Visiting The Met? The Temple of Dendur will be closed Sunday, April 27 through Friday, May 9. The Met Fifth Avenue will be closed Monday, May 5.

Iconic!

Icons and symbols have a long and storied history, especially when used to communicate ideas, words, and emotions in art.

Play Art Links

Good Speculation!, Thomas Rowlandson British, Hand-colored etching — Good Speculation!
Multiple artists/makers
August 10, 1799

Olive Trees, Vincent van Gogh Dutch, Oil on canvas — Olive Trees
Vincent van Gogh
1889

Nose and lips of Akhenaten, Indurated limestone — Nose and lips of Akhenaten
ca. 1353–1336 B.C.

Spiraea aruncus (Tyrol), Anna Atkins British, Cyanotype — Spiraea aruncus (Tyrol)
Anna Atkins
1851–54

Ivory sandaled foot, Ivory, Roman — Ivory sandaled foot
Roman
ca. 31 BCE–14 CE

Pierre de Wiessant, Auguste Rodin French, Bronze, brown patina, French — Pierre de Wiessant
Auguste Rodin
Alexis Rudier
modeled 1885, cast ca. 1900–1907

Easy chair, Mahogany, American — Easy chair
American
1810–15

Flowering Peach Trees, Provence, Félix Vallotton Swiss, Oil on canvas — Flowering Peach Trees, Provence
Félix Vallotton
1922

Head of an Angel (?), Limestone, paint, French — Head of an Angel (?)
French
ca. 1250

Smiling figure (Sonriente), South central Veracruz artist(s), Ceramic, slip, paint, Classic Veracruz — Smiling figure (Sonriente)
South central Veracruz artist(s)
600–1000 CE

I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold, Charles Demuth American, Oil, graphite, ink, and gold leaf on paperboard (Upson board) — I Saw the Figure 5 in Gold
Charles Demuth
1928

Ugolino and His Sons, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux French, Saint-Béat marble, French, Paris — Ugolino and His Sons
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux
1865–67

The Scream, Edvard Munch Norwegian, Lithograph — The Scream
Edvard Munch
1895