Tomb Sculpture Four Lectures on Its Changing Aspects from Ancient Egypt to Bernini

326 Pages·1992·79.39 MB·English

by  Erwin Panofsky

SCULPTURE
ERWIN PANOFSKY Changing Aspects
Its
from Ancient Egypt to Bernini
ABRAMS
ART
This book presents a distinguished quartet
of lectures by Erwin Panofsky, the scholar
whoiseverywhereacknowledgedastoday's
greatest interpreter of the meaning of
works ofart. In these lectures Dr.Panofsky
throws light on the world of tomb sculp-
ture, a form of art that has been with us
since the dawn of civilization, because its
imagery expresses man's hopes and fears
in the face ofdeath, hisstrivingforimmor-
tality.
The initiated reader needs no introduc-
tion to the scholarship and humanism of
Dr. Panofsky, Professor Emeritus at the
Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton.
The uninitiated will find in these lectures
a marvelous blend of learning and enter-
tainment, splendidly illustrated by 471
black-and-whitereproductions.Thevariety
and beauty of these illustrative examples
are themselves breathtaking.
Starting with Egypt and pursuing the
theme of funerary art through its fascinat-
—
ing cultural expressions Greek, Roman,
Early Christian, Romanesque, Gothic, Re-
naissance, to the great monuments of the
—
Baroque the reader comes to see the
many faces that "after-life" has taken.
Each of these looks in some way familiar
to us, however exotic its origin, for each
one carried in its day a meaning that has
never been absent in our lives.
We
are proud to offer this volume of
tomb sculpture through the ages, from
manv religions, countries, and cultures.
Dr. Panofsky enriches our understanding
ofthese monumentsincountlessways,with
wisely chosen analogies from poetry, phi-
losophy, and even music. As he broadens
our view, he brings nearer to us the com-
mon range of our human experience.
471 illustrations
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2011
in
http://www.archive.org/details/tombsculpturefouOOpano

TOMB SCULPTURE
Edited by H.W.Janson
Four Lectures on Changing
Its
M
PTU
Aspects from Ancient Egypt to Bernini
ERWIN PANOFSRY
by
NEW
HARRY ABRAMS, YORK
N. INC.,
CODMAN SQUARE
Library ofCongressCatalogCardNumber: 64-15235
All rights reseived. No part of the contents of this book may be
reproduced without the written permission ofHarryN.Abrams, Inc., NewYork
Printed and bound in West Germany
1
Contents
page
Preface
7
LECTURES
I. From Egypt to the "Tomb ofthe Nereids" 9
II. From the Mausoleum to the End ofPaganism 23
III. The Early Christian Period and
the Middle Ages North ofthe Alps 29
IV. The Renaissance, Its Antecedents and Its Sequel gn
ILLUSTRATIONS
97
I. Figures I—49 III. Figures 136—27
II. Figures 50—135 IV. Figures722—446
Selected Bibliography 3^1
Index 3II
Photographic Credits 319