ABSTRACT
Erwin Panofsky’s book Idea was published in 1924 as volume 5 of the “Studien der Bibliothek Warburg.” It has been the go-to textbook on the concept of “Idea” in art theory and enjoys the respect of even the most passionate of Panofsky critics. For Panofsky the “Idea” subject was central, and his fascination with it can be traced to his doctoral dissertation on Durer’s art theory, completed in Freiburg in 1913 under the supervision of Wilhelm Voge. The systematic problems that Durer’s makeshift solution failed to solve did, of course, not escape Panofsky’s razor-sharp dialectical mind, and so he pursued other solutions to them. Panofsky’s Idea is one of those rare books that successfully combines systematization and dramatization. The reader is confronted with successive waves of contraction and tension release, but these are not an end in themselves; they underpin Panofsky’s rhythmic line of argument, which called for just that exposition of problems and tensions and their resolution.
