ABSTRACT
Edwin Panofsky's Meaning in the Visual Arts deals with a variety of subjects. Thus, any discussion about the contemporary relevance of this seminal text, or the extent to which it is still challenging or transforming existing ideas, must take into account the most recent reception of Panofsky's thinking as a whole. Being at the forefront of theoretical developments and intellectual debates of the decades before and after 1950, Panofsky's approach to the study of art history became hugely influential both in the discipline and beyond. Each essay in Panofsky's Meaning in the Visual Arts raises different questions and follows Panofsky's critical approach within various contexts. Overall, it was Panofsky's attempt to provide an iconological method of reading and understanding the image of an artwork that triggered debates, attracted much criticism and formed the starting point for later scholars who differed in their approach.
