Aby Warburg and Edgar Wind on the Biology of Images: Empathy, Collective Memory and the Engram

This study explores Edgar Wind’s interpretation of Aby Warburg’s central ideas about the biology of images, offering a fresh perspective on both scholars in light of recent research on neurophysiology and experimental aesthetics. In the Warburgian historiography, Wind’s perspective stands in contrast to that of Ernst Gombrich. Through its focus on the universality of the expression of emotions and movements, the concept of Einfühlung [empathy], the phenomenon of collective memory, and the engram, this paper supports Wind’s interpretation by updating his and Warburg’s views in response to recent scientific achievements. This work substantiates Warburg’s and Wind’s insights on the biological implications of images for both artist and viewer. In this way, this research positions Warburg’s and Wind’s works as the foundation for a theory of aesthetic response.