Ekphrasis

The word ekphrasis comes from Greek and is traditionally defined as the literary representation of a work of art. In ancient times, it referred to the practice or skill of describing artworks, either real or imagined, through vivid and detailed verbal accounts. A poem about a painting, a sculpture, a shield, a tapestry, that lets us envision in mind what our eyes cannot see. A craft that describes another craft. A poetic art as old as art itself.

ἐκ ek ‘out’ 

φράσις phrásis ‘speak’

ἐκφράζειν ekphrázein 'to proclaim or call an inanimate object by name'

Early examples:

Eikones, or Imagines, by Philostratos de Lemnos (c. 170 - 250 AD) contain descriptions of 64 paintings from Naples. It's debated whether the paintings existed or were imagined. The Iliad by Homer (8th century BCE) contains a detailed description of the Shield of Achilles, both how Hephaestus made it and it’s completed shape. There have been many artistic reconstructions of the Shield.