Between the nachleben and the evidential paradigm: Carlo Ginzburg and the warburguian method in the history of art

Abstract

This paper analyzes the historiographical contributions of Carlo Ginzburg in the discipline of art history and his theoretical and methodological relations with the work of the German historian Aby Warburg. From the analysis of the works in which Ginzburg studies the art of the Florentine Renaissance, this paper presents a review of the warburgian concepts related to the conception of historical time, the symptoms and the importance of the trace as analytical tools for the study of visual culture. Based on this theoretical analysis, the paper presents conclusions on the relationship between the historical discipline, particularly microhistory, and art history.

Keywords

• historiography
• Methodology
• Art History
• Carlo Ginzburg
• Aby Warburg