The art historian subjects his “material” to a rational archaeological analysis at times as meticulously exact, comprehensive and involved as any physical or astronomical research. But he constitutes his “material” by means of an intuitive aesthetic re-creation, including the perception and appraisal of “quality,” just as any “ordinary” person does when he or she looks at a picture.

Erwin Panofsky  |  1940

Performances of pictures ought to be one main thing our discipline tries to do.

T.J. Clark  |  2019