Unbewusstes aus Bildern der Renaissance

Unconscious elements from the main images of the Renaissance around 1500-1600 are experimentally examined here by Carpaccio in Venice, Dürer in Nuremberg, Michelangelo and Caravaggio in Rome, focusing on the artist, the patron, and the viewer, while critically reflecting on psychoanalysis as a method in history. People are portrayed in their social relationships, confronted with love, power, violence, fear, and staging in individual and societal situations. The aim is to uncover deeper realities that lead to self-awareness, exposing the mechanisms of hypocrisy and self-deception, without making any promises of salvation. A definitive conclusion cannot be found; rather, various methodological approaches and interpretations are offered. Totalitarian moral positions from the Last Judgment to contemporary sustainability are criticized, and an open composition of a philosophy of the unconscious is proposed as a clarification of humanity's place in the universe. "In summary, Michael Barben's unusually structured dissertation offers a considerable amount of scholarly engagement, sharpened methodological awareness, and astute reflection" - Prof. Volker Reinhardt.