Perspective as Symbolic Form [Paperback]

Erwin Panofsky (Author), Christopher S. Wood (Translator)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0942299531 | ISBN-13: 978-0942299533 | Publication Date: December 11, 1996

Erwin Panofsky's Perspective as Symbolic Form is one of the great works of modern intellectual history, the legendary text that has dominated all art historical and philosophical discussions on the topic of perspective in this century. Finally available in English, it is an unrivaled example of Panofsky's early method that placed him within broader developments in theories of knowledge and cultural change. Here, drawing on a massive body of learning that ranges over Antique philosophy, theology, science, and optics as well as the history of art, Panofsky produces a type of "archaeology" of Western representation that far surpasses the usual scope of art historical studies.Perspective in Panofsky's hands becomes a central component of a Western "will to form," the expression of a schema linking the social, cognitive, psychological, and especially technical practices of a given culture into harmonious and integrated wholes. Yet the perceptual schema of each historical culture or epoch is different, and each gives rise to a different but equally full vision of the world. Panofsky articulates these different spatial systems, demonstrating their particular coherence and compatibility with the modes of knowledge, belief, and exchange that characterized the cultures in which they arose. Our own modernity, Panofsky shows, is characterized by its peculiarly mathematical expression of the concept of the infinite, within a space that is necessarily both continuous and homogeneous.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Here at last is a published translation of this classic essay, available for many years in every major European language except English. It first appeared in 1927 ... and its status has since been established by the numerous commentators who have referred to it as the source of a new kind of interpretation of perspective." -- Robin Evans, AA Files

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: German --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 198 pages
• Publisher: Zone (December 11, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0942299531
• ISBN-13: 978-0942299533
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #209,367 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Visual and mathematical perspective until the renaissance., March 23, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Hoboken, NJ) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perspective as Symbolic Form (Paperback)

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.

16 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great piece of work.., September 26, 2000

By 

Jeremy - See all my reviews

This review is from: Perspective as Symbolic Form (Paperback)

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.