Seismografen Und Orientierungsspiegel

The realization that a work of art should only be judged " as a product of the factors of its time, in which real life is reflected" inspired Aby Warburg to formulate an art history as a cultural science that knows neither temporal nor spatial boundaries. This book extends his new science of pictorial orientation to include the consciousness of " artists as seismographs" (Uwe Fleckner) up to the present day: concentrating on one single object each, the short contributions by international art historians assembled in this volume outline a contemporary approach to art history and show how artworks, as reflecting instruments of orientation, become seismographs of the world—and through them, we as well.