Martin Warnke

Martin Warnke (1937–2019) was a German art historian. After studying in Munich, Madrid, and Berlin, he reported on the Frankfurt Auschwitz trials for the Stuttgarter Zeitung in 1964 and subsequently worked at the Berlin museums. He completed his habilitation at the University of Münster in 1970. From 1971 to 1978 he taught at the University of Marburg, then at the University of Hamburg until his retirement in 2003. At Hamburg, he re-established the Aby Warburg House. Warnke focused on the political and social conditions of art and on the political impact of images, developing the methodological approach of political iconography. His best-known works include The Court Artist, Rubens, and Velázquez.