Antiquity Unleashed

Aby Warburg (1866-1929) is among the most influential and fascinating art historians of the 20th century. His life's work was particularly devoted to the plotting of ancient patterns of representation as expressive models for reproducing human passions in Renaissance art. For it, he developed is famous "pathos formula" concept, the first public presentation of which was at a teacher's congress in St. Pauli in Hamburg in 1905. What was not known until now was that Warburg borrowed artworks from the Hamburger Kunsthalle as visual aids for that lecture, including work by Albrecht Dürer and Andrea Mantegna. A reconstruction of the exhibition Warburg organized will be on view for the first time in the Hall of Master Drawings, supplemented by15th and 16th century prints. Source material and work by Max Klinger and Arnold Böcklin lends further insight into Warburg's time. The exhibition includes a total 40-50 drawings and prints.