Intimate Images. The history of radiography in art history

拟议的研究项目调查了用X射线检查绘画和雕塑以及由此产生的图像的历史和认识论意义。其基本论点是，20世纪20年代引入绘画放射检查(以及后来的雕塑检查)引发了艺术史领域的学科实践的转变：以前，学术兴趣集中在图像表面及其图像-图像学意义上；然而，X射线引起了艺术史学家对材料、其物理状况和艺术处理的关注。深入到艺术品的表面之下，提出了关于艺术和艺术实践的各种新问题，从而促进了新知识的创造。该项目从三个角度探讨了这些新知识的出现和应用：a)艺术史中的放射学历史及其自1895年以来的发展尚未被写成。因此，该项目是第一个根据历史和当代出版物、原始X射线图像和档案材料重建这段历史的项目。将特别注意“明显数据”(Evidenz)的技术和论述生产以及一种新的专家知识的开发。B)两个案例研究，一个是关于伦勃朗的，另一个是关于阿德里安·德·弗里斯的，调查了这种关于艺术品的物质物质的知识是如何被引入学术文献的，并随后改变了艺术史的学科。通过对引入X光检查前后的学术文本的分析和比较，艺术史上的认识转变将变得明显。C)鉴于艺术史射线照片是审美对象的图像，有必要确定不仅技术因素，而且美学因素对其制作的影响。虽然医用X光总是只显示身体的细节，但艺术历史X光(例如，雕塑)可以作为自己创建的图像出现，为它们与被检查对象的索引关系增加了一种标志性的性质。X射线图像的这种特殊的美学吸引力和摇摆不定的地位--已经被几位当代艺术家采用--还没有在图像理论的背景下得到充分的描述和分析；拟议的项目将首次尝试这样做。在该项目的背景下，X射线图像被认为是艺术史上的科学图像。虽然艺术史学家长期以来一直对图像在其他学科中的制作方法和认知地位感兴趣，但他们还没有研究在自己的学科中产生的科学图像。该项目直面这种自我反思的缺失，并有助于在科学史的理论框架内研究艺术史。

The proposed research project investigates the history and epistemological significance of examining paintings and sculptures with X-rays, and the resulting images. Its underlying thesis is that the introduction of radiological examinations of paintings in the 1920s (and later of sculptures) triggered a shift in disciplinary practices in the field of art history: Previously, academic interests were focussed on the image surface and its iconographical-iconological meaning; X-rays, however, drew art historians´ attention to the material, its physical condition and artistic treatment. To look beneath the surface into the artwork itself raised all kinds of new questions about art and artistic practices and, thereby, contributed to the creation of new knowledge.The project approaches the emergence and application of this new knowledge from three angles: a) The history of radiography within art history and its development from 1895 on has not yet been written. Thus, the project is the first to reconstruct this history on the basis of historical and contemporary publications, original X-ray images and archive material. Special attention will be paid to the technological and discursive production of ´evident data´ (Evidenz) and the development of a new kind of expert knowledge. b) Two case studies, one on Rembrandt and one on Adriaen de Vries, investigate the manner in which this knowledge about the physical materiality of artworks was introduced into the scholarly literature and, subsequently, transformed the discipline of art history. By analysing and comparing academic texts written before and after the introduction of X-ray examinations, the epistemic shift in art history will become apparent. c) Given that art historical radiographs are images of aesthetic objects, it is necessary to determine how not only technical, but also aesthetic considerations influenced their production. While medical X-rays always show only a detail of a body, art historical X-rays (e.g., of sculptures) can appear as images created for their own sake, adding an iconic quality to their indexical relation to the object under examination. This special aesthetic appeal and vacillating status of the X-ray image - already taken up by several contemporary artists - have not yet been sufficiently described and analysed in the context of image theory; the proposed project will make a first attempt to do so.In the context of this project, X-ray images are considered scientific images in art history. While art historians have long been interested in the production methods and epistemic status of images in other disciplines, they have yet to study the scientific images produced within their own discipline. The project confronts this lack of self-reflection and contributes to the investigation of art history within the theoretical framework of history of science.