Culturas visuais e pandemias: aproximações warburguianas aos motivos da Dança da morte e das Vani-tas

Abstract

Between the 14th and 17th centuries, the life expectancy of the populations of Central Europe was 32 years for men and 27 years for women, the result of high infant mortality, pandemics, wars and lack of food. This continuous presence of death corresponds, in the countries of the northern Alps, to the creation of at least two forms of religious visual culture: in the 15th century, “The dance of the dead”, and in the 17th century, the “vanitas” or, initially, “memento mori ”. Considering the time of the creation of these motifs, the times of the Renaissance and Modernity, it is proposed in this article to test a Warburguian reading of these two motifs, as part of the creation of an “Andachts-raum”, a space for contemplation and self-reflection, understood as a way of externalizing, naming and articulating existential fears to learn to deal with them; in distinction of and addition to a reading that affirms the function of these reasons in educational or moralistic terms or the use of impacting images to, essentially, distress and control people in maintaining the established religious order. This reading is justified by its greater consideration of the religious subject in the Renaissance and the choice of method as it was created specifically for the interpretation of the visual culture of that time. The originality of this exercise lies in the application of Aby M. Warburg's method to religious art. It is expected to contribute to a richer understanding of the creation and role of religious art in the lives of people in general and, in particular, in the times of the Renaissance and the beginning of Modernity.