Perspective: A Symbolic Form

This small book by Panofsky from 1927 is one of those great pioneering books that continues to resonate: It has left its mark on all art history and philosophy discussions about perspective in the last century, becoming a classic as one of the great products of modern thought. The book is a prime example of the author's original art historical method in its early stages, and it combines explanations limited to the usual scope of art history with broader developments in theories of knowledge and cultural change. Here, Panofsky utilizes his immense knowledge, encompassing art history, classical philosophy, theology, science, and optics, to reveal a kind of archaeology of human vision, gaze, and design.

In Panofsky's hands, perspective ceases to be merely a perfected technique and instead gains ontological significance, becoming a fundamental device of a predominantly Western "will to form." Panofsky demonstrates its ontological value and its temporal uniqueness, showing how it gave birth to different yet equally expansive worlds. This explains in detail how these distinct spatial/spatial systems developed over a long period, and the types of knowledge, beliefs, and forms of exchange that characterize the cultures emerging from them. In our modern era, he shows that it cannot be separated from its unique means of storage for the expression of an abstract and homogeneous infinity.