Can a painting or photograph represent movement and the passage of time? A traditional distinction, due to G. E. Lessing, between the arts of time and the arts of space suggests not: a static image (one that does not itself change) can only represent a single instant of time. This idea was attacked by Ernst Gombrich in a very influential article which is the subject of this chapter. Notions of depiction and time perception are brought together in an attempt to understand how and what static images represent: moments or movements.
Keywords: G. E. Lessing, Ernst Gombrich, art, instant, depiction, time perception