Iconography is used to determine the content of a work of art by: identifying the figures in a work of art based on traditional attributes and symbols.

In this 17th century painting whose title translates as "The Drinkers," Velasquez depicts the young Roman god of wine Bacchus and some drinking companions. Velasquez painted him as a young man, draped in a white toga, crowned by a wreath of grape leaves and holding a cup of wine. These conventions of appearance, dress, and traditional attributes identify him.