this book really should be reprinted. It's a landmark.

OUT OF PRINT??? This is one of, if not, THE preeminent texts about Early Netherlandish Art, a virtual Bible for those studying the subject. Along with its companion volume (Volume 2, the Plates) Professor Panofsky gives the reader not only information that is vital to the understanding of the field, but his language is a joy to behold as well. Along with Huizinga's The Waning of the Middle Ages (sadly, another oop title???!!!???), these two scholars give one a full look into an age of not only unrivaled artistic achievment, but a profound glimpse into the spirituality, politics and history as well. NOT TO BE MISSED!! PLEASE REPRINT THESE SOON!!!

This is one of Panofsky's major works, making it an indisputable Art History classic. Panofsky is a 20th century art historian, famous for his "iconological" approach to art history which emphasizes the subject matter during the Medieval to Baroque periods. The black and white reproductions are a drawback. An important read for the serious art history student.

Having just begun an art history course, I am happy to have been introduced to Erwin Panofsky. This book is wonderful for experts and beginners alike, as it does not assume the reader has any foreknowledge of iconography, but it does not bore the reader who does. The imagery in this book is beautiful, and brings to life painting that may otherwise seem from another time. Wonderful examples throughout. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in the underlying symbolism in art.

This is an OPUS MAGNUS of profound erudition! An indispensable must have for any student of Gothic Art & Architecture. From sheathed shafts thrusting upwards penetrating groin vaults to the most scholarly look nto this seminal figure in the Middle Ages, this text has it all! While certainly not a light read, it is a and important and pivotal work in the scholarship of the beginning of the Gothic era. It should be more readily available.

E. Panofsky's book about the antique reviewal is excellent reading by the leading art historian. The book is based on the lectures he held after the war.
Our concept of renaissance is still based on that times writers and historians who strongly emphasized their own times supremacy over the "dark ages" they so much loathed.
Panofsky takes under the focus in his book the Carolingian renaissance and the 12th century proto-renaissance when prooving that the world of antique ideals were still among the painters, sculptors, writers and architects.
I will strongly recommend the book to everyone who is interested in renaissance and its roots.

One of the most interesting problems we had in our drawing class was regarding linear perspective and I picked up this book hoping that it would go in detail about perspective in historical and cultural context and it did!

This book is written by and for educated man. The translation is great and I finished the book in one reading because it was so compelling. It is above and beyond the mere mechanics of horizon lines and vanishing points.

The end notes are great too.

A must read for all art lovers.

A comprehensive review of the thought behind mathematical perspective and how it differs from our empirical experience. Explains how the concept of the infinate has forever altered the way in which we represent space in pictures. Short essay with extensive end notes.

Panofsky's book on perspective, Perspective as Symbolic Form, is a short book about the development of perspective from ancient perspective to the full, abstract space of an Alberti. This is interesting for a number of reasons, which are:

a) ancient perspective is the perspective of angles, not of distances. This is hard to explain without a diagram, but basically an object at a 45 degree angle is 3/4 as large as an object at a 60 degree angle. This is in contrast to modern perspective, where size is in inverse proportion to distance, not angle. The idea that the ancients did not have perspective is simply false. Modern perspective as a third antiquity.

b) the grid of perspective preceded the abstract space of the cartesian grid. The equivalence of extension and object or mass is already present in kpainting before it was ever devised by Descartes.

c) the "vanishing point" is the "actual infinite," the infinite in this world. A theological point.

d) modern perspective is actually a falsification of the "psychophysical" perception of the world, which is really curved. We live in a curved world. Comets tails, for instance, look curved even though they are straight. Buildings look curved likewise. See Vitruvius for the ancient discussion of this phenomenon.

This book is a collection of different papers written by Panofsky during the years of his exile in America. Their content is often technical and hard to read, but some of them (like the one about the meaning of Poussin's and Guercino's "Et in Arcadia Ego" and the last one about the History of Art in America) are brilliant and sometimes even funny. This is one of the first book I've read about "iconology" and (together with the book about Duhrer's Melancholy) has made me falling in love with Art History. I think that this book is one of the best results of the interaction between different cultures (here, European and American).

Erwin Panofsky was one of the founders of modern art criticism and a very learned man who wrote many books on such abtruse subjects as the difference between iconography and iconology with all the seriousness of a central European academic.

This lavishly illustrated work on the great German Renaissance painter and print-maker, Albrecht Durer (1471 - 1528), starts with a reasonably good introduction, mentioning the differing historical views on Durer, such as the belief common among 19th-century German Romanticists that he was a meek and pious soul wholly devoted to the interpretation of Christian subjects and contented with a quiet and dependent life.

This picture of a pedantic, conservative craftsman is countered by a suggestion that there might have been a Faustian element in Durer's nature, typified by a restless craving for a perfection never to be attained and an acute awareness of irresolvable artistic problems.

Unfortunately, this lively opening is not lived up to. Panofsky's treatment of the biographical details of Durer's life - including the revelationn that he was unhappily married - leads to a long, shapeless, rambling account, governed more by the intricate chronology of Durer's artistic production than any profound sense of the man himself.

There is no denying Panofsky's erudition. He definitely has all the colors on his mental palette. But like a bad painter he mixes all the hues together in a messy attempt to show off how vast and detailed his knowledge is. An intrinsically fascinating subject is thus rendered increasingly murky and morass-like by Panofsky's inability to make clear points or structure the rich detail of his knowledge. This work is the classic example of a book written by an academic with his nose too deeply buried in his subject. A strong editor would have been a godsend.

This is surely the definitive book on German renaissance artist Albrecht Durer (still justly famous in this century for his engravings "Knight, Death and the Devil," which a baby-boomer friend had as a poster on his wall, and "The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse"). The collection of reproductions of Durer's work, and that of contemporaries that influenced him, is extraordinary, taking up much of the volume's rather sizable girth. My only significant complaint is that I wish there had been at least a few color reproductions.

While Panofsky may seem indigestible to some - this is not a book for the "general reader" - this book remains essential material for anyone researching any aspect of Durer's career. It is written in more accessible prose than some of Panofsky's other works, since he concentrates more on straight monographic information than on deep interpretation.

The book takes us through Durer's career in chronological order. It is easy to look up specific works and their contexts (there are handy indices as well). It's comprehensiveness makes it a really useful book to have on hand. All Durer studies after this one necessarily make reference to what Panofsky said.

As a monograph this is, hence, extremely succesful. It is also a product of its time and of Panofsky's method. Newer studies, such as Joseph Koerner's "The Moment of self-portraiture in german renaissance art", probe deeper into some of the themes about which the reader may be left wondering upon reading Panofsky.

Durer is arguably THE most important artist of the German Renaissance; Panosfky the most important art historian of our time. Read the book!

In short it stunk. I thought it had no meaning, feeling, or purpose. JUST KIDDING I NEVER EVEN HEARD OF THE BOOK BUT I'M SURE IT WOULD BE GOOD. I'M JUST LOOKING FOR A BOOK CALLED PANDORA'S BOX AND IT HAS PULL-OUT THINGS AND MASKS AND SOME OTHER STUFF IN IT SO IF YOU KNOW ABOUT THE BOOK I'M TALKING ABOUT COULD YOU PLEASE HELP ME OUT.

--BOIDAE98--