Iconography in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction

Benjamin's era of mechanical reproduction may not have diminished the aura of art works as he thought, but it has had an impact on the structure of iconography. Now that images can be reproduced so easily by mechanical means, iconographies no longer need to be reinvented over and again by artists. At the same time, the sheer size and diversity of iconographic output means that fewer visual themes are held in common by viewers of images.