Studies in Iconology by Erwin Panofsky

Studies in Iconology

Humanistic Themes in the Art of the Renaissance

by Erwin Panofsky

Harper Torchbooks, Harper & Row Publishers, 1965, [Fourth Printing], black and white photographs throughout, illustrated frontispiece, paperback

Good Condition, some edge and shelf wear, some rubbing and bumping to edges and corners, some discoloration to covers and fore-edges, previous owners inscription and date on half title page  (see photographs)

“Iconography is that branch of the history of art which concerns itself with the subject matter or meaning of works of art, as opposed to their form.  Let us, then, try to define the distinction between subject matter or meaning on the one hand, and form on the other.
Only two or three other books in the literature of eh history of art have had an effect comparable to Studies in Iconology.  In it Erwin Panofsky showed that the knowledge of the meaning of a work of the past increased not only its relevance to us but also its beauty, and for the determination of this meaning he presented precises historical methods, subject to objective control.  The book, however, is not only a landmark in the discipline and in the humanities as a whole.”