EN
The article presents authoress' personal view on the importance of iconography in ethnology. It deals with the starting points of ethnographical analysis of visual sources, its results and its reception in the contemporary scientific context. At the same time she points out that the iconographical document should be examined within the cultural-historical context of its origin and functions (i.e. the overlapping of visual folk art and visual art of different styles). In the conclusion the authoress deals with the contemporary perspectives of the use of the iconic sources.