Daniel Arasse, French historian and art historian, died last december.

You can listen to him on France Culture, "histoires de peintures",
or read his books.
From his chapter "Le regard de l'escargot", in "On n'y voit rien" (Denoel), I have written this webpage (in french).

http://hgtice.free.fr/art/arasse.htm

http://hgtice.free.fr/art/escargot.htm

If one of you has time to translate this short text, please send me a message.

Daniel