ABSTRACT
Erwin Panofsky, the author of Meaning in the Visual Arts, was a German-Jewish art historian, best known for his writings on medieval and Northern Renaissance art. The basis of his fame is his theory of iconology, which generated a re-orientation in art history toward the search for meaning instead of the categorization of characteristics of style. In some of his arguments, Panofsky borrowed heavily from others, but he defined those issues that mattered particularly to him by his own innovation, which contributed largely to the rapid development of visual perspective in the arts. Panofsky's Meaning in the Visual Arts retains its usefulness as a reference point in discussions of cultural history, art, and visual culture. The individual essays have not only enlivened more than one generation of scholars, but will also introduce many more generations of readers to a love of scholarship best characterized by Panofsky himself.
