Scenes from a History of the Image

A history of "the image" should force a convergence of three fundamental human activities: seeing, thinking, and depicting. Images have long been understood to be the currency of all three, so a comprehensive history would have to venture into many of the disciplines that bear on these activities. This article is something much more limited: a collection of significant episodes that indicate something of the range a full history of the image would require. It seeks also to demonstrate that particularized concepts of the image are invaluable for correlating models of seeing, thinking, and picturing in specific times and places.