The Passion of Images

From idolatry to iconoclasm: exploring passionate reactions to imagery across history

Images have always elicited passionate responses, triggering reactions of veneration as well as destruction, of idolatry as well as iconoclasm. But what is the origin of their unique power? German art historian Gottfried Boehm (born 1942) seeks to answer this question, tracing the affective potential of images across Western history.