Buddhist iconography

Japanese: 仏教図像 - ぶっきょうずぞう

In Buddhism, the word "icon" is used in two ways. In the broad sense, iconography refers to the "image itself" of Buddha, Bodhisattva, etc. in old documents such as sutras, and means the visual representation of Buddha or Bodhisattva, which is essentially formless, in painting or sculpture. Until then, Shakyamuni was represented by symbolic expressions such as the wheel of the Buddha or the bodhi tree, but with the appearance of Buddhist statues, a common standard of expression was required to distinguish and recognize the appearance of Shakyamuni, his disciples, Brahma and Indra, as well as Shakyamuni and his deeds and meanings in the Buddhist biography and life paintings, and this is how Buddhist iconography was established.

Source: Heibonsha World Encyclopedia, 2nd Edition Information

Japanese:

仏教において〈図像〉は広狭2通りに用いられる。広義に図像という場合，経典などの古い文献では仏･菩薩などの〈像そのもの〉を指しており，本来姿形なき仏･菩薩を，視覚的な形として絵画，彫刻に表現したものを意味する。それまで，輪宝や菩提樹などの象徴的表現によって釈迦を表示していたが，やがて仏像の出現するに及び，釈迦と仏弟子や梵天･帝釈天などの姿形，さらには仏伝図，本生図中の釈迦およびその事跡や意味を，区別して認識させるために表現上の共通の規範が求められ，ここに仏教図像が成立した。

出典　株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典第２版について　情報

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