Erwin Panofsky

Details

Nationality

German-American

Notes

First full professor of art history at Hamburg (1926). 1925 lecture at the KBW published in 1927 as Die Perspektive als 'symbolische Form'; translated by Christopher S. Wood for Zone Books in 1991. The lecture that became 'Die Perspektive als symbolische Form' was delivered in the 1924–1925 Warburg lecture series (KBW, Hamburg); the published essay appeared in the Vorträge der Bibliothek Warburg 1924–1925 volume (Teubner, Leipzig/Berlin, 1927). The note's attribution of '1925 lecture' slightly obscures that the lecture series ran across the 1924–25 academic year. Panofsky was appointed Ordinarius (full professor) in Hamburg in 1926, correct. The Zone Books translation (1991) by Christopher S. Wood is accurate.

Connections

• authored Perspective as Symbolic Form (Die Perspektive als 'symbolische Form')
• proposed Perspective as symbolic form

Sources

1. Erwin Panofsky. Perspective as Symbolic Form. Zone Books, 1991.
2. Warburg Institute. Centenary of Erwin Panofsky's lecture 'Perspective as Symbolic Form'. 2025. https://warburg.sas.ac.uk/news-events/blogs/centenary-erwin-panofskys-lecture-perspective-symbolic-form.