Ekphrasis
Etymology
From Greek "ekphrasis," from ek-, "out," and phrazein, "to tell, point out, declare" — literally "a speaking out" or full description. In classical rhetoric it meant any vivid description meant to place a scene before the listener’s eyes. It narrowed over time to the specific case of describing a work of art, as in Homer’s account of Achilles’ shield.
noun · /EK-fruh-sis/
A vivid literary description of a visual work of art.
What it names
The passage where a poem pauses to describe a painting or sculpture so fully that words try to do what the image does, giving you a name for art describing art.
Example
Auden’s famous ekphrasis of Bruegel’s “Icarus” turns a corner of the painting into a meditation on how the world ignores catastrophe.
Related idea
Ekphrasis renders a specific artwork in words; description is the general act of depicting anything at all in language.