Barney is a dinosaur from our imagination
The answer would be a symbol, as an object used in literature or artwork could be an interpretation of meaning it could hold. take for example edgar allen poe. the heart underneath his floorboard represented his guilt for the murder of his friend. the heart was a symbol that carried meaning behind it.
Artistic forms of representation allow cultures to merge real world things with mysticism and beliefs, art allows the culture to imagine, create new images and forms of expression.
