This note reconstructs the genealogy of political iconography in twentieth-century German art history, focusing on the theoretical and methodological legacy of Aby Warburg, Martin Warnke, and the Hamburg school. Beginning with the neo-Marxist debates that reshaped West German art history after 1968, the essay traces the emergence of political iconography as a critical discipline concerned with the public and operative dimension of images. Particular attention is devoted to Warburg’s concept of Schlagbild, understood as a politically charged public image capable of acting upon collective consciousness through emotional and symbolic immediacy. Through the writings of Warnke, Bredekamp, and Michael Diers, the article examines the transformation of Warburgian image theory into a broader reflection on media, propaganda, and the visual construction of power.
Margherita Piccichè (2026) studied this question.