Ikonologie (Erwin Panofsky, Edgar Wind)

This chapter highlights the role Plotinus (and Neoplatonism more generally) plays in the iconological approach to Renaissance painting, especially in the works of Erwin Panofsky and Edgar Wind. An iconological analysis tries to uncover the symbolic dimension or intrinsic meaning of a work by considering its cultural and social background. Neoplatonism – through Ficino and the Florentine school – directly and fundamentally influenced many Renaissance painters. The chapter presents major figures of the movement and exemplary iconological analyses based on Neoplatonic thought.