Guided Pathway
Panel C
Developments in the representation of Mars. Detachment from the anthropomorphizing conception image—harmonic system—sign
Here the polarities that Warburg frequently traced between astrological-demonic and a mathematical-rational worldviews is made visible with the focus on Johannes Kepler’s initial conception of the solar system as constructed with five Platonic solids to his later discovery that the planets have elliptical orbits. The exemplary figure of Mars is represented in mythical and mathematical forms. Meanwhile, the Graf Zeppelin’s mastery of the sky suggests the promise of technology.