Images and Religious History in Italy. A Focus on Religious Conflicts and Depictions of Otherness

The aim of this article is to present historical research conducted by Italian historians and art historians who have treated images as historical sources whose testimonial value is the same as that of written (literary and archival) sources. After a brief introduction into the origins of these methods and the development of the Warburgian approach in Italy, some pioneering works will be examined, followed by a selection of more recent studies by historians and art historians. The latter converge in the shared field of iconographic studies, which function as a dual historiographical periphery, shared by both historians and art historians. Although images have been used to explore different aspects of religious life, this essay will focus on the subtle dynamics of religious conflicts, both among Christians and between Christians, Muslims, and Jews.