Engrams for Lepanto : Aby Warburg, Cy Twombly, and the painting as memory trace

This paper will explore the application of the concept of Pathosformel (pathos formula), as pioneered in the work of the art historian Aby Warburg (1866–1929) for understanding the relationship between Classical and Renaissance art, in developing a reading of the work of the American painter Cy Twombly (1928–2011). Drawing on the work of the psychologist Richard Semon, whose study The Mneme introduced the concept of the 'engram' as a measure of a sensation's trace, Warburg argued that the trace of Classical art can be detected in the posture and gesture of figures in Renaissance painting. Coming to prominence in the wake of Abstract Expressionism, Cy Twombly's work would appear far removed from Warburg's concerns. However, I will argue that his work – focusing on his 12-painting Lepanto sequence from 2001 – can be read profitably through a Warburgian lens, suggesting that an engrammatic account of Twombly's technique permits a fusing of painterly and historical concerns