Meaning in the Visual Arts

Since its original publication, Erwin Panofsky's "Meaning in the Visual Arts" has been standard reading for students of art history. It is both an introduction to the study of art and, for those with more specialized interests, a profound discussion of art and life in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Panofsky's historical technique reveals an abundance of detail, detail he skillfully relates to the life and work of individual painters and their times.

The papers in this volume represent a cross-section of Panofsky's major work. Included are selections from his well-known Studies in Iconology and The Life and Art of Albrecht Durer, plus an introduction and an epilogue – "The History of Art as a Humanistic Discipline" and "Three Decades of Art History in the United States: Impressions of a Transplanted European" – as well as pieces written especially for this collection. All display Panofsky's vast erudition and deep commitment to a humanistic conception of art and art history.


Contents:

List of Illustrations
Introduction: The History of Art as a Humanistic Discipline
1. Iconography and Iconology: An Introduction to the Study of Renaissance Art
2. The History of the Theory of Human Proportions as a Reflection of the History of Styles
3. Abbot Suger of St. -Denis
4. Titian's Allegory of Prudence: A Postscript
5. The First Page of Giorgio Vasari's "Libro": A Study on the Gothic Vasari's "Libro": A Study on the Gothic Style in the Judgment of the Italian Renaissance (With an Excursus on Two Faiade Designs by Domenico Beccafumi)
6. Albrecht Durer and Classical Antiquity (With an Excursus on the Illustrations of Apianus' "Inscriptiones" in Relation to Durer)
7. Et in Arcadia Ego: Poussin and the Elegiac Tradition
Epilogue: Three Decades of Art History in the United States: Impressions of a Transplanted European
Index