Nymphs

In 1900, art historians André Jolles and Aby Warburg embarked on an experimental dialogue centered around a captivating figure: a nymph. Warburg’s response, defining her as “an elemental spirit, a pagan goddess in exile,” becomes the cornerstone of this theoretical exploration of female representation.

Giorgio Agamben delves into the concept of the “elemental spirit,” an idea often overlooked by scholars, to unlock its significance in the history of iconography.

Agamben examines subjects such as the aesthetic theories of choreographer Domineco da Piacenza, Friedrich Theodor Vischer’s essay on the “symbol,” Walter Benjamin’s concept of the dialectic image, and the discoveries of photographer Nathan Lerner. From these investigations emerges an exploration of the ideas of time and the image.