greek eikonographia sketch, description, from eikonographein to describe, from eikon- + graphein to write — more at carve  Date: 1678  1. pictorial material relating to or illustrating a subject  2. the traditional or conventional images or symbols associated with a subject and especially a religious or legendary subject  3. the imagery or symbolism of a work of art, an artist, or a body of art  4. iconology