An allegory is an image (visual or described in language) that has a certain coherence on its terms (is, for example, a recognisable thing, a character, a narrative) but also carries a symbolic meaning. This is conventional for a few added examples. Allegory can be termed ‘ironic’ when the allegorical vehicle already has a symbolic meaning of its own, but something else is meant. An example would be the use of the image of the heavens. The heavens become a symbol of the absence of providence.