Le Titien: Questions d'iconologie

by Erwin Panofsky

El presente volumen presenta por primera vez en lengua castellana la última obra de Erwin Panofsky. Con su apasionante estilo habitual, en el que se mezclan erudición y claridad, trata de dar respuesta a los principales problemas que plantea el significado de los cuadros del gran pintor veneciano, de Amor sacro y Amor profano a la Alegoría de la Religión, pasando por las obras realizadas para los Habsburgo españoles. La presente edición se completa con un prólogo de Fernando Checa que pone de relieve la actualidad e importancia de este fundamental texto panofskiano.

Genres: Art

Paperback

First published January 1, 1969

About the author

Erwin Panofsky was a German art historian, whose academic career was pursued almost entirely in the U.S. after the rise of the Nazi regime. In 1935, while teaching concurrently at New York University and Princeton University (something he continued to do his entire career), he was invited to join the faculty of the newly formed Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton. From 1947 to 1948 Panofsky was the Charles Eliot Norton professor at Harvard University.

Panofsky's work remains highly influential in the modern academic study of iconography. Many of his works remain in print, including Studies in Iconology: Humanist Themes in the Art of the Renaissance (1939), and his eponymous 1943 study of Albrecht Dürer. His work has greatly influenced the theory of taste developed by French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, in books such as The Rules of Art or Distinction. In particular, Bourdieu first adapted his notion of habitus from Panofsky's Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism.

Reviews

[Noah SS · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seminal text provides a thorough discussion of Titian's works, encompassing religious themes as well as mythological (the discussion of portraits is weaker). It is divided into an introduction, 5 body chapters, and an appendix with seven excursuses--some of which relate to biographical aspects and others address unique artworks that do not clearly fit into earlier categories. Reading of this work seems essential to an informed discussion of Titian, but the text is dated in parts, and some biographical, chronological, and artistic details have been disproved by later scholarship.

For me, the mythological discussions were ultimately more interesting and effective than the chapters focused on religion. The "Bibical and Hagiological Problems" was most challenging, and "Reflections on Love and Beauty" the most insightful, particular the relationship of the hierarchy of senses to Titian's paintings of Venus with musicians. Panofsky is excellent at weaving the paintings with their potential sources--visual and literary, and more briefly touches on their relationship to contemporary theory, yet the book overall lacks a guiding thread. The footnotes are excellent, and could guide an interested reader further into the discussion. Unfortunately, in-depth discussion of color is mostly restricted to the introduction.

The 200 or so pages of text are followed by as many figures (all in black and white). The figures are generous and many contemporary and ancient sources are reproduced that I have not seen elsewhere.

[Mélinée · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dernier livre de la longue carrière de Panofsky, cet ouvrage qui retrace l’admiration de l’historien pour Titien est une valeur sûre pour mieux comprendre les mouvements artistiques de la Renaissance. Bien que cet ouvrage ait été contesté et que nombreuses des hypothèses présentées par Panofsky aient été réfutées et mises à jour par de nombreux critiques, il reste quand même un ouvrage à lire absolument. Il faut le lire déjà pour mieux comprendre la méthode de réflexion iconographique dont Panofsky est l’une des figures. Il faut aussi le lire pour sa richesse intellectuelle, bien que l’auteur ait souvent tendance à s’intéresser aux textes plus qu’aux œuvres en elles-mêmes, cet ouvrage permet d’avoir une idée beaucoup plus globale des idées philosophiques et du symbolisme de la Renaissance et de la fin du Moyen Âge tout en comprenant mieux les nouvelles interprétations de l’Antiquité faites par les artistes et auteurs néoplatoniciens et humanistes. Finalement, je dirais que cet ouvrage est empreint d’une forme de tendresse à certains moments, surtout dans le chapitre sur le temps, où l’admiration de Panofsky pour Titien transparaît comme un lien puissant qui aura marqué sa carrière.

[Troglodette · Rating 2 out of 5]

Je m'attendais à une série d'essais accessibles et stimulants à la Arasse, eh ben... pas du tout 😬