ecphrasis

With ekphrasis (or ecphrasis), an essentially rhetorical device in which an object formed in one art becomes the matter for another, the theory only apparently changes or takes on another dimension.

Dictionary of the History of Ideas JOHN GRAHAM 1968

And then we pay for our _ecphrasis_ by an immense _Histoire_ of the Tyrian

A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800 George Saintsbury 1889

There is much hard fighting with Thomyris, who on one occasion wishes to come to actual sword-play with Cyrus, and of whom we have the liveliest _ecphrasis_, or set description, in the whole romance.

A History of the French Novel, Vol. 1 From the Beginning to 1800 George Saintsbury 1889