Few essays in art history have garnered the enduring reputation of Erwin Panofsky’s "Perspective as Symbolic Form", which continues to anchor and polarize studies on space and its representation. First published in 1927 in the Vorträge der Bibliothek Warburg, the text originated as a lecture delivered for the 1924-1925 academic program of the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg (KBW) in Hamburg. To mark the lecture’s centenary, this international symposium seeks to expand our understanding of perspective—chronologically, geographically, methodologically, and technologically.

While Albertian and other single-focus perspectives have attracted most scholarly attention in art history, recent studies have increasingly explored debates on perspective in different media—including cinema and virtual reality—and forms of three-dimensional representation that project alternate worldviews. This comparative endeavor demonstrates that central-point perspective remains relatively marginal on a global scale. It also prompts a reassessment and expansion of the notion of “symbolic form,” as encouraged by Panofsky’s methodology, in other words the exploration of histories of perspectives—both in the plural.

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The event is free and open to the public. Booking is not required, except for online attendance of the keynote. Only the keynote will be available online. Talks are in French except for those indicated by an asterisk * after their title, which are in English.

Sessions 1-3 & keynote (Thursday 17 and morning Friday 18)
Centre allemand d’histoire de l’art Paris
Hôtel Lully – 45 rue des Petits Champs – 75001 Paris

Session 4 (afternoon Friday 18)
Centre Pompidou – Cinéma 2 – Place Georges Pompidou – 75004 Paris
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Thursday (17.10.24)
Centre allemand d’histoire de l’art Paris (auditorium Julius Meier-Graefe)

9:30-10:00 h
Welcome and introduction *
Peter Geimer (Centre allemand d’histoire de l’art Paris) & Pierre Von-Ow (Académie de France à Rome – Villa Medici)

Session 1 I 10:05-12:15 h

"The Power of the Line in Albrecht Dürer’s’ “Vier Bücher von menschlicher Proportion” (1528)" *
Nicola Suthor (Yale University)

"On the Pain of Being Seen" *
Noam Andrews (Independent scholar)

"La perspective comme projet : le cas de la place Louis XV à Paris (1748-1753)"
Étienne Jollet (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

Session 2 I 14:00-16:10 h

"Partager un point de vue. Exercices pratiques avec Nicolas de Cuse"
Emmanuel Alloa (Université de Fribourg)

"Ambivalente perspective. Damisch et Steinberg à propos des Ménines"
Jérémie Koering (Université de Fribourg)

"Folding as Symbolic Form? On Touch and Perspective in Eighteenth-Century Britain" *
Pierre Von-Ow (Académie de France à Rome – Villa Medici)

Keynote (in person and online) I 16:30-18:00 h
"Perspective and the Genealogy of Generative Artificial Intelligence" *
Antonio Somaini (Université Paris 3 Sorbonne Nouvelle/Institut universitaire de France/Harvard University, remote)

Registration link for online attendance: https://p1ps.fr/Perspective.
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Friday (18.10.24)
Centre allemand d’histoire de l’art Paris (auditorium Julius Meier-Graefe)

Session 3 I 9:30-12:00 h

"Sur l’écran : la fiction perspective"
Philippe-Alain Michaud (Centre Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne)

"To cast a glance. Miroir, anamorphose et relief au cinéma"
Lydie Delahaye (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)

"Perspectives contrariées et modernité cinématographique"
Pierre Eugène (Université de Picardie Jules Verne)

General Q&A

Session 4 I 14:00-18:00 h
Centre Pompidou (Cinéma 2)

"Tableau, écran : Histoire de perspective"
Program curated by Enrico Camporesi & Philippe-Alain Michaud (Centre Pompidou – Musée national d’art moderne). Includes films by Ernie Gehr, David Haxton, and Hans Richter, among others.

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Organizers
Pierre Von-Ow (Académie de France à Rome – Villa Medici)
Étienne Jollet (Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne)
Nicola Suthor (Yale University)

Contact
For any inquiries, please email: pierre.vonowvillamedici.it.