Magic, action, materiality: the image in Bildwissenschaft

Abstract

Bildwissenschaft is a field of study developed in the last two decades in Germany and devoted to the investigation of the image. This article analyzes the theoretical work of three of its most representative authors, Hans Belting, Gottfried Boehm, and Horst Bredekamp, and discusses both their vis ion of the field and their theories of the image. The aim of the article is to understand the methodological contribution of this work, its special link to art history, and the way it connects with, but also differs from, Angla-American visual studies.