Iconography
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Iconography, as a branch of art history, studies the identification, description and interpretation of the content of images: the subjects depicted, the particular compositions and details used to do so, and other elements that are distinct from artistic style. The word iconography comes from the Greek εἰκών ("image") and γράφειν.
Holbein's The Ambassadors (1533) is a complex work whose iconography remains the subject of debate.
A painting with complex iconography: Hans Memling's so-called Seven Joys of the Virgin – in fact this is a later title for a Life of the Virgin cycle on a single panel. Altogether 25 scenes, not all involving the Virgin, are depicted. 1480, Alte Pinakothek, Munich.
A 17th century Central Tibetan thanka of Guhyasamaja Akshobhyavajra.
The Theotokos of Tikhvin of c. 1300, an example of the Hodegetria type of Madonna and Child.
Art history
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Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today, art history examines broader aspects of visual culture, including the various visual and conceptual outcomes related to an ever-evolving definition of art. Art history encompasses the study of objects created by different cultures around the world and throughout history that convey meaning, importance or serve usefulness primarily through visual representations.
Venus de Milo, at the Louvre
Giorgio Vasari, Self-portrait c. 1567
Anton von Maron, Portrait of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, 1768
Photographer unknown, Aby Warburg c. 1900