The Snake and the Lightning

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In September 1895, Aby Warburg embarked on a journey to the United States, unknowingly setting the stage for a pivotal moment in art history. Although his American sojourn lasted only a few months and his time in Pueblo communities just weeks, his findings culminated in a landmark 1923 lecture on the “Snake Ritual.” This story and picture book chronicles his exploration, showcasing selected photographs, ethnological drawings, and various documents that illustrate his encounters with diverse figures—from chiefs to missionaries. It highlights his records of dances, ritual objects, and artworks rich in symbolic meaning. These documents reflect a significant shift in Warburg’s scholarly perspective, paving the way for the cross-border cultural comparative methodology for which he is now renowned. Warburg (1866–1929) is credited with founding modern pictorial science, focusing on the afterlife of antiquity in the Renaissance, a theme captured in his iconic pictorial atlas, Mnemosyne. His American journey exemplifies his early inclination to look beyond Western culture to investigate the connections between myths, images, and rites. Uwe Fleckner, a leading expert on Warburg, has been a professor of art history at the University of Hamburg since 2004 and has contributed extensively to the field through his publications and editorial work.