Iconology
In art history, iconology, also referred to as iconography, is the study of the conventional meanings of iconographic art, which is art that is meant to convey some doctrine or traditional story. For example, through iconology, the saints represented on cathedral windows can be identified by noting the tools or animals that were included in the pictures specifically for the sake of identification.The word iconography is also used to refer to the archetypical scenes and characters used in representation. For example, in films of the genre "Westerns", such tropes as "cattle drive", "saloon", "gunfight", "gunfighter", "sheriff" constantly recur.
See also: Icon, Tarot, Iconography