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History of Art, Reason 111ception is no more faced with a ‘‘thing in itself’’ than is theprocess of cognition [die künstlerische Anschauung . . . als dererkennende Verstand]; that on the contrary the one as well asthe other can be sure of the validity of its judgments preciselybecause it alone determines the rules of its world (i.e., it hasno objects other than those first constituted within itself ). 70Such would be the essential condition in which all knowledgegrounds its objects—including art objects. Such would be, still accordingto the text of Idea, the inaugural achievement of Vasari’s book inthe domain of the history of art. Not only with Vasari did a ‘‘liberalized’’métier discover within itself an authority comparable to that ofconceptual knowledge (something that Alberti, in his way, had alreadycalled for): the moment had really arrived to celebrate the marriagebetween cognition and the intuition that produces art objects.That disegno might proceed from the intellect, this meant squarelythat art and science could be congruent. It meant, furthermore, thata science of art was possible, which would be called the History ofArt. All things born in the Renaissance, and fit to be declined foreverunder the term ‘‘humanism.’’ In short, Vasari was already Kantian becausehe worked, according to Panofsky, in a way that Kant wouldhave called ‘‘objective’’ or ‘‘disinterested,’’ working on the same occasionin a way that was ‘‘strictly art-historical.’’ 71 But the reconciliationdoes not end there: Panofsky goes on to give the counter-subject ofthis structure, suggesting to us that Kant himself was still a humanist:Nine days before his death Immanuel Kant was visited by hisphysician. Old, ill, and nearly blind, he rose from his chairand stood trembling with weakness and muttering unintelligiblewords. Finally his faithful companion realized that hewould not sit down again until the visitor had taken a seat.This he did, and Kant then permitted himself to be helped tohis chair and, after having regained some of his strength, said,‘‘Das Gefühl für Humanität hat mich noch nicht verlassen’’—‘‘thesense of humanity has not yet left me.’’ The two men weremoved almost to tears. For, though the word Humanität had