德裔美術史學家潘諾夫斯基承襲了華爾布魯克的研究主軸，以圖像學發展為學問性的形象論，加上十九世紀的實證主義盛行，在美術史上奠定了其重要的研究基礎。這套研究方法所欲解決的課題是美術作品的記述與內容的解釋，期以由美術作品中之圖像，分析作者之心態、時代背景、古典神話與寓意，進而描繪某時段人類文明之一貌或某種徵候。 　　近年來，我國教育單位對終身學習及全民美育甚有著力，國內公私立社教機構相繼成立，尤其在藝術博物館挹注的資源，都有顯著的成長。館內所展示及典藏的藝術品，質與量也多因此而大幅增進。在館方對展品有意引導並賦予教育性的安排下，國人有欣賞人類藝術創作之偉大與精練的機會。唯在鑑賞之水平上，常因國內較缺乏藝術鑑賞正式與非正式的教育與訓練，故而無法深窺作品堂奧，許多民眾對鑑賞藝術作品的理論與知識的學習確有殷切期盼。本文即試從分析圖像學意義之同時，亦企圖以其方法與觀念，敘述其對藝術鑑賞者可能的功能與協助，以期帶給觀眾在欣賞藝術品時有深入的觀賞經驗，並提供給教學單位或社會教育單位實施藝術欣賞活動之參考。

　　　　　Erwin Panofsky, an American of German descent, adopted a sequence of research from Aby Warburg. He established an important foundation for research in art history based on iconography, which he developed into an intellectual morphological system in addition to the Positivism which prevailed in the 19th Century. This method of research aimed to facilitate the description and explanation of art works with the purpose of analyzing the states of mind and backgrounds of the artists with regard to classical mythology and allegory. This method further described the style or symptom of civilization during a certain period. Recently, the Education Authorities of Taiwan has adopted the concepts of lifelong learning and art appreciation for all the people. As a result, public and private art institutes have been founded in rapid succession and resources invested in art museums have obviously grown. The quality and quantity of exhibitions have greatly increased. People have a chance to enjoy great artistic creations due to docents and educational arrangements. However, on the level of appreciation, people cannot admire the essence of such works because of deficiencies in formal or informal education and training. Many people are certainly eager to learn theory and knowledge concerning appreciation of art works. Herewith, the article attempts to analyze iconography and discuss its function in art appreciation, in order to provide a frame of reference for lay-people and offer some information to assist the Government in making educational policies for museums.