Iconography and the Attributes of Saints: How to Read Symbols in Art

Iconography is the study of what pictures represent and which symbols they use. Saints and gods are often recognised by attributes, particular objects or animals always shown with them, such as keys for Peter, a wheel for Catherine and a thunderbolt for Zeus.

Facts

What iconography is

A work of art can be read on different levels. The art historian Erwin Panofsky described three steps in 1939: first what one sees, for example a man, a sword and a dragon-like beast. Then which story or person the picture represents, for example Saint George and the dragon. And finally what it meant in its time, for example how the fight against evil reflected a political event. The middle step is iconography, and that is where attributes come in.

In the past most people could not read, so pictures were a way of telling Bible stories and saints’ legends to everyone. Artists therefore used a shared, recognisable visual language. Today many of the codes have been forgotten, but they can be learned. Themes such as the Bible and mythology are good starting points, and the concepts are in the glossary.

The attributes of the saints

An attribute is a mark of recognition, usually tied to the saint’s life or martyrdom. Peter has the keys of the kingdom of heaven, Paul a sword and a book, Catherine a wheel, Barbara a tower, Lawrence a gridiron, Sebastian arrows, Bartholomew his own flayed skin and a knife, Lucy eyes on a dish, Agnes a lamb, Jerome a lion and Mary Magdalene an ointment jar. The Virgin Mary is often painted with a lily or in blue.

The Evangelists have animals of their own: Matthew an angel or a man, Mark a lion, Luke an ox and John an eagle. In The Calling of Saint Matthew by Caravaggio it is the light, not an angel, that picks him out. Saints painted by Giotto in Italy and by Albertus Pictor in Swedish churches are shown with similar signs. Holy persons often have a halo, a disc of light around the head.

Saint George and Death

Saint George, who kills the dragon and saves the king’s daughter, is recognised by his armour, his spear and the dragon. In Storkyrkan in Stockholm stands Saint George and the Dragon by Bernt Notke of 1489, a wooden statue celebrating Sten Sture’s victory over the Danes at Brunkeberg in 1471. There the dragon has become a political symbol: evil is the enemy.

Death is depicted as a skeleton, often with a scythe or hourglass. Death Playing Chess, painted in a Swedish church by Albertus Pictor, shows a popular motif: nobody can escape death, whether king or peasant. Read more under death as a theme and in the guide to still life and vanitas, where skulls and hourglasses play the same role.

The gods and the allegories

The Greek and Roman gods also have attributes. Zeus or Jupiter has a thunderbolt and an eagle, Poseidon a trident, Athena a helmet and an owl, Hermes winged sandals and a staff with snakes, Apollo a lyre and a laurel wreath, Artemis a bow, Aphrodite or Venus a shell, doves and roses, Heracles a club and a lion skin, and Dionysus grapes. The Birth of Venus by Botticelli shows her on a seashell.

Allegories use the same system for ideas. Justice has a blindfold, scales and a sword. Time has an hourglass and a scythe. In The Ambassadors by Holbein a distorted skull hides in the foreground, and in The Arnolfini Portrait by van Eyck the single burning candle flame in the chandelier and the dog mean fidelity and presence. See also the guides to reading a painting and the parts of a church.

How to recognise it

Exercise

Which saint is usually depicted with keys?