§ Introduction
§ Gertrud Bing’s Unpublished Notes on Mnemosyne Panels [WIA.III.108.2]
Introduction
Giulia Zanon
Two Notebooks
Gertrud Bing’s two Kirby Series notebooks.
Under the file number WIA III.108.1.2, the archive of the Warburg Institute in London contains two small, ruled ‘reporters book’ notebooks marked “The Kirby Series”. They are identical, and both are the size of a notepad, roughly A5 size. On the cover of each is a title written in pen in English: “No. 1. Plates A–44” and “No. 2. Plates 45–79 odd”. As the reference to “Plates” suggests, the contents refer to Aby Warburg’s Atlas, whose Panels are known to be numbered progressively from 1 to 79, with some omissions, after the initial block of plates labelled A, B, and C. Inside, the notebooks contain a series of pencilled notes in Gertrud Bing’s clear handwriting, arranged according to the sequence of the Panels. Contrary to the titles on the cover, the language used inside is German. The notes form a kind of synopsis of each Panel, with instructions – mostly addressed by Gertrud to herself – for the completion, editing, and publication of the Mnemosyne Atlas.
Prelude: A Disrupted Project
Aby Warburg’s sudden death on 26 October 1929 marked the abrupt end of the period considered to be the peak of the scholar’s intellectual production (as testified in Pasquali [1930] 2022). It was a period of fervent study and prolific activity whose brightness had finally dispelled the shadows and defeated the aporia of Kreuzlingen, the Swiss sanatorium from which Warburg had returned in 1924 as a redux, with the lucid will to give a decisive turn to his intellectual action. He started with the construction of the library, which, with its elliptical hall, immediately emerged as a space with clear ideological connotations, “a rotating turret of observation and reflection” (From the Arsenal to the Laboratory (1927), in Warburg [1927] 2012, 119; about the construction of the Bibliothek Warburg see Settis [1985, 1996] 2022, Calandra di Roccolino 2019, Calandra di Roccolino 2014).
Warburg’s sudden death disrupted the joyous aftermath of an extensive journey in Italy undertaken by Warburg and Gertrud Bing in late 1928 and early 1929. This was the trip that provided an opportunity to put the “Warburg method” to the test (think, for example, of the great lecture at the Hertziana Library in Rome in January 1929; see De Laude 2014; Sears 2023) and solidified Warburg’s awareness of the absolute importance of his own cultural mission (“I am growing in the idea that my method has been well received and that it will have consequences”, Warburg wrote: Diario romano, 49). The journey had also provided the impetus for the completion of the Mnemosyne – the great figurative Atlas that follows the karst phenomenon of the expressive formulas of antiquity – which, in the two years preceding the trip, had become Warburg’s greatest, most important, and, above all, most urgent work.
The urgency to conceive and publish the Atlas is evident in the extensive notes left by Warburg and in his diaries from those years, including the Tagebuch of the Warburg Library, which was compiled by Aby Warburg, Gertrud Bing, and Fritz Saxl starting in 1926 (and by Warburg and Bing alone after 1928). Reading through the pages, on which ideas and discoveries were recorded from year to year, the presence of Mnemosyne begins to emerge more and more clearly. At first contemplated as an idea, the Atlas gradually becomes the ultimate goal of research and the mission of a lifetime. Phrases such as “… Mnemosyne will follow”, and “It is the most profound aid to achieving our goal: Mnemosyne” (Diario romano, 52, 65) become increasingly frequent. This impulse towards Mnemosyne in the diaries from 1928 and 1929 implies very clearly and in every entry a ‘we’. The presence of “College Bing”, “Herr Bing”, and “Bingius” – some of the nicknames used by Warburg in letters and diaries – is always highlighted and maintained in the foreground. In the Atlas-project, Gertrud Bing is not a mere helper, although this is the role to which she has for too long been relegated by basically misogynistic literature that has occasionally made her the ‘secretary’ and at most the ‘assistant’. Rather, she is a true co-author, a faithful companion in the period that Bing herself would define as “such a high point in the professor’s life, a wonderful conclusion and cathartic synthesis of his whole heroic and eternally combative life” (letter from Gertrud Bing to Rudolph Wittkower, 12 December 1929 [WIA GC]).
On 26 October 1929, Aby Warburg died. This interrupted a major project, the Mnemosyne Atlas, which at last seemed to be close to publication. A month later, in a letter addressed to the art historian Ulrich Middledorf, Gertrud Bing wrote:
Das letzte Jahr den Atlas doch soweit gefördert hat, dass wir daran denken dürfen, ihn herauszugeben. Gerade in den letzten Wochen ist eine neue und ziemlich endgültige Fassung der Tafeln entstanden. An fertigem zusammenhängendem Text ist zwar nicht sehre viel vorhanden, immerhin aber ist der Nachlass an Aufzeichnungen und Notizen so unendlich groß, dass wir hoffen dürfen, mosaikartig den ganzen Kommentar mit seinen eigenen Worten zusammenstellen zu können. Über die Anlage des Ganzen z.B. was die Hinzufügung von Dokumenten betrifft, sind wir auch ziemlich genau unterrichtet. Die “Mnemosyne” werden Professor Saxl und ich zusammen herausgebende […].
Over the past year, the Atlas has progressed to the point where we are thinking of publishing it. In the last few weeks a new and rather final version of the Panels has been composed. Although there is no really finished and coherent text, the body of notes and annotations is so vast that we can hope to put the whole commentary together as a mosaic of his own words. We are also well aware of the structure of the work as a whole, e.g. with regard to the addition of material. Professor Saxl and I will be the editors of Mnemosyne […] (Letter from Gertrud Bing to Ulrich Middledorf, 25 November 1929 [WIA GC], translated by G.Z.).
These lines are taken from a letter whose content is comparable to many others in the dense correspondence of the period. Faced with expressions of grief at Warburg’s death, we find in Bing no retreat into despondency but rather an outburst of positive reaction in the name of conscience and responsibility towards that bewildering but fertile legacy still in the making, which had yet to bear its best fruit. Warburg’s death certainly marked a stopping point, but what had not died was the sense of urgency clearly expressed in Bing’s words: The Atlas can – must – be published. The unflagging energy of the fire that Warburg kindled was alive and well, and Gertrud Bing’s clear, rational will was determined to carry on the most important project of all: Mnemosyne.
There are two highly important pieces of information regarding the possibility of publishing the Atlas that can be gleaned from the letter to Middledorf: 1) The state of near-completion of the last version of the Atlas, which was composed in the last weeks of Warburg’s life upon his return from his trip to Italy in the autumn of 1929; 2) The existence of a precise, methodologically ordered structure, which Warburg’s collaborators (particularly Bing) had mastered, and the possibility of constructing a commentary on the work using Warburg’s “own words” thanks to the vast corpus of notes on the subject.
The urgency of the publication of Mnemosyne, and at the same time, the difficulties that arose after Warburg’s death, are evidenced by a large number of letters and the drafting of a new publishing contract (as Bing wrote in the Tagebuch on 8 October 1929: “Long letter to Teubner. [...] Mnemosyne has been announced”, GS Tagebuch, 544; see also Centanni 2022a, 325). On 9 December 1929, after Warburg’s death, Fritz Saxl received a letter from Victor Fleischner, director of the Heinrich Keller publishing house, who was a pioneer in the use of collotype and specialised in art publications:
Nach meinen Notizen schätzen Sie den Umfang der Warburgschriften:
Kleine Schriften ca. 400 Seiten
Ungedruckte Vorträge ca. 150 Seiten
Tagebuch, Briefe, Aphorismen ca. 400 Seiten
Illustrationen insgesamt 300 Abbildungen
Atlas ca. 400 Seiten und 300 Liichtdrucktafeln
According to my notes, your estimate for the volume of Warburg’s writings:
Selected Writings, about 400 pages
Unpublished lectures, about 150 pages
Diary, letters, aphorisms approx. 400 pages
Illustrations 300 illustrations in total
Atlas approx. 400 pages and 300 collotype plates (Letter from Victor Fleischner to Fritz Saxl, 9 December 1929 [WIA GC], translated by G.Z.).
Gertrud Bing’s determination to publish Warburg’s work did not only concern the Atlas; it was primarily focused on a conceptually and editorially easier operation: the publication of the volume of edited essays. Ultimately, the collection was published by Teubner and edited by Bing and Fritz Rougemont (on the forgotten figure of Fritz Rougemont, see A forgotten essay by Fritz Rougemont on Warburg and the use of “bibliophily” as a scientific tool, published in this issue of Engramma). The republication of the edited essays certainly represented a first, fundamental step in the valorization of Warburg’s work, but as fate would have it, the Gesammelte Schriften (the “Selected Writings” to which Fleischner refers in his letter) only became available in 1932, at the dawn of the rise of National Socialism and the subsequent tragic diaspora of German intellectuals from the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg (this tragic state of affairs is illustrated by Mario Praz in his review of the collection of Warburg’s writings: Praz [1934] 2022). Moreover, October 1929 marked the beginning of a very difficult period of uncertainty, economic even more so than political (as Monica Centanni notes: “Significant, yet not sufficiently highlighted in the critical literature, is the coincidence between the outbreak of the Wall Street crisis (29 October 1929), the date of Aby’s death from a heart attack (26 October 1929): Centanni 2022a, 343), that jeopardized all the plans of the KBW and turned the fate of the Warburgkreis upside down (see Burkart [2000] 2020). The intellectuals who had gathered around the Hamburg library migrated to London, where everything changed. The name was changed from KBW to Warburg Institute, the language of scientific communication went from German to English, and the hierarchies and relationships within the group were altered (see Centanni 2022b, Centanni 2020, Takaes 2020, Takaes 2018).
Nonetheless, the newly founded Warburg Institute continued to focus on the publication of everything left behind, in primis Warburg’s unpublished works. This was stated in the Institute’s first annual report (1934–1935):
Before new English works are taken in hand, we are however faced with the task of completing those already begun in Germany. An essential piece of work of this kind we consider to be the edition of Professor Warburg’s collected works, two volumes of which appeared earlier […]. An “Atlas”, which will contain his hitherto unpublished work on “the History of Expression and Gesture in the Renaissance”, with special reference to the influence of classical sources, is being prepared by Dr. Bing (The Warburg Institute Annual Report 1934-1935, London 1935, 8).
Before new research could begin in the new English institute, it was essential to publish everything that was in the pipeline in the later years in Hamburg. First and foremost was the Atlas. The annual report indicates that around 1935 Bing was still actively working on the section of an “Atlas” on the “History of Expression and Gesture in the Renaissance”. One can imagine Bing intent on picking up the pieces of images and words that Warburg had left for Mnemosyne, delicately shaping and framing them to form “a mosaic of his own words”.
The notebooks published here for the first time have no precise date. As we have seen, the materiality of the supports, which are certainly of British manufacture, and the hand-written English titles on the covers (the use of English seems to be conditioned by the language on which the graphic design of the covers is based) allow us to date the notes with a good margin of certainty, placing them after the move across the Channel. The terminus post quem of 1932 is confirmed by two internal dates: the references to the Gesammelte Schriften, published in Leipzig in 1932, and the reference to Jean Seznec in the note to Panel 27, which provides another clue for dating the notebooks to the mid-1930s. The two notebooks thus provide further evidence that, as the first report of the Warburg Institute attests, Gertrud Bing took over the Atlas material around 1935 in preparation for the Atlas’ publication.
The Commentary Structure
The most definitive confirmation of the existence of Panel D in the Bilderatlas project and of the incipit nature of Mnemosyne’s first Panels comes from Warburg, in a note a few days before his death:
Circa 80 Gestelle mit circa 1160 Abbildungen. Werde circa 6 Tafeln zur Erkenntnistheorie und Praxis der Symbolsetzung aufstellen (A, B, C, D…).
About 80 panels with 1160 pictures. I set up about 6 panels for a theory of knowledge and a practice of symbolisation (A, B, C, D,...) (Entry of 20 October 1929, GS Tagebuch, 551, translated by G.Z.).
This statement is an essential contribution to the reconstruction of the history of the Atlas project as it testifies to: 1) the desire to include in Mnemosyne some six panels, identified by alphabetical letters rather than numbers; and 2) the theoretical nature of these ‘alphabetical’ panels, which must be read as the thesis that the Atlas seeks to test and as the elaboration of a gnoseological theory and its application through the “practice of symbolisation”. Warburg’s definition of the Panels “A, B, C, D,…” deserves further elaboration but will not be addressed here; it is however relevant to note that “Zur Erkenntnistheorie und Praxis der Symbolsetzung” is one of the titles of the introductory pages to the Geburtstagsatlas, the “Birthday Atlas”, the private edition of the Atlas prepared in 1937 by a young Ernst Gombrich (for the edition and history of the Geburtstagsatlas see, among others, Seminario Mnemosyne 2023a; for an index of contributions on this subject see Seminario Mnemosyne 2023b).
Another element worth noting is the presence of a page of notes dedicated to Panels 1-8, with each panel corresponding to a title. It is a kind of summary for the “Antike Vorprägungen”, which presents the themes: catastrophization and the belief in the stars to affect triumphal pathos, the passage through the pathetic formulae of the kidnapping and the lament, the energetic inversion between pain and fury, the mystery cults. In the economy of the commentary, this passage confirms the plan to treat the “pre-impression of the Antiquity” as a single block within the Atlas – a chapter devoted to the “original expressions of gestural language”, the repertoire of models on which the tradition of the ancients could draw during various epochs. The only panel that does not have an assigned theme is Panel 1, but given the presence of the previous Panel D/Panel 1, this fact might simply suggest that Bing wanted to insert a new Panel 1 (on this point, see Gertrud Bing’s letter to Middledorf, particularly the passage that reads: “We are also quite aware of the structure of the whole work, e.g. with regard to the addition of materials”).
The style of the annotation is that of a note. It is a dry way of writing that uses shorthand signs (‘+’, ‘–’, ‘→’) and is obviously addressed more to Bing herself than to a hypothetical reader. In the working state of someone who is trying to regain familiarity with the Panel material after five years and a traumatic move to London, Bing does not spare herself questions, doubts, or personal comments, and vows to study certain topics in greater depth. The questions raised are on several levels. Some questions concern the assembly: “Why here?” she asks about the depiction of the Muses in Panel 2; “Does the leaf from Reg. lat. 1283 belong on the next page?” she asks about Panel 21. Other doubts concern the nature of the materials. With regard to the two maps shown in Panel A, the celestial and the geographical, Bing asks why “an older map” and “a normal map”, respectively, were not used. Other questions concern the meaning of the composition and the different degrees of conceptual complexity of the juxtapositions. Panel 4 reads “[…] There is the river god (connection with Ariadne?)”; on Panel 41 she asks: “Is Virgil understood as the master of all the pathos of battle and triumph, or only as the source of the Venus Virgo?”. Bing not only asks questions but also expresses her perplexity about certain passages: “I do not understand this Panel in detail at all” in reference to Panel 34; she reiterates her willingness to research certain topics in more detail (“I must first research all the other images” is written for Panel 60).
Bing’s uncertainty on some points becomes a valuable hermeneutic tool because it explains the need to unravel the hermeticity of the most well-known meagre notes left by Warburg and published in various editions of the Atlas (from Rappl et al. 1994 onwards and, above all, Seminario Mnemosyne 2012). If the Mnemosyne project is to be seen as rhizomatically extended and intricately developed in the mind of its creator and its completion thought of as only possible thanks to the patient process of maieutics and spatial organization of the flow of mental images prematurely interrupted in October 1929, then Bing’s questions and doubts, which were close to Warburg’s during the most intense phase of his elaboration of the Mnemosyne Panels, constitute an echo of this difficult and tormented intellectual gestation.
In Gertrud Bing’s notes, distinctly Warburgian terms recur. A good example comes from the notes relating to Panel 21, which were dedicated to the Arabic version of the planets ‘on the way to magical practice’. The ancient deities in oriental garb are:
Ausgesucht nach ihrem Erinnerungsgewicht. Nachlebe Wert. Engramm. Engraphische Energie.
Chosen according to their weight on Memory. Afterlife value. Engram. Engraphic energy.
As is well known, Warburg borrowed the term “Engram” from Richard Semon’s studies on memory. According to the definition proposed by the biologist in Die Mneme (1904), the engram is the trace of a memory or experience imprinted in an individual’s neural network. Warburg took Semon’s theory and transferred it from biology to his field of study, namely cultural history.
The term thus recurs in some passages of Warburg’s writings, especially in the last period of his life. Some of such passages read: “The metamorphosis motif taken from Ovid […] has been modified, but the effect remains as a mnemonic engram linked to stimuli in the general pathosformel of the figures” (Diario romano (1929), 68-69); “It seems to me that a relief with the emperor riding impetuously over dead enemies, as it found its barbaric expression in Valente’s medal, is an engram that resists stylistic transformation of an ethical kind” (L’Antico romano nella bottega di Ghirlandaio (1929), in AWM II, 688); “The Eroici Furori cling like an engram!” (Syderalis abyssus: Giordano Bruno (1929), in AWM I, 421). The trace of the engram “persists”, “resists stylistic change”, “clings”. Note how in all these passages, the engram is always linked to the act of “resisting” transformations and changes relevant to the period and context. The sign, once deeply inscribed, cannot be washed away by the waters of time. These passages highlight, in nuce, the concept and mechanism of Nachleben, the survival and re-emergence of the ancients through latencies, karst paths, and mutations.
To better understand the meaning and dynamics of the engram’s operation, it is useful to consider Bing’s note on Panel 21 in its entirety. It suggests that the planets are “chosen according to the weight they have on the memory”. For this passage, it is useful to question the theory of Charles Darwin, another scholar from whom Warburg drew important insights. Warburg first read The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals in the Biblioteca Nazionale in Florence during his stay with August Schmarsow in 1888 and noted in his diary: “At last a book that is useful to me”. In the field of cultural memory, too, the “stronger” element prevails as it is more capable of adapting to the new context, like the planetary gods of Arab culture. This agonal element of a “struggle for survival” in which the one who “has the most weight in memory” prevails is a Darwinian feature on which the theoretical structure of the Mnemosyne Atlas is based. The fact that images and concepts are chosen, as Bing points out, “according to the weight they have in memory” cannot therefore go unnoticed. As Antonella Sbrilli writes:
L’impronta darwiniana (col suo portato di concetti quali sopravvivenza, variazione, ereditarietà) è stata riscontrata nel riconoscimento dell’“agonismo delle dinamiche culturali”, della “mimetica capacità di persistenza” di immagini e segni, della forza di sopravvivenza intrinseca che alcune forme e soggetti della tradizione figurale dimostrano nel corso del tempo e dello spazio
The Darwinian imprint (with its bearing of concepts such as survival, variation, heredity) has been found in the recognition of the “agonism of cultural dynamics”, the “mimetic capacity for persistence” of images and signs, the intrinsic survival force that certain forms and subjects of the figural tradition demonstrate in the course of time and space (Sbrilli 2004, 22, translated by G.Z.).
Interesting in Bing’s notes is the use of the term “engraphic”. “Engraphic energy” is another term derived from Semon’s work, Engraphische Wirkung der Reize auf das Individuum (“The Engraphical Effect of Stimuli on the Individual”) and is the title of the second chapter of Mneme. The term “engraphic energy” never occurs in Warburg’s corpus, but by rereading Semon’s definition, we can understand Gertrud Bing’s choice to evoke the idea of “engraphic energy” for Mnemosyne:
Ich bezeichne diese Wirkung der Reize als ihre engraphische Wirkung, weil sie sich in die organische Sustanz sozusagen eingräbt oder einschreibt. Die so bewirkte Veränderung der organischen Substanz bezeichne ich als das Engramm des betreffenden Reizes, und die Summe der Engramme, die ein Organismus ererbt oder während seines individuellen Lebens erworben hat, bezeichne ich als seine Mneme.
I call this effect of the stimuli their en graphic effect, because it engraves or inscribes itself, so to speak, in the organic substance. I call the change in the organic substance brought about in this way the engram of the stimulus in question, and the sum of the engrams that an organism has inherited or acquired during its individual life I call its mneme (R. Semon, Die Mneme, Leipzig 1904; translated by G.Z.].
Applying this biological theory to the field of the transmission of forms and ideas, we can say that the “engraphic effect” or “engraphy” is the first phase of the impression of a stimulus in collective and individual memory. From this impression, a mutation of the “organic substance” of culture itself results, a modification that can be defined as an “engram”. Finally, the set of “engrams”, inherited from tradition or acquired through external transplants, constitutes the historically connoted “cultural memory”. Bing’s chosen expression “engraphic energy” constitutes an important reading of Semon’s lesson and its Warburgian declination: it is the phase of first impression that contains the energetic potential of becoming of forms and concepts and the promise of their reappearance, forever new.
Mnemosyne Atlas and Warburg’s Writings: A single Corpus?
Bing’s notes often present specific references to various texts, sources, and critical contributions, motivating the presence of an image or series of images in the Panel (as is well known, one of the cornerstones of the method of Aby Warburg, whose one of his mottos was “Zum Bild, das Wort!”). The references are of a different nature. Bing refers to literary sources, such as the letters of Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi (whom Warburg had sent to him by Olschki during his stay in Rome, although he never mentions him directly in his texts), that testify to the new interest in a representation of restrained pain, as expressed in Panel 31; or, for Panel 40, La strage degli innocenti, a poem by Gianbattista Marino which for Warburg “is an excellent example of this bombastic baroque style, which expends its energies on the crassest of painted depictions of human violence and states of arousal” (The Entry of the Idealizing Classical Style in the Paintings of Early Renaissance, Warburg [1914] 2001, 23). Another reference is to contemporary scholarly essays, which are to be considered an essential methodological reference for understanding some of the thematic nodes of the Atlas. For example, James Frazer’s The Golden Bough (London 1915) was mentioned in reference to Panel 41a and Laocoon was called a “God-priest, King-priest, priest-sacrifice”.
In addition to sources and scholarly essays by various authors, there are explicit references to Warburg’s essays, which are referenced according to Gesammelte Schriften, the complete collection of edited essays, published by Teubner in 1932 and edited by Bing and Rougemont. See, for instance, the reference in the note to Panel 34: “Below, the peasants at work, see Gesammelte Schriften. […] Alexander, see Gesammelte Schriften”; or in the note to Panel 39: “Engraving of Venus with Dancing Couple (see Gesammelte Schriften) […] Tarsia, see Gesammelte Schriften”; or in the note to Panel 43 “Ghirlandaio. Mirror of the soul, see Gesammelte Schriften essays”, etc. As we have seen, the reference to the Gesammelte Schriften is also an important element for the dating of the notes, as it is the main confirmation of 1932 as the post quem date of the writing of the notes.
However, the references to Warburg’s writings do not end with references to published essays. For example, take Panel 79, in which Warburg constructed a montage of photographs documenting the most recent chronicle, the Eucharistic procession of Pope Pius XI in St Peter’s on 25 July 1929. Of the montage, Bing wrote: “In the centre: the Pope as news (Cf. Doktorfeier)”. “Doktorfeier” is a reference to an unpublished Warburg text, the Celebration Speech for Three Doctorates, which was delivered in Hamburg on 30 July 1929, shortly after Warburg and Bing’s return from the Italian trip (WIA.III.112, the Italian translation now in AWO I.2, 903-910). In the text, Warburg refers to a “salad of pictures” that we find in the montage of Panel 79, in the middle band on the right: this is the illustrated supplement of the “Hamburger Fremdenblatt” of the previous day. For reasons of typographical economy and layout, the iconographic section on early twentieth-century newspapers was concentrated on one or more pages reserved for illustrations. The result was a montage of images juxtaposed in a completely arbitrary manner, with jarring contrasts and unexpected parallelisms. In his address to the postgraduates, Warburg presented the work, which “at first glance seems to be about a helpless abundance [of images]”, as a cross-section of the “problematic emotional and intellectual situation” of the reappearance of the antiquity in the contemporary; it is symptomatic precisely because it is by no means accidental. Among the winners of swimming competitions, racehorses, and the members of the city’s golf club, we also see, for example, the Pope “as news”:
Pope Pius XI with the vestments and monstrance being led into St Peter’s Square in Rome on 25 July […]. As his writings on mountaineering show, Pope Pius XI was an excellent and accomplished climber. Yesterday he left Hamburg after a long stay, accompanied by the Archbishop of Osnabrück and the German Nuncio Pacelli. Before his departure the Pope had breakfast with the director of Hapag Cuno and then visited Hagenbeck […] (AWO I.2, 905-908; translated by G.Z.).
A few lines earlier, the Doktorfeier also shows Warburg’s clear intentions regarding the KBW’s scientific agenda:
The illustrated journal supplement I have provided is not merely intended to add new material to a somewhat rhapsodic conversation, but has a more ambitious purpose. On this solemn evening, it is intended to help justify the mission of the Warburg Library. […] What the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg should do is the European dyspepsia of the intellectual heritage that has been at work in the Mediterranean from the earliest times to the present (AWO I.2, 903; translated by G.Z.).
In these few lines, one can read a full awareness of the ambitious aim of the Mnemosyne project. Bing’s note on the Panel referring to the unpublished lecture is therefore not surprising. It may have been useful in interpreting the meaning of Panel 79, but it could also have been included in a wider project to publish Warburg’s unpublished writings.
In general, Bing’s notes prove that in addition to the project of compiling a commentary on the Mnemosyne Panels following certain thematic and lexical traces left by Warburg, there is full awareness of the fact that the Atlas should be included in the corpus of Aby Warburg’s production, including his unpublished works and thus going beyond the essays included in the Gesammelte Schriften.
Howver, the Atlas is certainly the most valuable among Warburg’s unpublished works. In Bing’s notebooks, the use of “Seite” (in Panel 21: “Does the sheet from Reg. 1283 belong with the next page?”), and of “Blatt” (in Panel 26: “Tabula Bianchini and the graph with the schematic comparison are relevant to Panel 27 – Schifanoja). provide important evidence that the edition is conceived as a series of “pages” and “sheets” to be moved and rearranged until a definitive and readable arrangement is found. Once again, Bing’s notes on the Mnemosyne Panels confirm that the Atlas is conceived exclusively as a book in which the tables are to be arranged alongside commentaries; it is constructed “like a mosaic of Warburg’s own words”.
Gertrud Bing’s unpublished notes on the panels of the Mnemosyne Atlas [WIA.III.108.2]
Gertrud Bing, first edition by Giulia Zanon
Panel A
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[A] “Orientierung” des Menschen in seiner Umgebung: nach oben (Himmelsbeobachtung), um sich herum in der Ebene (Ausbreitung der Kultur, Mittelmeerbecken), hinter sich in der Zeit (Geschichte, Tradition).
Warum nicht normale Karten?
Geogr. Karte bedeutet Planeten Bilderwanderung – ist also mit s. Bedeutung congruent.
Himmelskarte – holl. 17 s. angereichert (ist sie auch moralisiert?) Warum nicht altere?
Und warum Stammbaum Tornabuoni und nicht Medici (wurde offenbar gemacht für d. Ghirlandajo – Verhältnis der Zeichnung zum Fresko – Tod des Sohnes – Gelöbnisbild)
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[A] “Orientation” of man in his environment: upwards (observation of the sky), around him in space (spread of civilisation, Mediterranean basin), behind him in time (history, tradition).
Why not normal maps?
The map represents the migration of planetary images – it is therefore congruent with its meaning.
Celestial map – Dutch, seventeenth century, populated (is it also moralised?) Why not an older one?
And why the Tornabuoni family tree and not the Medici one (apparently made for Ghirlandaio – relationship of the drawing to the fresco – death of the son – votive picture).
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Panel B
Panel C
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[C] Stufen der Überwindung der Furcht vor der Kosmos.
Gefühl des Ausgeliefertseins (in d. HS) führ zur Bevölkerung des Kosmos mit Schreckgestalten.
Mars gewählt wegen Kepler.
Perseus auch auf dem Blatt.
Dann kommen die Epizyklen des Tycho Brahe. Minutendifferenz führt zur Verbesserung.
Regelmäßige Körper ist Keplers erster Versuch – also auch noch geleitet von harmonikalen Erwägungen. Endlich Marsbahn NB. Brief Keplers an Rud. II.
Erfolg der Überwindung: auf der Reise nach Ostasien umschifft des Zepp. ein Gewitter (Cf. Marsblatt) durch Fernmeldung – Thermometer
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[C] Stages of overcoming the fear of the cosmos.
The feeling of being at the mercy of cosmic powers (in the manuscript) leads to populating the cosmos with terrifying figures.
Mars chosen because of Kepler.
Perseus also on the page [Panel].
Then come the epicycles of Tycho Brahe. The slightest difference leads to evolution.
Regular bodies are Kepler's first experiment – he is therefore still bound to a harmonic conception of the cosmos. Finally Mars orbit N.B. Kepler's letter to Rudolf II.
Success of this Overcoming: during the flight to East Asia, the Zeppelin avoided a thunderstorm (see Mars page) thanks to a signal transmitted by radio – Thermometer
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Panel D [Panel 1]
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[D] Oriental (Babylonische) Weissagepraktik
(im Staats dienste?)
Thonleber von Boghazkoi
Bronzleber von Piacenza (d.h. direkte Übertragung nach dem Westen)
Bab. König mit Sterngottheit
unten Urkundenstein
Bei der Leberschau wird aus den Abweichungen vom normalen Befund geweissagt
Frage: was soll die halbe Perseus – Tafel hier? NB Ist was Oriental drauf!
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[D] Oriental (Babylonian) practice of divination
(in the service of the state?)
Clay liver of Boghazkoi
Bronze liver of Piacenza (i.e. direct transmission to the West)
Babylonian king with stellar deities
At the document in stone [Kudurru]
In hepatoscopy, deviations from normal results are used for divination.
Question: What is the half Perseus Panel doing here? N.B. There is something oriental about it!
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Panels 1-8
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[1-8] Antike Vorprägungen. Urworte der Gebärdensprache
2) Himmelsglaube
3) Anreicherung zu Weissagungs Zwecken
4) Kampf, Raub, Naturgebundenheit. Klage. Austreben + Sturz
5) Klagender + rasende Mutter. Mänaden
Orpheus + Pentheus ferreissend. von hier Inversion zur Totenklage + Bestattung. Raub von Prosperina.
6) Mysterien des Kults
Menschenopfer. Tanz. Sterben des Priester
Verwandlung. Conclamatio
7) Triumphalpathos. Apotheose
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[1-8] Imprints from the Antiquity. The original words of gestural language
2) Faith in the stars
3) Population [of the sky] for divinatory purposes
4) Fight, seize, connection with nature. Lamentation.
Ascension + fall
5) Grieving + raging mother. Maenads
Laceration of Orpheus + Pentheus. From here inversion towards lamentation + funeral rite. Rape of Proserpine.
6) Mysteries of worship
Human sacrifice. Dance. Death of the priest.
Metamorphosis. Conclamatio.
7) Triumphal Pathos. Apotheosis
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Panel 2
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[2] Aufgehende Sonne (Helios=Apoll)
Mond.
Musen! Inspiration. Warum hier?
Musen bedeuten eine kosmische Mächt
(Pneuma). Gehören außerdem zum Apoll.
Griech. gesamtaustauschung vom Himmel. Karte – abgeflacht.
Globus – Wiedergabe der Wölbung
Gesamtsage vom Perseus – alle Figuren der Sage verstirnt. Eltern: Cassiopeia + Cepheus. Perseus. Andromeda.
Ungeheuer = Ketos. Pegasus der aus d. Blut der Medusa entspringt (und wieder zum Apoll – Musen – Parnaso gehört).
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[2] The rising sun (Helios = Apoll)
Moon.
Muses! Inspiration. Why here?
Muses signify a cosmic power
(Pneuma). They have something to do with Apollo
Total transformation of the sky by the Greeks. Map – flattened.
Globe – representation of the curvature
The entire legend of Perseus – all the figures in the legend eclipse. Parents: Cassiopeia + Cepheus. Perseus. Andromeda.
Monster = Ketos. Pegasus who springs from the blood of Medusa (and returning to Apollo – Muses – Parnaso).
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Panel 3
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[3] Abrollung + Bereicherung des Globus
Runder und streifer förmiger Tierkreis von Dendera mit aegyptischen Dekanen, Tierkreiszeichen, Planeten + Fixsternen
Tabula Bianchini mit aegypt. Sternbildern = römisches Gerat der Weissagung
Wochengöttin mit d. 7 Planeten als Tagesgötten.
Jupiter Dolichenus der die Planeten aus Gewande Trägt.
Diana v. Ephesus mit den Tierkreiszeichen als Brustschild.
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[3] Unrolling + crowding the globe
Dendera Zodiac, circular and in bands, with Egyptian decans, zodiac signs, planets
+ fixed stars.
Tabula Bianchini with Egyptian constellations = device for divination among the Romans.
Deities of the week with the seven planets as god of the day.
Jupiter Dolichenus wearing the planets on his robes.
Diana of Ephesus with the zodiac signs as pectoral shield.
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Panel 4
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[4] Sarkophage (d.h. Mythologie + Totenkult)
Gigantomachie (in der Aufstellung in Verbindung mit der schlafenden Ariadne
Hercules Taten – Raub der Dejaneira durch den Centauren Nessus.
Raub der Leukippiden (?)
Paris Sarkophag bedeutet: die Oberen und die Unteren. Das Hinaufstarner der Erdgebundenen zur Erscheinung im Himmel. Dazu gehört Villa Doria-Pamphilie, wo der eine Sark. eingemauert ist als Außenwanddekoration, und der Flussgott. (Verbindg. mit d. Ariadne?)
Giganten + Centaur dazu als Naturgewalten. Dazu auch Vorderseite des Hausaltars. Aber was bedeuten die 3 andern Seiten
Etruskischer Spiegel mit der Klage um Prometheus (?)
Rechts Tafeln aus Robert. Sark. (Sturz?)
Idee: kultlische Befangenheit der Glieder → Ruhe → Acedia + Melancholia des Gemütes.
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[4] Sarcophagi (i.e. mythology + cult of the dead)
Gigantomachia (in the montage connected with the sleeping Ariadne.
Feats of Hercules – Rape of Deianira by the centaur Nessus.
Rape of the Leucippides (?)
The Paris sarcophagus represents: the high and the low. The gaze of the earthbound towards the apparition in the sky. In addition, it is part of Villa Doria-Pamphilii, where a sarcophagus has been walled up as a decoration on the outer wall, and there is the river god (related to Ariadne?).
Giants + Centaur as forces of nature. And also the front side of the domestic altar. But what do the other three sides mean?
Etruscan mirror with mourning for Prometheus (?)
Right, panels from Robert, Sarkophage (fall?)
Idea: cultic polarisation of the limbs → Calm → Acedia + Melancholy of the soul
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Panel 5
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[5] Hohle der Magna Mater.
Niobe – beraubte (und bestrafte) Mutter. Es ist Apoll der ihre Kinder tötel! Der Pädagoge hängt hier als Vorbild für den Pollaiuolo-David. Myrrha, die von ihren eigenen Vater vergewaltigt wird im Typus der klagend irrenden Niobe.
Medea-rasend, auf d. Schlangen wagen mit ihrer Kindern, brütend – ohne Geste, (an R’dr denken!)
Die Frau gegen den Mann: Orpheus, Pentheus
O. wird erschlagen, weil er die Frau verschmäht – P. weil er die Mänaden bei ihrer dionysischen Rasereien beobachtet.
Toter Klage + Toter Bestattung
Pluto, Gott der Unterwelt, raubt Proserpina, die dann zur Göttin der sich immer erneuernden Natur wird.
Was ist die Darstellung auf dem Krater?
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[5] Cave of the Magna Mater
Niobe – defrauded (and punished) mother. It is Apollo who kills his children! The pedagogue is present here as a model for Pollaiuolo’s David. Myrrha, who is raped by her own father, in the type of Niobe who flees weeping.
The furious Medea, on the chariot pulled by snakes with her children, in the act of meditating – without gestures (Rembrandt in mind!)
Woman against man: Orpheus, Pentheus
Orpheus is killed for rejecting the woman – Pentheus for spying on the Maenads in their Dionysian frenzy.
Lamentation over the dead + burial of the dead
Pluto, the god of the Underworld, abducts Proserpine, who thus becomes the goddess of nature in constant renewal.
What is the depiction on the crater?
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Panel 6
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[6] Kult – Mysterien
Opfer der Polixena.
Ajax (gleicher Sagenkreis) raubt Kassandra, die seherische Priesterin.
Mänade im thiasotischen Rausch.
Cybele (synkretistischer Mysterienkult) zieht auf d. Schiff in Rom ein.
Laokoon, Seher, Priester, stirbt. Das steht zur den ganzen Komplex des geopferten Priesterkönigs.
Was bedeutet hier die Conclamatio?
Pompeijanische Fresken bedeuten Verwandlung des Priesters. Wieso?
Totenreigen.
Dionysischer Reigen.
Warum Achill auf Skyros hier?
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[6] Cult – Mysteries
Sacrifice of Polyxena.
Ajax (similar legend) abducts Cassandra, the seer priestess.
Maenad in a state of thiasotic intoxication.
Cybele (syncretic mystery cult) arrives in Rome on a ship.
Laocoon, seer and priest, dies. This stands for the whole complex of the sacrificed priest-king.
What does the Conclamatio mean here?
The Pompeian frescoes signify a change [in the representation] of the priest. Why?
Funeral ritual dance.
Dionysian ritual dance.
Why Achilles in Skyros here?
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Panel 7
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[7] Unterwerfung und Gegenbewegung hinauf.
Römisches Triumphalpathos.
Zum Konstantinsbogen (Konstantin ist ein Leitmotiv!) gehört das Niederreiten und das Krönen in den Hauptreliefs, der auf – und die niedergehende Sonnenwagen in den Medaillons.
Titusbogen: der 7 armige Leuchter im röm. Triumph.
Krönende Nike – geflügelte Victoria.
(Schilderhebung german. Gegenstück)
Gemma Augustea – das Krönen des vergotteten Kaisers. NB Aufrichten der Spolien = Aufrichten der Kreuzes
Apotheose – Kaiserkult – Das Hinauftragen.
Trajansbogen – Überlieferungsgeschichte zu Ghirlandajo
Das Überreiten wird zur “Gerechtigkeit Trajans”
Athena ergreif den Barbaren beim Schopf
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[7] Subjugation and upward countermovement.
Roman triumphal pathos.
The Arch of Constantine (Constantine is a Leitmotif!) the sweeping riding and coronation are depicted in the main reliefs, the sun chariot rising and setting in the medallions.
Arch of Titus: the seven-armed candelabrum in the Roman Triumph.
Crowning Nike – winged Victory.
(Lifting on shields as Germanic counterpart)
Gemma Augustea – the crowning of the deified emperor. N.B. Raising of the spolia = raising of the cross.
Apotheosis – imperial cult – the raising
Arch of Trajan – History of tradition up to Ghirlandaio
Riding over becomes the “Trajan’s Justice”
Athena grabs the barbarians by the forelock.
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Panel 20
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[20] Griech. Sternglaube im arab. Gewande.
Abu Mašar
Planetenkinder + ihre Berufe
Astrologische Geographie
Perseus
Opfer (Ablösung des blutigen Opfers).
Was ist die (von Wbg. einer früheren Austellung offenbar ausdrücklich hinzugefügte) Hs. mit Skorpion u. Schlange
3. Bild Anklang an Jupiter + Saturn aus d. Lichtenberger?
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[20] Greek faith in the stars in Arabic guise
Abu Mašar
Children of the planets + their professions
Astrological geography
Perseus
Sacrifice (replacement of the bloody sacrifice).
Why the manuscript with the scorpion and serpent (which Warburg evidently added from an earlier exhibition) – an echo of the third image of Jupiter + Saturn from the Lichtenberger manuscript?
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Panel 21
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[21] Arabische Planeten (als Monstra?) auf dem Wege zur magischen Praktik.
Der schwarzgesichtige Saturn mit d. Schaufel.
Die löwenköpfige Saturn mit Vogelfüssen.
Sol auf dem Löwen (cf. Dürer)
Mars mit dem abgeschlagenen Haupt wie Perseus
Dekane = 10 Tage Herrscher
Planeten + Zodiakalzeichen + Dekanekonfiguration wie Astrol. Magn. des Angeli
Picatrix – Zauberhandbuch
Ausgesucht nach ihrem Erinnerungsgewicht. Nachlebe Wert. Engramm.
Engraphische Energie.
Gehört das Blatt aus Reg. 1283 auf die nächste Seite?
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[21] Arabian planets (as Monstra?) on the way to magical practice.
The Saturn with a dark face and shovel
The Saturn with lion’s head and bird’s paws
Sun in the house of Leo (cf. Dürer)
Mars with severed head like Perseus.
Decans= lords of the decade
Planets + signs of the zodiac + configuration of the decans as Astrolabium Magnum by Johannes Angelus
Picatrix – Handbook of Magic
Chosen according to their weight on the memory. Afterlife value. Engram.
Engraphic energy.
Does the sheet from Reg. 1283 belong with the next page?
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Panel 22
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[22] Spanien tradiert arab. Wissenschaft als magische Praktik (Alfonso el Sabio, Toledo 13 s. zeit Friedrichs II in Sizilien).
Planeten Würfelspiel. So hat sich Wbg den Gebrauch der span. Hs. Reg. 1283 vorgestellt
Dekane, Mondstationen, Paranatellonta werden zu einzelnen Sterndämonen, fern jeder Beobachtung; zu prakt. Zauber zwecken wird der Himmel angereichert u. plattgedrückt.
Tagesprophezeiung in den Blättern Scorpio + Virgo
Paranatellonta in den 3 Auffassungen der Inder Perser + des Ptolemäus im Blatt des Löwen.
Berufswahl beim Mond-Blatt
Unten Gebet und Opfer – Zauberei – unter gegebenen Constellationen.
Dekane auf geschnittenen Steinen – Amulette.
Die 2 Marsblätter aus Reg. 1283 verstehe ich nicht.
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[22] Spain transmits Arabic science as magical practice (Alfonso El Sabio, Toledo, thirteenthth century at the time of Frederick II in Sicily).
A dice game of the planets. This is how Warburg imagined the use of the Spanish manuscript Reg. 1283
Decans, lunar stations, paranatellonta become individual stellar demons, far from any observation. The sky is populated and flattened for the purposes of the magical practice.
Daily prophecy in the pages Scorpio + Virgo
Paranatellonta in the three versions, Indian, Persian + Ptolemy is on the [manuscript] Leo page.
Choice of trades on the Moon page
Below prayer and sacrifice – sorcery – under given constellations.
Decans on engraved stones – amulets.
I do not understand the 2 Mars pages from Reg. 1283.
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Panel 23
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[23] Unmittelbare Übertragung nach Mittel-Europa.
Scotus’ Planeten gleichzeitig mit Toledo,
Salone in Padua riesenhafter Wahrsage-Kalender. Mars – Widder, Jupiter, Wassermann mit Berufen
Weltbild des Dante
Planeten Wenzel hs (Scotus)
Antike Dämonen in Christlichem Gewande.
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[23] Direct transmission to central Europe.
Scotus’ planets at the same time in Toledo,
Salon of Padua as a giant divinatory calendar.
Mars – Aries, Jupiter, Aquarius with the trades.
Dante’s world view
Planets of Wenceslas (Scotus)
Ancient demons in Christian guise
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[23a] Schicksals lose.
Regelmäßiger Körper werden zu Amuletten.
Chifletius – Gnostische Symbole
Jean de Meun, Jeu de dodechédrion – Losspiel (Paris 1556) – Entsprechung des regelmässigen Körpers als Würfel mit der Gestalt und den Zahlen des Weltalls.
Lorenzo Spirito, Perugia 1492 – Losbuch mit Frage + Antwort Prinzip.
Rad – Fortuna, d.h. das Symbol des allmächtigen Schicksals, dem der Mensch ausgeliefert ist ohne seine eigene kraft entgegensetzen zu dürfen.
Abb. rechts Mitte Weiß ich nicht.
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[23a] Fates of destiny
Regular bodies become amulets.
Chifletius – Gnostic symbols
Jean de Meun, Jeu de dodechédrion – Lotto game (Paris 1556) – Representation of the regular body as a cube with the shape and numbers of the universe.
Lorenzo Spirito, Perugia 1492 – Book of fortunes with question + answer principle.
Wheel – Fortune, i.e. symbolising the omnipotent destiny to which man is exposed and is powerless to resist.
Image centre right: I don’t know.
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Panel 24
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[24] Nordische Planetenkinderbilder
(deutsch + französ.)
Theorie.
Unmittelbare + unvermeidliche Beeinflussung.
Verschiedenheiten in der Darstellung drücken
Unterschiede in der Unmittelbarkeit des Verhältnisses zwischen Planet + Kind aus z.B. Hausbuch Meister stellt Planeten im selben Raume wie Menschen dar, aber als Erscheinung im Himmel. Tübinger Hs. sondert Planeten aus, bezieht aber die “Häuses” (Tierkreiszeichen) und Berufe in die Darstellg. ein. Gothaer Hs. sondert ganz klar die Sphären von einander.
4. Reihe senkrecht verstehe ich nicht
5. Reihe gleiche Darstlg. als Woche (Tagesgötter)
Paris + Helena gehört nicht hier hin.
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[24] Nordic images of the children of the planets
(German + French)
Theory.
Direct + unavoidable influence
Differences in representation express different degrees of directness in the planet + child relationship; e.g. the Master of the Hausbuch [Schloss Wolfegg] depicts the planets in the same dimension as humans, but as appearances in the sky. The Tübingen manuscript separates the planets, but includes ‘houses’ (zodiac signs) and vocations in the depiction. The Gotha manuscript clearly separates the spheres from each other.
Fourth row vertical: I do not understand.
Fifth row, same representation as week (deity of the day)
Paris + Helen does not belong here
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Panel 25
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[25] Aulikischer Bewegungs Stil in der Darstellung kosmologischer Themen.
Tempio Malatestiano – Seitenansicht mit d. Nischen, in die Sismondo die Sarkophage berühmter Männer stellen wollte.
Plethon (als Leiche) von irgendwoher geholt. Basinius (Hesperiden, astrol. Wanderungsgedicht, auf Sismondo bezüglich). Walthurius (Kriegskunst, Maschinen, moderne Technik).
Persönl. Denkmal für Isotta + sich selbst Grabmal mit Pallas – Tempel – Triumphzug.
Musen freie Künste, Tierkreiszeichen, Planeten als Herrscher des Weltalls. (Die bekannten Zuordnungen stimmer nicht) Wbg. vermutete Poimandres als Quelle. Der Wind, der die Gewänder bewegt, stehe für das Pneuma, das durch d. Weltall weht, die Inspiration, den göttlichen Furor; Sphären Harmonie.
Traditions Geschichte der Planeten darstellg. ist an manchen Stellen nachzuweisen
(Jupiter Dolichenus)
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[25] The aulic style in movement in the representation of cosmological themes.
Tempio Malatestiano – side view with the niches in which Sigismondo wanted to place the sarcophagi of illustrious men.
Plethon (as corpse) transported from somewhere.
Basinio (Hesperis, astrological poem dedicated to Sigismondo). Valturio (Art of war, machines, modern technology).
Monument dedicated to Isotta + tomb for himself with Pallas – temple – triumphal procession.
Muses, Liberal Arts, signs of the zodiac, planets as rulers of the Universe. (Known attributions are not correct) Warburg speculated that the Pimander was the source. The wind that moves the robes, stands for the pneuma that blows in the Universe, inspiration, divine fury; harmony of the spheres.
The history of the tradition of the representation of the planets can be found in some places
(Jupiter Dolichenus)
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Panel 26
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[26] Tabula Bianchini und die schematische Vergleichstafel gehören zu Blatt 27; Schifanoja.
Der ewige Kalender hat, glaube ich, etwas mit Tycho Brahe zu tun Schifanoja als Jahreskalender.
Sollen 25 und 27 – Tempio Malatestianum und Schifanoja kontrastiert werden als Sternglaube 1) auf den Raum 2) auf die Zeit bezogen?
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[26] Tabula Bianchini and the graph with the schematic comparison belong with Panel 27 – Schifanoja.
The perpetual calendar has, I believe, something to do with Tycho Brahe.
Schifanoja as a calendar.
Are [Panels] 25 and 27 to be contrasted as faith in the stars 1) in reference to space 2) in reference to time?
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Panel 27
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[27] Hier fällt mir nur auf daß Jupiter in d. Abb. ausgelassen ist.
Oben Venus + Minerva (+ Lohengrin)
dann von r. nach l.: Ceres, Kybele, Merkur, Apollo. Darunter Vulkan.
Was dies über das um Schif. Aufsatz Gesagte hinaus bedeutet, weiß ich nicht.
Ich habe kürzlich gelesen (ich glaube bei Seznec) daß Carlo Marsupini die röm. Monatsgötter hat, wie im Pal. Schif. Nachprüfen! Wenn ja, ist er eine frühere Erwähnung als hier.
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[27] Here I note that Jupiter is omitted from the Panel.
Above Venus + Minerva (+ Lohengrin)
then from right to left: Ceres, Cybele, Mercury, Apollo. Below: Vulcan.
What does this mean, beyond that said in the essay on Schifanoja, I do not know.
I have recently read (I think in Seznec) that Carlo Marsuppini has the Roman gods of the months, as in Palazzo Schifanoja. This needs to be verified! If so, it is an earlier mention.
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[28/29] Verbindung zur vorhergehenden Tafel ist der 3. Streifen im Schif.: “das bewegte Leben”.
Giostra mit Dankblatt – Jahrmarkt u. Quacksalber – Jagd – Schlacht – Hochzeit – Gaukler.
Hinein spielen tut die Vorstellung Uccello als Maler des bewegten Lebens unter dem Zeichen d. nachlebender Antike: Perspective als Mittel das Vorbeiziehende in einem Blickpunkt im Raum festzuhalten.
Der relig. Hintergrund wird angeschlagen im Schlangenmann (v. Laokoon – uomo della casa di S. Paolo – Immunität gegen Vipernbiss) und in der Legende v.d. blutenden Hostie (das Zeichen wird wieder zur Sache die es bezeichnen soll – “das wie der Metapher” fällt weg – das Einverleiben)
Den Pisanello – Hl. Georg verstehe ich nicht.
Assoziationspunkte: das Pferd? Hat S. Giorgio was mit d. Flor. Fest zu tun?
Oder spielt Perseus hinein?
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[28/29] Connection to the previous panel is the third band of Schifanoja: ‘life in motion’.
Giostra with tabula gratulatoria – fair and sellers of medical remedies – hunting – battle – wedding – juggler.
The idea of Paolo Uccello as a painter of life in motion under the sign of the survival of Antiquity comes into play here: perspective as a means of capturing what passes from a point of view in space.
The religious background is recalled by means of the man with snakes (see Laocoon – uomo della casa di S. Paolo – immunity to the viper’s bite) and by the legend of the bleeding host (the sign returns to being what it should signify – “the as of the metaphor” is abandoned – incorporation)
I do not understand Pisanello’s St George.
Connecting element: the horse? Does St George have anything to do with the Florentine festival?
Or is it Perseus who plays a role in it?
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Panel 30
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[30] Die Stilstufe der vorhergehenden Bilder auf ihrem Höhepunkt (Halt im Verlauf des Atlas).
Fernwirkung des Kreuzes – Schaffung des “Denkraumes der Besonnenheit”
Der byz. Kaiser auf der Pisanello – Medaille (kommt nachher bei R’dt + wieder!)
Anlass seiner Anwesenheit im Abendland das Konzil, das Abend – u. Morgenland vereinigen soll!)
Beweis bei Benozzo Gozzoli.
Die Auffindung des wahren Kreuzes als Teil der Legende. Ist dies nicht bei Piero? Kirche Santa Croce.
Traum des Konstantin bei Piero: in hoc signo…
Lichtmagie zur Darstellung der Magie des Christentums. Assoziation zu R’dt.
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[30] The stylistic level of the images prior to its climax (a point maintained throughout the elaboration of the Atlas).
Remote effect of the Cross – creation of the ‘space for the thought of reflection’.
The Byzantine emperor on Pisanello’s medal (comes back later in Rembrandt!).
The occasion of his presence in the West is the Council, which was to unite West and East!
The testimony in Benozzo Gozzoli.
The finding of the true cross as part of the legend. Is it not in Piero della Francesca? Church of Santa Croce. Dream of Constantine by Piero: in hoc signo...
Magic of light to represent the magic of Christianity. Association with Rembrandt.
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Panel 31
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[31] Das suchen d. Florentiner bei den fland. Malern?Nordischer Seelenspiegel
Einführung der flandrischen Komponente.
1) Portrait – Physiognomik als Gegensatz
zur (mimischen) Gebärdensprache des Südens = innere Dramatik anstelle äußerer Bewegung.
Ital. Familien, Tani, Portinari, Arnolfini, portraitiert von Flamen.
2) Darstellung verhaltenen Schmerzes bei relig. Themen. Innerliche Religiosität.
Al. Machinghi = è una cosa devota.
3) Einkehr + Konzentration beim Denkeninnere Betrachtung des Hieronymus.
HS. des René: Versunkenheit (Landschaftsgefühl?) Lichtbehandlung.
Dazu Simon Marninon in Neapel – angehl.
Portrait des René. Auch hier nordisch Einfluss.
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[31] What do Florentines look for in Flemish painters? Nordic mirror of the soul
Introduction of the Flemish component
1) Portrait – Physiognomy as opposed to the gestural (mimic) language of the South = inner drama instead of outer movement.
The Italian families, Tani, Portinari, Arnolfini, portrayed by the Flemish.
2) Representation of restrained pain in religious subjects. Inner religiosity.
Alessandra Macinghi Strozzi = è una cosa devota.
3) Contemplation + Concentration: think of St Jerome’s inner meditation.
Manuscript of the Master of René: contemplation (sentiment of landscape?) Treatment of light.
In addition Simon Marninon in Naples – probably portrait of the Master of René. Again, Nordic influence.
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Panel 32
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[32] Fortsetzung
Derber Humor-groteske Bewegung Begehrlichkeit das Derben nur die Frau
Schachbrett – ritterlich
Hs. kenne ich nicht
Tanz um die Frau als Mittelpunkt
Moreska. Obszöne Aufforderung.
Zeichnung mit d. Frau auf d. Pfannen kenne ich nicht.
Quaresima auch ein Tanz um das begehrte Objekt.
Krämer u. d. Affen – Affentanz
Hosenkampf = Kampf um den Mann
Inversion der Werbungstanzes
Assoziation: Werbungsschmuck bei Vögeln
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[32] Coarse humour – grotesque movement –covetousness of the rough man towards the woman
Chessboard – chivalrous
I do not know the manuscript
Dance with woman in the centre
Moreska. Obscene invitation.
Drawing with woman on the pots: I don’t know it
A dance around the desired object also for Quaresima.
The salesman and the monkeys – Monkey dance
Fight for trousers – Fight for the man
Inversion of courtship dance
Association: courtship ritual in birds
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Panel 33
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[33] Beitrag des Nordens fortgesetzt
Antike alla Franzese
In der Illustration antiker Themen.
Ovid – Boccaccio.
Mythologie – Christine de Pisan
Historia Trojana
Was für Themen sind hier ausgewählt?
Ich sehe: Apollo – Kampf – Drachen – Sturz, Auffahrt, Klage (Hecuba?) Raub (Nessus + Dejaneira) Orpheus und die Frauen, Orpheus singend, Paris Urteil, Paris raubend, Verwandlung (Apoll – Daphnen)
3 Grazien.
Albericus – Juno + Jupiter, Venus + Mercur (sagt mir nichts)
Mit d. Zeichnung links unten weiß Saxl bescheid. Alexander gehört auf d. folgende Tafel.
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[33] The contribution of the North continues
Antiquity alla Franzese
In the illustration of themes from Antiquity
Ovid – Boccaccio
Mythology – Christine de Pisan
Historia Trojana
What themes have been chosen here?
I see: Apollo – battle – dragon – fall, ascent, lament (Hecuba?) Rape (Nessus + Deianira), Orpheus and the women, Orpheus singing, judgement of Paris, rape of Paris, metamorphosis (Apollo – Daphne)
The Three Graces.
Albericus – Juno + Jupiter, Venus + Mercury (doesn’t ring a bell)
Saxl knows about the drawing at the bottom left.
Alexander pertains to the next Panel.
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Panel 34
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[34] Beitrag des Nordens
Teppichstil
Diese Tafel verstehe ich im einzelnen gar nicht. Stehen die ersten 3 Teppiche zür “Höfisches Leben im Freien”? Die Hundegruppe bei des Eberjagd kommt aus der Antike. Die “arbeitenden Bauern” darunter siehe Ges. Schr. Die Zeichnungen sind Hist. Torj. und gehören zu den Teppichen im V. + A. Mus. Alexander siehe Ges. Sch.
Aber was bedeutet der Narziss und die Grablegung in diesem Zusammenhange, und wie hängt das Ganze überhaupt zusammen?
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[34] Contribution of the North.
Tapestry style
I do not understand at all this Panel in detail.
The first three tapestries represent ‘courtly life in the open air’. The group of dogs hunting wild boar comes from Antiquity. Below, peasants at work, see Gesammelte Schriften. The drawings are from the Historia Troiana and are part of the tapestries in the Victoria and Albert Museum. For Alexander, see Gesammelte Schriften.
But what do the Narcissus and the Deposition mean in this context, and how does it all relate?
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Panel 35
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[35] Ebenso unverständlich im Gedankengang. Weiter frz. Versionen von Mythol. Ovide moralisé.
Themen: Hercules – Jason – Paris (Urteil + Raub) –Achilles (Polyxena Opfer) – Pirrus – Proserpina
was soll Sol, was sollen die Grazien hier?
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[35] Equally incomprehensible in the association of ideas.
Other French versions of mythology, Ovide moralisé.
Themes: Hercules – Jason – Paris (Judgement + Rape) – Achilles (Sacrifice of Polyxena) – Pyrrhus – Proserpine.
What is the Sun doing here, what are the Graces doing here?
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Panel 36
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[36] Pesaro 1476
Eindringen der gesamten Mythologie im nordischen Gewande in das italienische Festwesen
gedruckte Beschreibung
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[36] Pesaro 1476
Penetration of all mythology in Nordic guise into the culture of the Italian feast.
Printed description
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Panel 37
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[37] Befreiung des Körpers vom Kleiderzwang. Bewegung wird durch den nackter Körpers ausdrückbar. Wie wir trotzdem die heidnische Wildheit gebändigt?
Giusto da Padua geist, daß diesen Prozess sich an der Antike vollspielt “Colla Firenze degli anteriori”. An welcher Gegenständen wird es gestattet?
1) Hercules als Prototyp der Kraft
a) Schlange?
b) Anthëus (“antikische Bewegung” = zurück zum Ursprung)
c) Raub und Vergeltung. Die moralische Interpretation. Gleichnis Charakter gewahrt durch Verwendung unter der Decke und auf dem Harnisch. d.h. Autorisation kommt vom Bildinhalten.
2) Autorisation durch Aussonderung aus dem Bildinhalt = Grisaille
a) Tanzende Putten – physischer Überschwang zwar am Thron der Madonna, aber als Fries, ebenso die tanzenden Männer in Arcetri
(Vergleich mit d. Teppichbehängen)
b) Grisaille: Kreuzigung Herkules; Pilatus
Laokoon
c) Plastiken der Heidengötter als Zeichen ihrer Überwindung: Maria Tempelgang, Kommunion der Hl. Hieronymus (NB Hl. Hieronymus Tritt., wie Hercules, Perseus, Konstantin, Paris in verschiedenen Funktionen auf, nämlich Gehäus = Kontemplation, Kommunion = Einverleibung)
Helena-Raub nur nicht ganz klar
Nur unter d. Schlagwort “Bewegung”? Kein
Beispiel d. nackte Körper! Parallele zum Nessus-Raub? Scheint mit nicht unmöglich.
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[37] Liberation of the body from the constraint of clothing.
Movement becomes expressible through the naked body. However, how does one tame pagan wildness?
Giusto da Padova argues that this process is all about antiquity “Colla Firenze degli anteriori”. On which subjects is this allowed?
1) Hercules as the prototype of strength
a) Serpent?
b) Antaeus (‘movement all’antica' = return to the origins)
c) Rape and punishment. Moralised interpretation. Allegorical character preserved by use, under cover and on the armour. i.e. authorisation comes from the content of the image.
2) Use permitted through distancing from the content of the image = grisaille
a) Dancing putti, physical exuberance on the Madonna’s throne, but as frieze, as for the dancers in Arcetri (comparison with tapestries)
b) Grisaille: crucifixion, Hercules, Pilate,
Laocoon
c) Sculptures of pagan gods as symbols of the conquest over them: presentation of Mary in the temple, communion of St. Jerome
(N.B. Triptych of St Jerome as Hercules, Perseus, Constantine, Paris in different functions, i.e. cell = contemplation = communion = incarnation)
Only the abduction of Helen is not entirely clear to me.
Only under the keyword “movement”? No
Example of a naked body! Parallel with the Rape of Nessus? Doesn’t seem impossible to me.
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Panel 38
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[38] Der Bilderkreis und die Stilstufe der Otto–prints und des frühen Florent. Kupferstichs, “Die Freigelassen des Temperaments und ihre Bändigung”.
A) Die sittsame Liebe
1) Höfisch + emblematisch verhüllt im Medici-kreis. Die Protagonisten + 4 Tondi. (Nicht “Spero”)
2) Der bestrafte Amor: Antike (gehört nach vorne), Stich, Signorelli. Dazu aber ergänzend: Nastagio degli Innocenti, Strafe für hartherzig Verschmähung. (Herz-Essen spielt hierein).
3) Triumphmotiv. Stich=Amor. Botticelli was?
Gehört Paris hierher als “berühmtes Liebespaar”?
Unten Sittsam, oben Ausgelassenheit als Fries.
Venus stich – Rechtfertigung durch d. Abhängigkeit von den Sternen
Begehrlichkeit rund um ein Objekt. Hosen Kampf + Quaresima stehen auch für Italien.
Abhängigkeit von nordischen Vorbildern.
B) Jagd + Vergnügen im Freien. Hundegruppe
v. supra. Der Typus des Wilden Mannes als Produkt a contrario der höf. Gesellschaft
Dazu gehört wohl auch der Bacchus was bedeutet Theseus + das Labyrinth
(außer daß das Flor. Picture Chronicle stilistisch hierhergehört)
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[38] The pictorial context and style of the “Otto prints” and early Florentine copper engravings, “The liberation of temperament and its taming”.
A) Modest love
1) Courtly + emblematically veiled in the Medici circle. The protagonists + 4 rounds (not “Spero”)
2) The punished Cupid: the Antique (must be placed first), the engraving, Signorelli. But also Nastagio degli innocenti, punishment for merciless rejection (eating the heart fits into this context).
3) Reason for triumph. Engraving= Amor. Botticelli in what sense?
Is Paris inserted here as a “famous pair of lovers”?
Below modesty, above exuberance as frieze.
Engraving of Venus – justification of dependence on the stars.
Desire for an object. Fight over the trousers + Quaresima are also valid in Italy.
Dependence on Nordic models.
B) Hunting + outdoor activities. Group of dogs,
vedi supra. The type of the Wild Man as outcome a contrario of courtly society. Bacchus could also be relevant, meaning Theseus + the labyrinth.
(in addition to the fact that the figured Florentine Chronicle stylistically belongs here).
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Panel 39
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[39] Das Reich der Venus
Venus-Stich mit Tanzpärchen (v. Ges. Schr.)
A) Ergreifen und B) Abwehr in der Liebe =
A) Verringern und B) Vergrößern der Distanz zwischen d. Liebenden u. d. Geliebten.
zu A. – Apoll + Daphne: Verfolgung und im Moment der Berührung die Verwandlung und damit Entziehung. Verschiedene Stadien der Annäherung bis zu dem Luini (?) wo ausstelle der Verfolgung das Ansehen getreten ist.
zu B.: Pallas-Venus. 1) Die Zurückhaltung “Spero” im Otto-print. Nur Berührung der Hände 2) Pallas die Keusche als Sehntzgöttin im Liehesturnier des Giuliano (Impresa) 3) Venus-Diana auf dem Revers der Medaille. 4) Pallas in der Pose der Venus im Teppich u. in d. Zeichnung. 5) Intarsia siehe Ges. Schr. 6) Botticelli Pallas + Kentaur Keuschheitsallegorie. 7) der gerußte Amor auf d. Buontalenti-zeichnung. Die Blühen Metamorphose, der Lorbeer des Apoll (Lorenzo-Lauro), die Flora, die Abundanzia m.d. Füllhorn, die Blumen Gewänder (auch der Palla) = die Wiederkehr der Wachstums u.d. Fruchtbarkeit im Sinne des Proserpina-Mythos.
Zu gleicher zeit natürlich formal: Befreiung des bewegten Körpers. Gesteigerte Geste sie Lauf Tanz Fliegen Flucht.
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[39] The Realm of Venus
Engraving of Venus with dancing couple (see Gesammelte Schriften)
A) Grasping and B) Fleeing in love
A) Decreasing and B) Increasing the distance between the lover and the beloved
For A. Apollo + Daphne: pursuit and, at the moment of contact, transformation and thus withdrawal. Different stages of approach up to Luini (?) where the chase is replaced by the gaze.
For B.: Pallas-Venus 1) The restraint “Spero” in the Otto print. Only hands touching. 2) Pallas the Chaste as goddess of desire in Giuliano’s amorous Giostra (Impresa) 3) Venus-Diana on the reverse of the medal 4) Pallas in the pose of Venus in the tapestry and drawing 5) Tarsia, see Gesammelte Schriften 6) Pallas + centaur by Botticelli, allegory of chastity 7) The plucked Cupid in the drawing by Buontalenti.
The metamorphosis of the flower, the laurel of Apollo (Lorenzo-Lauro), Flora, the Abundance with the cornucopia, the flowery garments (also of Pallas) = the return to floridity and fertility in the sense of the myth of Proserpine. At the same time, of course, the formal liberation of the body in movement. The amplification of gestures such as running, dancing, flying.
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Panel 40
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[40] Die rasende Bewegung, der Rausch, die Thyasotische Prozession, Herkunft aus dem Kreis des Bacchischen angedeutet durch Bacchus-Medaillons im Pal. Med. und Bacchus-stich. Die ausgelassene Heiterkeit.
Ovid-Metamorphosen in der Villa Farnesina: Fries als vorbeiziehende Prozession. Der mythische Hintergrund der idyllischen Erzählung zeigt sich in der leidenschaftlichen Gebärdensprache.
Umschwung ins Rasen und Ausbruch am Thema des Kindermordes: der Blutrausch der Soldaten, die Verzweiflung der Mütter.
Dazu Geschichte: Plinius (?) bis Marino, Kind das mit der Milch zugleich das Blut der Mutter trinkt. Bildbeschreibung? Unter suchen ob die verschiedenen Beispiele der K.M. Darstellung verschiedenes bedeuten. Was z.B. das Terracotta-Relief?
Der Marc Anton statuarisch und daher distanziert. Relief architektonisch oder bühnen mäßig?
Ich kenne nicht: vorletste Darstells lurks unter und zweite rechts oben.
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[40] The frenetic movement, the rapture, the thiasotic procession, originate from the Bacchic circle as seen in the medallions with Bacchus in the Medici Palace and the engraving with Bacchus. The exuberant rapture. Ovid’s Metamorphoses at the Villa Farnesina: friezes as a passing procession. The mythical background of the idyllic tale is revealed in a gestural language charged with pathos.
A turning point is in the run and run on the theme of the Massacre of the Innocents: the bloodlust of the soldiers, the desperation of the mothers.
The Story: Pliny (?) in Gianbattista Marino; child sucking his mother’s blood along with milk.
Description of the image? See if the various examples of depiction of infanticide have different meanings. What, for example, does the terracotta relief mean?
Marcantonio Raimondi is statuesque and therefore distant. Architectural relief or scenography?
I don’t know: the penultimate figure on the bottom left and the second on the top right.
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Panel 41
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[41] Ausschließend an die verzweifelnde Mutter von Tafel 40: die Frau als Opfernde + Geopferte, Vernichterin + Retterin
1) Medea als Kindermörderin; ihre Geschichte in Hss. + frühem Holzschnitt.
Die Gruppe Medea die ihre Kinder zum Opfer führt wird: bei Agostino Kinder – Errettung – Wandern des Hl. Bernardino; bei Roberti 1 die Gattin des Hannibal (?) die ihre Kinder aus d. brennenden Haus rettet; bei Roberti 2 Zuschauerin beider Kreuztragung [Hinzuzufügen die selbe Rolle beim Triumph Caesars von Mantegna, und Caritas!] Medea als Zauberin im Schlangenwagen als Grisaille bei Signorelli, Geißelung. Von Medea als Zauberin geht es weiter zu den Vestalinnen (?) in der Uffizi-Zeichnung, Hekate als Ninfa in der Bronze, nordischer Hexenritt in der Pariser Zeichnung.
2) Mänaden Orpheus erschlagen – die Rache der Frau am Mann.
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[41] Excluding the desperate mother of Panel 40: the woman as the one who performs the sacrifice + object of the sacrifice, executioner + saviour
1) Medea as infanticide, her story in manuscripts + early woodcuts.
The group of Medea leading her children to the sacrifice: in Agostino di Duccio children – salvation – wanderer; in Ercole de’ Roberti 1) Hannibal’s wife (?) rescuing her children from the burning house; in Ercole de’ Roberti 2) spectator of the transport of the Cross [in addition, the same role in Mantegna's Triumph of Caesar and Caritas!]
Medea as sorceress on a chariot pulled by snakes as grisaille in Signorelli’s Flagellation.
From Medea as sorceress we move on to the Vestals (?) in the Uffizi drawing, to Hecate as Ninfa in the bronze, to the Cavalcade of Nordic Witches in the Paris drawing.
2) The Maenads kill Orpheus – woman’s revenge on man.
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[41a] Ver Laokoon, Priester-Gott, Priesterkönig, Opferung des Priesters, etc.
Siehe Frazer.
Filippino’s Adam mit Laokoon-Kopf (NB Vor Auffindung der Gruppe)
NB kommt in der Bekehrung Pauli die Gruppe vor?
Was soll der Kentaur?
Archäologische Verwertung der Gruppe.
Mittelalterl. Darstellung vor d. Kenntnis die Gruppe
Schlangen-Verbindung zwischen Adam + Laokoon
Bei Ripa als “Dolore”
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[41a] Laocoon, God-priest, King-priest, priest-sacrifice, etc.
See Frazer.
Adam by Filippino Lippi with the head of Laocoon [N.B. before the group was found].
N.B. does the group appear in Paul’s Conversion?
What is the centaur for?
Archaeological use of the group.
Medieval representation before the discovery of the group.
Serpent as connection between Adam + Laocoon
In Ripa as “Dolore”
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Panel 42
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[42] Klage um den toten Gott.
Das Beinabreissen des Pentheus durch die belauschten Mänaden wird:
1) Heilung bei Donatello, Antonius-Wunder
2) Klage um den privaten Toten Torbuoni Sassetti (“all’antica” gestattet einen ungebändigten Ausdruck des Schmerzes, der Kirchenzucht verboten hatte).
3) Grablegung Christi
Grablegung bei Cossa (?) nach etrusk. Spiegel.
D. Mänade wird zur Klagenden.
Carpaccio steht für die Überwindung des wilden Schmerzes durch Einordnung in den Ryhtmus von Verfall + Wiederkehr in der Natur.
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[42] Lamentation on the Dead God.
The dismemberment of Pentheus’ limbs by the Maenads he had spied becomes:
1) Donatello’s Healing, Miracle of St. Anthony
2) Lamentation over the private death of Tornabuoni Sassetti (the “all’antica” style allows an unrestrained expression of grief, which church discipline had forbidden)
3) Burial of Christ
Burial in Cossa (?) through the Etruscan mirror
The Maenad becomes a figure of mourning
Carpaccio represents the overcoming of unbridled grief with the inclusion of the rhythm of decay + return of nature.
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Panel 43
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[43] Ghirlandajo
1) Seelenspiegel, siehe Aufsätze Ges. Schr.
Triumphbogen und verfallender Tempel bei der Anbetung
Assimilation aus Nordische bei Benedetto Ghirlandajo.
Rhetorische Geste versus Einkehr + Kontemplation bei Botti. Augustinus und Ghirlandajo Hieronymus andererseits nordische Componente bei Ghirl.
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[43] Ghirlandaio
1) Mirror of the Soul, see essays Gesammelte Schriften
Triumphal Arch and Ruined Temple in the Adoration
Assimilation of the Nordic element in Benedetto Ghirlandaio.
Rhetorical gesture versus retreat + contemplation in Botticelli’s Saint Augustine and on the other hand Nordic element in Ghirlandaio’s Saint Jerome
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Panel 44
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[44] Ghirlandajo
Antikische Componente.
Klagepathos 1) des Reliefs umgeben von röm. Thriumphalpathos 2) in Grisaille
1) Centaur, Mänadengebärde, Münzform des Portraits
2) Vorbild Reliefs am Constantinsbogen, direkten Copien wo?
Schlachtgemenge mit niedergeworfenen unter den Hufen der Pferde: antike Gemme, Sarkophag im Cod. Excurialensis (Ghirl.*) geht in die Anghiarischlachtüber
*Phaeton Darstellungen! Sturz als Komplement der Triumphes? Der Karren des Phaeton. u. d. Karren auf d. Grisaille
Die krönende Nike als herantragende Ninfa
Ist Vergil gedacht als Lehrer des ganzen Gefechts-und Triumphalpathos, oder nur als Quelle der Venus Virgo?
Die Tornabuoni-Medaille und der Sarkophag gehören inhaltlich hierher + leiten zur nächsten Tafel über.
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[44] Ghirlandaio
Ancient component
Pathos of mourning 1) of reliefs with Roman triumphal pathos 2) in the grisaille
1) Centaur, Maenad gesture, portrait medallion form
2) model of the reliefs on the Arch of Constantine, direct copies from where?
Hand-to-hand battle, being trampled under the hooves of horses: ancient gem, sarcophagus in the Codex Escurialensis (Ghirlandaio*) in the Battle of Anghiari.
*Representation of Phaeton! The Fall as counterpart to the Triumph? Phaeton’s chariot and the chariot on the grisaille.
Nike crowning as the Ninfa ingrediens
Is Virgil intended as the teacher of all the pathos of battle and triumph, or only as the source for the Venus Virgo?
The Tornabuoni medal and sarcophagus, in terms of their content, go here + lead to the next Panel.
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Panel 45
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[45] Ghirlandajo
“Die Superlative der Gebärdensprache” im Umkreise der Tornabuoni.
Geburtsszene: Kleiderlast + Ninfa
Zacharias: die Kindergestalt auf d. Zeichnung von Wbg auf den Verlust eines Kindes gedeutet.
Vielleicht die ganze Tafel: “Das Kindesopfer”?
Dazu passt die ganze Reihe links oben – unter Reiterschlacht + Römer-Sabines als Zeichen woher die Formensprache kommt, die 2 großen Mittel Bilder, Bellini Blutspende, Matt. di Giovanni Kindermord + unten rechts. Ghirl. Muzio Scevola wegen Grisaille bei Bellini, aber schwach.
Was soll Auferstehung, Anghiarischlacht, Bertoldo Bonus Eventus – Medaille?
Pietro Martire nur wegen fliehendem Mönch?
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[45] Ghirlandaio
“The superlatives of gestural language” in the Tornabuoni circle.
Nativity scene: Burden of Clothes + Ninfa
Zechariah: the figure of the child in the drawing is interpreted by Warburg as the loss of a son.
Perhaps the entire panel as “The Sacrifice of the Son”?
This theme belongs with the whole series in the top left – below the Battle on Horseback + Romani-Sabini, indicating where the formal language comes from, the two large central images, the Blood Offering in Bellini, the Massacre of the Innocents by Matteo di Giovanni + in the bottom right Muzio Scevola by Ghirlandaio because of the grisaille in Bellini, but weak.
What should the Resurrection, the Battle of Anghiari, the medal of Bertoldo di Giovanni with the Bonus Eventus mean?
Pietro Martire only because of the fleeing monk?
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Panel 46
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[46] Tornabuoni – Ninfa
Nike bei Agilulf – das eilfertige Herantragen bei der Geburtsszene “Die Spenderin”
Themenkreis Tornabuoni aus Lucrezia T. Werken. Tobias + das Engel, Judith, Ninfa. S. Giov. Batt. Flor. Patron
Medaille Venus Virgo, Fresken Villa Lemmi, Portrait + Großes Geburtsfresko stellen Giovanna Tornabuoni degli Albizzi – das wie Verwandtschaft mit Lucrezia Tornabuoni negli Medici, Mutter des Lorenzo
Das Herantragen, das Empfangen, das Heil-Spenden, das Erquicken.
Das Keuschheitsmotiv auf der Medaille passt eigentlich nicht hier her
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[46] Tornabuoni – Ninfa
Nike in Agilulfo – the hasty entrance into the childbirth scene, “the bearer of gifts”
The Tornabuoni’s repertoire of themes from the works of Lucrezia Tornabuoni. Tobias + the angel, Judith, Ninfa, St. John the Baptist patron saint of Florence
Venus Virgo medal, Villa Lemmi frescoes, portrait + large fresco with nativity scene with the figure of Giovanna Tornabuoni degli Albizzi, who is related to Lucrezia Tornabuoni in Medici, mother of Lorenzo.
The offering, the receiving, the offering of salvation, the giving of refreshment.
The motif of chastity on the medal does not really fit here
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Panel 47
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[47] Tobias – Judith (Salome)
Das Beschützen + freundlich Begleiten in derselben formalen Configuration wie das Verderben – Tragen. Heilvorgang + Vernichtungsvorgang.
Innerhals des Tobias-Motivs wie der 2 Versionen: 12 Jähr Jesus im Tempel + Heimkehr – Tobias selbst. Zusammenhang das schützende Begleiten. Tobias wird auf seinem Auszug vom Engel begleitet (Funktion in Florenz bei d. Reisen der jungen Kaufmanns Lehrlinge) Heimkehr vom Tempel ist noch ein letztes Schutz vor der Trennung, die Trennung ist aber schon drin. Das Agostino di Duccio – Relief ist ein Abschiednehmen (wessen von wem?)
Judith-Salome = “Kopfjägerinnen”
Der Mänadische Tanz bei Salome.
Das Herauftragen des Hauptes wie das des Früchtekorbes bei d. Geburtsszene.
Donatello beherrschte Geste, Ungezügeltheit nur in d. Putten-Relief.
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[47] Tobias – Judith (Salome)
Protect + friendly accompany in the same formal configuration as kill – transport.
Process of protection + Process of destruction.
It is as if there were two versions in the Tobias motif: twelve-year-old Jesus at the temple + Returning home – Tobias himself. The connection is the accompanying by protecting. Tobias in his departure is accompanied by the angel (in Florence, a function for the journey of the young merchant apprentices).
The return home from the temple is a final protection before separation, but separation is already in it. Agostino di Duccio’s relief is a farewell (from whom to whom?)
Judith – Salome = “Headhunters”
The menadic dance with Salome
The carrying of the head like that of the basket of fruit in the nativity scene.
Donatello’s controlled gesture, wildness only in the relief of the putti.
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Panel 48
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[48] Fortuna
Rad
Kugel – Schopf – Segel = fortschreitender Eingriffswille des Menschen dem Schicksal gegenüber. Wenderpunkt beim Traum des Enea Silvio.
Hier muß jede einzelne Darstellung analysiert + die Reihe historisch geordnet werden.
Angehängt ist das Ganze an den Pal. Strozzi – Sassetti- Aufsatz
Der Gedankengang von Ghirlandajo an scheint mir: das “römische Triumphalpathos” liefert Vorbilder für 1) Mord + Totschlag, Morden + Gegenwehr (Kindermord)
2) Gegenspenden (Nike -> Ninfa)
3) Heldengröße (Bellini + neue Treue)
4) Schutz bieten (Tobias + Rückkehr v. Temple)
[NB! Wie hier zu Judith + Salome?]
5) Das Eilen des Schicksals + das Aufhalten durch d. Eingriff d. Menschen
Dann kommt das triumphale Sich-Behaupten bei Mantegna
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[48] Fortune
Wheel
Sphere – tuft – sail = man’s progressive will to intervene in destiny. Turning point with the dream of Enea Silvio [Piccolomini].
Here each individual representation has to be analysed + the series must be arranged historically.
The whole is linked to the essay on Palazzo Strozzi – Sassetti.
Ghirlandaio train of thought seems to me: the ‘Roman triumphal pathos’ offers models for:
1) Assassination + manslaughter + counter-defence (infanticide)
2) Opposite ways of giving (Nike → Nymph)
3) Heroic grandeur (Bellini + renewed Faith)
4) Offer of protection (Tobias + return from the temple)
[N.B.! How do we get to Judith + Salome here?]
5) The haste of fate + the interruption by man’s intervention
Then with Mantegna comes the triumphant self-affirmation.
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Panel 49
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[49] Mantegna ist ein Hellt wie Piero.
Bei Piero die raumschaffende Lücke im kontinuierlichen Zug (das Kreuz) und das Licht von oben.
Bei Mantegna das gemessene Schreiten 1) von das würdevolle Stehen 2) im Gegensatz zum rasenden Vorbeilaufen + Tanzen bei den Florentinern.
Antike dringt nur bei bestimmten Gegenständen im Bild ein, bei andern wird sie distanziert dadurch, daß sie als Grisaille, d.h. archäologisch, als etwas schon einmal Geprägtes + Festgehaltenes dargestellt wird.
1) Triumphzug 2) Camera degli Sposi; Kindermord im Salomonsurteil, Grisaille 4) Ankunft der Kybele, der “großen Mutter” als Kultbild im Rom, Grisaille
5) Tuccia Keuschleitsmotiv, Grisaille
Grisaillen bei christl. Themen im Fries etc.
Der Überschwang erlaubt in den mythologischen Kupferstichen
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[49] Mantegna is a luminous as Piero.
In Piero the void that creates space in the continuous procession (the cross) and the light from above.
With Mantegna, the measured step 1) of standing with dignity 2) contrasts with the rapid forward running + dancing of the Florentines.
Antiquity penetrates into the image only through certain themes, while in other ways it is distanced in the grisaille representation, i.e. archaeologically, as something that has already been imprinted and fixed.
1) Triumphal procession 2) Camera degli Sposi; 3) Infanticide in the Judgement of Solomon, grisaille 4) Arrival of Cybele, the “Great Mother” as cult image in Rome, grisaille
5) Motif of Tuccia’s Chastity, grisaille
Grisailles with Christian themes in friezes, etc.
The exuberance allowed in mythological prints
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[50/51] Flatternde Gewänder + Tanzschrift
a) im kosmologischen Sphaerenspiel
b) bei den Musen v. Artes
Pneuma – Gesang
Die Ninfa nicht häuslich wie bei Ghirlandajo sondern kosmologisch
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[50/51] Fluttering robes + dance script
a) in the cosmological play of the spheres
b) in the Muses versus the Arts
Pneuma – Song
The Ninfa not domestic as in Ghirlandaio but cosmological
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Panel 52
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[52] Die ethische Seite des röm. Pathos: Gerechtigkeit des Trajan – Enthaltsamkeit des Scipio.
Trajan – geretteter Heide (Gregor + Dante) formal: eine Inversion des Überreitens – unterworfene Provinz.
Exempla
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[52] The ethical side of the Roman pathos: Trajan’s Justice – Scipio’s Continence.
Trajan – formally rescuing the pagan (Gregorio + Dante): inversion of the riding over the enemy – submissive province
Exempla
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Panel 53
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[53] Abkömmlinge des Musen
Der Parnass steht für Zusammenklang, Aufschwung durch die Inspiration, Musik, Kosmologie + Sphärenharmonie dazu gehören Pesaro-Miniatur, Lippi + Galatea.
Die Musen enthalten aber auch die Gestalt mit den aufgestützten, die für Kontemplation, Einkehr + Einsamkeit steht. Dazu gehört die Schule v. Athen
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[53] Descendants of the Muses
The Parnassus stands for harmony, ascent through inspiration, music, cosmology + harmony of the spheres: belongs with Pesaro miniature, Lippi + Galatea.
The Muses, however, also include the pose with the head resting, symbolising contemplation, meditation + solitude. Linked to this is the School of Athens.
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Panel 54
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[54] Chigi
bedeutet Horoskopglaube, bevölkerter Himmel, aber Christlich regiert.
Richtung: oben
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[54] Chigi
means the belief in the horoscope, an inhabited sky, but governed in a Christian way.
Direction: upwards
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Panel 55
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[55] Das Ausdehnen des Gefühls für den Kosmos auf die Erde (nicht mehr nur die oberen Regionen).
Paris-Urteil [Sarkophage] die Erdgötter, in liegender Haltung an die Erde gefesselt, mit den Blick an die Erscheinung der höheren Götter im Himmel gebannt. Marc-Anton-Stich, die Nymphe dreht sich heraus, zum Beschauer, fängt an selbstbewußt zu werden. Das nackt Liegen im Freien beginnt Selbstzweck zu werden – Heilbrunnen. Die Oberen verschwinden – Bild in Tivoli. Carracci – Beschäftigung im Freien. Giorgione – Das Idyll, Musik, menschliche Nacktheit, bei Bekleidung der andern.
Rubens – höfische Menschen ergehen sich in der Landschaft. Manet – Plein-air, die bürgerliche Wiedereroberung der Natur.
Ausbreitung in der Ebene.
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[55]
The extension of the feeling for the cosmos to nature (no longer just the higher regions).
Judgement of Paris [sarcophagi], the earth gods, earthbound in a semi-recumbent pose, gazing up at the appearance of the higher gods in the sky.
Marc Anton engraving, the nymph turns out towards the viewer, begins to become self-aware. Lying naked in the open air begins to become an end in itself – healing fountain. The superiors gods disappear – painting in Tivoli. Carracci – outdoor scene. Giorgione – idyll, music, nudity of some people, others clothed.
Rubens – Courtly people figures relax in the landscape. Manet – plein-air, the bourgeois reconquest of nature.
Extension in space.
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Panel 56
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[56] Auftrieb + Sturz, oben + unten, Krönung + Fall. Das Streben nach oben und sein Vergeltung, Aufrichtung der Spolien wird Aufrichtung des Kreuzen bei Filippino, der Martersäule bei Michelangelo, die Versuchung (in umgekehrter Richtung das Niederziehen) bei Schongauer jüngstes Gericht + Phaetonsturz.
Phaeton gehört zum Sonnenmythos (cf Mithras und Alexander).
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[56] Rise + fall, upper + lower, coronation + downfall. The aspiration and its reverse, the raising of the spolia becomes the erection of the cross in Filippino Lippi,
in Michelangelo the scourging column, in Schongauer’s Last Judgement becomes the temptation (in the opposite direction to the fall) + fall of Phaeton.
Phaeton belongs with the myth of the Sun (cf. Mithras and Alexander)
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Panel 57
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[57] Wanderung der Planeten nach d. Norden. Siehe Aufsatz.
Verbreitung durch die Druckerpresse
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[57] Migration of the planets to the north. See the essay.
Dissemination by the printing press
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Panel 58
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[58] Dürer + die Astrologie
Syphilis + Tierkreis – Mikrokosmos – Mann. – Flugblatt!
Persönliches Horoskop im Portrait
Sol Justitiae – Sonne im Löwen
Flussgötter als Symbol der Erdgebundenheit.
Melancolia siehe Luther Aufsatz.
Eigentlich gehört hier zu das Selbstportrait Dürers wo er auf seine Milz deutet und dazu schreibt “hier tut es mit weh”. Anfang der Naturwissenschaft. Denkweise – Suche nach der kleinsten + nächsten Ursache.
Grabplatte – Melancholiepose als Kontemplation am sich.
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[58] Dürer + astrology
Gallic disease + zodiac – microcosm – man – flyer!
Personal horoscope in the portrait
Sol Justitiae – Sun in Leo
River deities as symbol of earthboundness.
Melancholia, see essay Luther.
Actually pertinent to this [series] is Dürer’s self-portrait in which he points to his spleen and writes “here it hurts”. The origins of natural science. Way of thinking – search for the smallest + nearest cause.
Sepulchral slab – melancholic pose as introspection.
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Panel 60
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[60] Die Serie die jetzt beginnt knüpft an die Vorstellung Triumph – Trionfo. Der vorbeiziehende Zug im Festwesen der sich zur frontalen festgehalten Bühne entwickelt. Zugleich Taucht als Mythologische Figur Neptun auf (Virgil mit “Quos ego” als Autor), als Symbol für die fortschreitende Beherrschung der Meere im Zeitalter der Entdeckungen.
Die Fortuna – Vorstellung damit verknüpft als Wind der im Segel aufgefangen und dadurch dienstbar gemacht werden kann, unberechenbar erscheint den aber doch der Kähne beherrscht.
Daher kommt es das Neptun der erste der “servierenden Götter” ist (die Metapher kommt von dem Fest in Pesaro 1477 her, wo die Götter beim Festmahl gleichsam aufwarten).
Wasserkünste bei Festen als Spielerei der fortschreiten den Technik.
Historisch knüpft die Reihe an medicäische Feste an; in Florenz (Gualterotti), geht mit Cath. Medici’s Kindern nach Fraukreich (link unten Henr. II in Lyon), von da nach Holland (oben Mitte)
Die andern Darstellungen muß ich all erst nachsehen.
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[60] The series that begins now is linked to the representation of the triumphal procession – Triumph. The procession during festivals that develops into a frontal stage. At the same time as a mythological figure, Neptune appears (and as author Virgil with “Quos ego”), symbolising the progressive dominion over the sea in the age of discovery.
Linked to this is the concept of Fortune as a wind that can be caught in the sail and thus made available, appearing unpredictable but nevertheless propelling the boat.
This is why Neptune is the first of the “servant gods” (the metaphor comes from the Pesaro feast of 1477 where the gods served, so to speak, at the banquet).
Water games during festivals as a play of technical progress.
From a historical point of view, the series is connected with the Medici festivals; in Florence (Gualterotti), goes with Catherine de’ Medici’s children in France (below left Henry II in Lyon), and from there to Holland (top centre).
I have to look up all the other depictions first.
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[61-64] Ich glaube, daß dies etwas werden sollte wie: Neptun’s Reich (cf. “Reich der Venus” im Quattrocento). Anknüpfend an “Quos ego”. Oder auch: Neptun + sein Gefolge.
Einfallen tut mir aber nur etwas zum Bild von Frans Francken: Der Höhepunkt der “Servilität” des Neptun, daß er selbst mit Gefolge in den Thronsaal hineingeschwommen kommt = d.h. die Distanz der Metapher ist völlig verloren gegangen.
Hier ist natürlich eine große Lücke.
Ende des 16. Anfang 17. Jahrhunderts,
Die Valois + Habsburger Machtpolitik.
Höhepunkt des höfischen Lebens.
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[61-64] I think this [Panel] should become something like “The Realm of Neptune” (cf. “The Realm of Venus” in the fifteenthh century). Link to “Quos ego”. Or also: Neptune + his entourage.
However, I can only think of something that relates to Frans Francken’s painting: the culmination of Neptune’s “servitude” as he and his retinue swimming into the throne room = i.e. the distance of the metaphor has been completely lost.
There is, of course, a large gap here.
Late sixteenth century, early seventeenth century,
The politics of power of the Valois + Habsburgs.
Highest moment of court life.
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Panel 70
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[70] R’dt u. d. Barock
Gegenspieler: Rubens u. d. Theater
Themen:
1) Seefahrt (an Neptun anknüpfend) dazu Fortuna; das Entschwinden in die Ferne, Unbekannte, Unerreichbare.
2) Raub der Proserpina; Fahrt in die Unterwelt; Wiederkehr im Frühling. Dazu Orpheus in einer andern Rolle als bei Mantegna + Dürer.
3) Opfer Iphigenie – Polyxena
Wie gehören dazu: Kindermord + Anbetung (mit frontales, nicht schreiten der Ninfa)?
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[70] Rembrandt and the Baroque
Opponents at play: Rubens and the Theatre
Theme:
1) Sea voyage (linked to Neptune) and Fortuna; the disappearance into the distance, the unknown, the unattainable.
2) Rape of Proserpine; the journey to the underworld. Also Orpheus in a different role compared to Mantegna + Dürer.
3) Sacrifice of Iphigenia – Polyxena
How does it link with: infanticide + adoration (with frontal not striding Ninfa)?
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Panel 71
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[71] Die Wahl des Helden durch Schilderhebung.
Gegensatz Apotheose = Wahl durch macht von oben (Schilderhebung von unter)
Im Theater – bei R’dts Gegnern + Konkurrenten. Art Officiel.
Warburg hielt die Schilderhebung für eine germanische Form der Huldigung. Otto I oder II – von da in den Pariser Psalter?
Wen (gleichzeitig?) wählt für Karl I von England die gleiche Form.
In dem schon Warburg – Blatt kommt neben der Schilderhebung auch der Schwur auf das Schwert vor.
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[71]The election of the hero by elevation on the shield.
The opposite of apotheosis = election by a power from above (elevation on the shield from below)
In the theatre – with Rembrandt’s opponents + rivals. Art Officiel.
Warburg considered the raising on the shield a Germanic form of homage. Otto I or II – from here to the Paris Psalter?
Who (in the same period?) chooses the same form for Charles I of England.
In Warburg’s note – in addition to the raising on the shield there is also the oath on the sword.
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Panel 72
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[72] Das Geheimnis des Leibesmahls
Rhetorisch bei O. von Vaen, Ovens + Tempesta. Gesammelt + intensiv bei R’dt, weil das christl. Abendmahl darin aufgenommen ist.
Die Idee daß gemeinsame Teilnahme am Essen die Gemeinschaft herstellt – verfolgt in die moderne Messe und den studentischen Kommers.
Philemon + Bauci gehört in denselben Zusammenhang – das Bewirten des Fremden am eignen Tisch und dadurch Aufnahme in die Gemeinschaft.
Messias Idee?
Samson + Dalilah, weiß ich, bedeutete Kopfjägerin – Ninfa – nicht bringend sondern in umgekehrter Richtung aus die Bild hinauseilend. Aber warum hier? Wegen des Schwertes (cf. Detail)?
Blendung? (Cl. Civilis ist ein äugig)
Ich weiß ist nicht
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[72] The mystery of the liturgical supper.
Rhetorical in Otto von Van Veen, Ovens + Tempesta.
Contemplative + intense in Rembrandt, because it includes the Last Supper of Christ.
The idea that collective participation in the meal creates communion – pursued in modern mass and student goliardic banquets.
Philemon + Baucis are relevant to the same context – serving the stranger at one’s table and thus welcoming him into the community.
An idea of a Messiah?
Samson + Delilah, I know, means headhunter – Ninfa – who does not bring something but rushes out of the picture in the opposite direction. But why is she here? Because of the sword (cf. the detail)?
For the blinding? (Claudio Civile is monocle).
I don’t know.
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Panel 73
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[73] Dies scheint mir aus 2 Teilen zu bestehen:
1) Die Szene auf der Brücke, die eine besondere Bedeutung im Freiheitskampf d. Bataver gehabt haben muß, da sie auf d. Titelblatt des Berkheide erscheint.
2) Die Kinderszene, höchst wahrscheinlich Kinder die geschützt sind oder geschützt werden sollen durch den Freiheitskampf der Väter. Durch das Detail d. Zeichnung wird die Brücke geschlagen zum Kindermord.
Medea als Kindermörderin auf dem Theater – dagegen die völlige.
Abwesenheit von Gestikulation bei R’dt – die + sinnende+ brütende Medea
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[73] This seems to me to consists of two parts:
1) The bridge scene, which must have had a special significance in the Batavian war of liberation, since it appears on the frontispiece of Berkhey.
2) The scene of children, most probably children who are protected or should be protected by their fathers’ struggle for freedom. The detail of the drawing builds a bridge to the Massacre of the Innocents.
Medea as murderer of the children in the theatre – in contrast to the whole [the whole Panel].
Absence of mimicry in Rembrandt – the pensive + pondering Medea.
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Panel 74
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[74] Die Fernwirkung.
Bei Masaccio Schattenheilung ist jede Magie durch Berührung fortgefallen. Ebenso die Kranken Heilung bei R’dt + die Bewehrung des Hauptmanns die auch durch Ausehen geschieht. Petrus + Johannes dieselbe Erzäh[l]ung wie Masaccio?
Die Ähnlichkeit der künstlerischen Mittel bei Masaccio. Raffael + R’dt: die groß Gewandfigur im Kreise von Christus. Rückgreifen auf Pisanello.
Bei R’dt das Licht.
Das selbe Prinzip des Distanz auf ethischem Gebiet: die Enthaltsamkeit astenersi?des Scipio (kontrastiert etwa mit dem Verfolgen + Ergreifen bei Apoll – Daphne etc).
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[74] Effective remote action
In Masaccio’s shadow healing, all the magic of the contact is lost. Likewise the healing of the sick in Rembrandt + the armouring of the captain which also happens by sight. Peter + John have the same narration of Masaccio?
The similarity of artistic means in Masaccio. Raphael + Rembrandt: the large draped figure in the circle of Christ. Recourse to Pisanello.
In Rembrandt the light.
The same principle of distancing in the ethical field: Scipio’s Continence (contrasted, for example, with the pursuit + seizing in Apollo – Daphne, etc.).
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Panel 75
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[75] Die “interesselose” Betrachtung des Mensch. Körpers im Gegensatz zur
1) mirakulösen (Lykosthenes) 2) magischen zu Weissagungszwecken (Demokrit + Heraklit) 3) Affectbetonten (Totenklage) 4) einverleibenden (Totenfresser).
Demokrit + Heraklit als Vertreter des Wendepunktes. Die Weissagungsleber wird zum Objekt der (philosophischen)
Kontemplation.
1. Anatomie bewahrt das formale Schema der Totenklage resp. Grablegung (ebenso wie d. gleichfalls medizinische Holzschnitt des Anglicus)
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[75] The “disinterested” consideration of the human body in contrast to:
1) the miraculous (Lycosthenes) 2) the magical for the purpose of divination (Democritus + Heraclitus) 3) the emphasis on sentiment (funeral lamentation) 4) incorporation (eating corpses)
Democritus + Heraclitus as representatives of a turning point. The divinatory liver becomes an object of (philosophical) contemplation.
Anatomy retains the formal schema of lament and burial (just like Anglicus’ medical engraving)
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Panel 76
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[76] Das Tobias-Motiv wird zur Heim
– Kehr aus der Tempel
Elsheimer – R’dt
Antike noch wirksam bei Rdt’s Vorläufer (Pieter v.d. Borch?) – Niobe = Klagende Mutter. Auch bei Rubens Antike – Junofigur.
Die Augensprache schon bei P.v.d.B. – bei R’dt aber einziges Mittel, ohne rhetorische Gewandbewegung.
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[76] Tobias’ motif becomes towards home
– Return from the Temple
Elsheimer – Rembrandt
The Antique is still effective in Rembrandt’s forerunner (Pieter van der Borcht?) – Niobe = grieving mother. The Ancient is also in Rubens – Juno figure
The language of the gaze in Pieter van der Borch – but in Rembrandt it is the only mean, without the rhetorical language of the moving clothes.
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Panel 77
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[77] Eindringen der Pathos Motive in die Formensprache des tägl. Lebens.
1) Photographie von Tagesereignissen: Golfspielerin = Kopfjägerin
2) Reklame: Fisch = Tobias, 4711 = Ninfa "Hausfee" = Nike.
3) Marke: Neptun in Barbados, Mänade in Frankreich, Arethusa wo? (Barbados histor. Deszendenz nachweisbar: Staatssiegel Karls I. [sic!])
4) Parkschmuck: Hindenburg unter den Schutz des Adlers, statt getragen vom Adler wie in der Apotheose der röm. Kaiser
__
nicht dazugehörig: Delacroix
1) Medea
2) Pest wiederholt das Motiv vom Kind das bei der Toten Mutter noch Nahrung sucht
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[77] The entry of pathos formulas into the gestural language of everyday life.
1) Photography of everyday events: golf player = headhunter
2) Advertisement: fish = Tobias, 4711 = Ninfa
“Domestic fairy” = Nike
3) Postage stamp: Neptune in Barbados, maenad in France, Arethusa where? (Historical derivation from Barbados can be documented: seal of Charles I)
4) Monument in the park: Hindenburg under the protection of the eagle, instead of being carried by the eagle as in the apotheosis of the Roman emperor.
__
not related: Delacroix
1) Medea
2) The Plague reproposes the motif of the child who continues to seek nourishment from its dead mother.
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Panel 78
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[78] Lateranverträge:
Versöhnung zwischen Weltliche + Geistlicher Macht, Antike + Christentum, “Lorbeer + Märtyrer palme”
Verzicht des Papsttums auf mehr als einen symbolischen Landbesitz “Nur das Grab Petri”
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[78] Lateran Pacts:
Reconciliation between secular + ecclesiastical power, between Antiquity + Christianity, “laurel + palm of martyrdom”.
Renunciation of the papacy’s possession of land, except the symbolic “only Peter’s tomb”.
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Panel 79
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[79] Die Messe als Machtanspruch.
Echter Stuhl Petri (mit antiker Mythologie + Astrologie) und der pompöse Überschwang bei Bernini.
Messe d. Bolsena – Rückfall in die wörtliche Auslegung der Transsubstantiation als Wunder. Jul. II. “der kriegerische Papst”.
Mystische Transsubstantiation bei Botticelli – letzte Kommunion des Hieronymus
Missbräuchliche Verkennung der Funktion d. Metapher: Hostienverkauf + Hostienschändung (Ritualmord)
Prachtentfaltung bei der Massen – Messe auf d. Petersplatz: Der Triumphzug mit d. oriental. Wedeln. Die Schweizergarde (wie bei Jul. II) Das päpstliche Heer.
Die (unbefugte) geistl. Hilfeleistung bei den Opfern des Eisenbahn Unglücks (rechts unten).
Dazwischen: der Pabst als news (Cf. Doktorfeier)
Was sollen die japanischen Martergeschichten?
Was soll Giotto’s Spes? Hat irgend weis mit der Hostie zu tun kann aber keine finden.
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[79] The Mass as a claim to power.
The true Chair of St Peter (with ancient mythology + astrology) and the pompous exuberance in Bernini.
Bolsena Mass – relapse into literal interpretation of transubstantiation as miracle. Julius II “the warrior pope”.
Mystical transubstantiation in Botticelli – Girolamo’s Last Communion.
Abusive misinterpretation of the function of the metaphor: sale of the host + profanation of the host (ritual murder).
Display of magnificence to the masses – mass in St Peter’s Square: the triumphal procession with oriental palms.
The Swiss Guard (as in the time of Julius II). The papal army.
The (unauthorised) spiritual aid to the victim of the train disaster (bottom right).
In the centre: the Pope as news (cf. Doktorfeier)
What is the point of the depictions of Japanese torture?
Why Giotto’s Speranza? It has something to do with the host but I cannot find any connection.
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My warmest thanks to Monica Centanni and Maurizio Ghelardi for their linguistic and conceptual revision and exchange during the writing of this contribution.
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- Takaes 2020
I. Takaes, “Il y a un sort de revenant”, “La Rivista di Engramma” 171 (gennaio-febbraio 2020), 97-112.
We present hitherto unpublished handwritten notes made by Gertrud Bing after the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg relocated to London, possibly in the mid-1930s. The notes, which were written in two notebooks now housed at the Warburg Institute Archive, provide a synopsis of each Panel of the Mnemosyne Atlas. They include indications for the completion, editing, and publication of the Atlas. In her Introduction, Giulia Zanon attempts to contextualise this invaluable testimony through the study of letters and documents, dating from the final months of 1929, which were for both Warburg and Bing the most intense and productive period of work on the Atlas. She also considers the period following Warburg's death and the subsequent abrupt interruption of the Atlas project. The aim of this contribution is to emphasise the considerable significance of this document both for the hermeneutics of Mnemosyne and its publishing history. It constitutes evidence of the unwavering commitment to publish the Bilderatlas as part of a larger project to publish Warburg’s corpus.
keywords | Gertrud Bing; Aby Warburg; Mnemosyne Atlas; Gesammelte Schriften; Teubner.
questo numero di Engramma è a invito: la revisione dei saggi è stata affidata al comitato editoriale e all’international advisory board della rivista
