In BIlderatlas Mnemosyne, Warburg presents Images wIthIn a framework that transforms them Into the vIsual manIfestatIon of emotIons and thought and Integrates theIr thematIc meanIng structure, makIng vIsIble a sImultaneous phIlosophIcal truth rather than a sImultaneous constructIon of hIstory. In thIs way, the Images of dIfferent tImes acquIre new posItIons and meanIngs, and thIs act, shaped by Warburg's wIll, turns Into a cultural archaeology of knowledge. ObvIously, Warburg's attempt Is a theory of remembrance that develops on the constructIon of an Involuntary memory ImagInary. Because the mysterIous Images used here turn the IconIc photographs of the past Into a means of re-memberIng, by InfusIng them wIth Intense emotIons. And based on surprIsIng Image assocIatIons, a vIsIon of memory that Is subjected to a dramatic fragIlIty Is constructed. Therefore, an atlas of spIrItual anthropology emerges that brIngs together dIfferent tImes and places, and that works In depth.

a timeless visual memory archive

The variable design and mobile state of the Bilderatlas, which was clarified in its final version in 1929, is important in terms of the diverse use of iconic indicators it references through photographic technique,the transformation of cultural values in reviving traces of the past, and nourishing the fetishizingcharacter of the image. The photographic images that Aby Warburg brought together under certain conceptual headings include, for practical reasons, primarily art reproduction photographs as well as stamps, industrial advertising products, research notes and drawings taken from diaries. Thesematerials brought together stand out with what they leave outside, almost transforming into new historical figures of an internal and specific pursuit. To exemplify, the formalist static structure of theItalian Renaissance seems to gain a socio-cultural meaning by transforming into a new silhouette that expresses movement and energy in Warburg’s hands.

Each of the thematic visuals sequentially articulated to each other in each panel, while being included in a timeless memory archive, on one hand reveals a critical map of ancient images and on the other forms one of the fundamental steps of modernity. What Warburg cites with the directly added parts is, in a way, the passionate melancholy of a seductive curiosity imprisoned in the seeing and thinking areas at the center of a personal experience initiative. This is also a photomontage aesthetic. That is,images transform in different times and spaces, boundaries melt, and new meanings are loaded. Warburg’s efforts to see and understand within the narrative framework of the Bilderatlas are essentially the examination of ancient images and symbols as social and political material through the seductive role they played in their own cultural and historical time period, excluded from their aesthetic context, which gains importance in cultural memory arrangement. Thus, a provocative and attractive model for artists also emerges.

To exemplify, in similar figurations following the formalism in the perfect figures observed in Botticelli’s painting Spring, it is observed that the images essentially reflect a special mobility by adopting a new guise. Extracting the layers of meaning created by the spirit of allegorical representation from their hidden places is one of the important guiding routes for Warburg that saves the project from stagnation and transforms it into an element of pleasure. And this situation is undoubtedly an important liberating act of seeing unique to Warburg, which is also reflected in the Bilderatlas.