DOI Artikel:
Pastan, Elizabeth Carson: A window on Panofsky’s Gothic architecture and scholasticism
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.59426#0076
Folia Historiae Artium
Seria Nowa, t. 19: 2021/PL ISSN 0071-6723
ELIZABETH CARSON PASTAN
Emory University, Atlanta
A WINDOW ON PANOFSKY’S GOTHIC
ARCHITECTURE AND SCHOLASTICISM
If there is one work that has served to frame interdisci-
plinarity for generations of scholars, it is Erwin Panof-
sky’s Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism.1 Through Pan-
ofsky’s analyses, we learn that a medieval structure can
share in the same kind of organizational logic as a con-
temporaneous scholarly arguments division into chap-
ters, sections, and subsections. Panofsky examines church
buildings of the 12th and 13th centuries within a 100-mile
radius of Paris in terms intended to demonstrate that they
share the same “distinctness and deductive cogency” as
arguments advanced by scholars at the university of Par-
is.2 His is an important contribution to the understudied
field of architectural iconography.3
But it is not only the argument Panofsky advances in
Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism, but his method,
that has garnered attention. In passages that display his
full rhetorical skill, Panofsky sought to describe the “men-
tal habit” that fostered a common approach to form by
theologians and builders. He characterizes the impact of
1 E. Panofsky, Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism: An Inquiry
into the Analogy of the Arts, Philosophy, and Religion in the Middle
Ages was originally published in 1951 by the Archabbey Press in
Latrobe, Pennsylvania. However, all citations within will be to my
well-worn paperback copy, which is a Meridian Book (New York,
1971).
2 E. Panofsky, Gothic, pp. 49-50 (as in note 1).
3 For architectural iconography, besides H. Sedlmayr, Die Entste-
hung der Kathedrale (Zurich, 1950), which Peter Kurmann inci-
sively discussed at the Iconologies conference in Krakow, where
this paper originated, see R. Krautheimer, ‘Introduction to an
‘Iconography of Medieval Architecture” first published in 1942
and reprinted with Postscript in idem, Studies in Early Chris-
tian, Medieval, and Renaissance Art, New York, 1969), pp. 115-150;
P. Crossley, ‘Medieval Architecture and Meaning: the Limits of
Iconography’, The Burlington Magazine, 130,1988, pp. 116-121.
scholasticism as being “more concrete than a mere ‘par-
allelism’ and yet more general than those individual [...]
‘influences’,” which he calls “a genuine cause and effect re-
lation [that] [...] comes about by diffusion.”4 Because of
his methodological transparency, his reader may root for
his point of view, even if the evidence underwhelms.
In this short paper, I will engage with Panofsky’s foun-
dational text using the lens of a study I am preparing on
early Gothic rose windows. I seek to establish what was
important about Panofsky’s work, what he might have de-
veloped further, and in some cases did develop in other
writings, and what kinds of current thinking did not fig-
ure in his argument.
THE TEXT & ITS IMPACT
Initial reviews of Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism
by Panofsky’s peers Harry Bober, Jean Bony, and Robert
Branner were admiring, and praised the volume’s “huma-
nistic breadth,” and “intellectual elegance.” Yet they also
expressed reservations about Panofsky’s method, chrono-
logical parameters, and the slim evidence he adduced for
actual contacts between scholars and makers of Gothic
buildings. Bober spoke of the danger “of forcing the in-
terpretation of form, and forcing the pattern of histori-
cal development.”5 Bony observed that Panofsky focu-
sed on developments of the 13th century, rather than the
entire Gothic period he designated (c.1130-1270).6 And
Branner not only asked where the building that embodies
the architectural solutions Panofsky identified might be
4 E. Panofsky, Gothic, pp. 20-21 (as in note 1).
5 H. Bober, ‘Review of Panofsky, Gothic Architecture and Scholasti-
cism’, The Art Bulletin, 35,1953, no. 4, pp. 310-312 at p. 312.
6 ƒ. Bony, ‘Review of Panofsky, Gothic Architecture and Scholasti-
cism’, The Burlington Magazine, 95,1953, pp. 111-112 at p. 112.
Publikacja jest udostępniona na licencji Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL).
Seria Nowa, t. 19: 2021/PL ISSN 0071-6723
ELIZABETH CARSON PASTAN
Emory University, Atlanta
A WINDOW ON PANOFSKY’S GOTHIC
ARCHITECTURE AND SCHOLASTICISM
If there is one work that has served to frame interdisci-
plinarity for generations of scholars, it is Erwin Panof-
sky’s Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism.1 Through Pan-
ofsky’s analyses, we learn that a medieval structure can
share in the same kind of organizational logic as a con-
temporaneous scholarly arguments division into chap-
ters, sections, and subsections. Panofsky examines church
buildings of the 12th and 13th centuries within a 100-mile
radius of Paris in terms intended to demonstrate that they
share the same “distinctness and deductive cogency” as
arguments advanced by scholars at the university of Par-
is.2 His is an important contribution to the understudied
field of architectural iconography.3
But it is not only the argument Panofsky advances in
Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism, but his method,
that has garnered attention. In passages that display his
full rhetorical skill, Panofsky sought to describe the “men-
tal habit” that fostered a common approach to form by
theologians and builders. He characterizes the impact of
1 E. Panofsky, Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism: An Inquiry
into the Analogy of the Arts, Philosophy, and Religion in the Middle
Ages was originally published in 1951 by the Archabbey Press in
Latrobe, Pennsylvania. However, all citations within will be to my
well-worn paperback copy, which is a Meridian Book (New York,
1971).
2 E. Panofsky, Gothic, pp. 49-50 (as in note 1).
3 For architectural iconography, besides H. Sedlmayr, Die Entste-
hung der Kathedrale (Zurich, 1950), which Peter Kurmann inci-
sively discussed at the Iconologies conference in Krakow, where
this paper originated, see R. Krautheimer, ‘Introduction to an
‘Iconography of Medieval Architecture” first published in 1942
and reprinted with Postscript in idem, Studies in Early Chris-
tian, Medieval, and Renaissance Art, New York, 1969), pp. 115-150;
P. Crossley, ‘Medieval Architecture and Meaning: the Limits of
Iconography’, The Burlington Magazine, 130,1988, pp. 116-121.
scholasticism as being “more concrete than a mere ‘par-
allelism’ and yet more general than those individual [...]
‘influences’,” which he calls “a genuine cause and effect re-
lation [that] [...] comes about by diffusion.”4 Because of
his methodological transparency, his reader may root for
his point of view, even if the evidence underwhelms.
In this short paper, I will engage with Panofsky’s foun-
dational text using the lens of a study I am preparing on
early Gothic rose windows. I seek to establish what was
important about Panofsky’s work, what he might have de-
veloped further, and in some cases did develop in other
writings, and what kinds of current thinking did not fig-
ure in his argument.
THE TEXT & ITS IMPACT
Initial reviews of Gothic Architecture and Scholasticism
by Panofsky’s peers Harry Bober, Jean Bony, and Robert
Branner were admiring, and praised the volume’s “huma-
nistic breadth,” and “intellectual elegance.” Yet they also
expressed reservations about Panofsky’s method, chrono-
logical parameters, and the slim evidence he adduced for
actual contacts between scholars and makers of Gothic
buildings. Bober spoke of the danger “of forcing the in-
terpretation of form, and forcing the pattern of histori-
cal development.”5 Bony observed that Panofsky focu-
sed on developments of the 13th century, rather than the
entire Gothic period he designated (c.1130-1270).6 And
Branner not only asked where the building that embodies
the architectural solutions Panofsky identified might be
4 E. Panofsky, Gothic, pp. 20-21 (as in note 1).
5 H. Bober, ‘Review of Panofsky, Gothic Architecture and Scholasti-
cism’, The Art Bulletin, 35,1953, no. 4, pp. 310-312 at p. 312.
6 ƒ. Bony, ‘Review of Panofsky, Gothic Architecture and Scholasti-
cism’, The Burlington Magazine, 95,1953, pp. 111-112 at p. 112.
Publikacja jest udostępniona na licencji Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 PL).