His career in art history took him to the universities of Berlin, Munich, and Hamburg, where he taught from 1920 to 1933. In 1924 appeared his early major work, "Idea": Ein Beitrag zur Begriffsgeschichte der älteren Kunstheorie, which dealt with the history of the neoplatonic theory of art. Panofsky worked at the Warburg Library before it moved to London. In 1916 he married Dora Mosse, who was also an art historian. He studied at the universities of Berlin, Munich, and Freiburg/Breslau, receiving his Ph.D. But the humanist will look with suspicion upon what might be called ‘appreciationism.’ He who teaches innocent people to understand art without bothering about classical languages, boresome historical methods and dusty old documents, deprives naïveté of its charm without correcting its errors." (from Meaning in the Visual Arts, 1955)Įrwin Panofsky was born in Hanover as the son of Arnord and Caecilie (Solling) Panofsky. "As I have said before, no one can be blamed for enjoying works of art ‘naïvely’ - for appraising and interpreting them according to his lights and not caring any further.
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Panofsky defined an artist as "one who is full of images." He was especially concerned with the iconography of the various periods he studied and interpreted works through the themes, symbols, and ideas inherent in the history of art. German-American art historian and essayist, whose famous books includeThe Life and Art of Albrecht Dürer (1943) and Studies in Iconology (1939).