Agony in Effigy: Art, Truth, Pain, and the Body

Drawing primarily upon historical graphic works in the BAMPFA collection, Agony in Effigy: Art, Truth, Pain, and the Body explores the ways in which physical violence is represented in art through visual cues using an impassioned language of gestures—what German art historian Aby Warburg described as the pathos formula, an enduring artistic motif in which victims are depicted seemingly taking pleasure in their own extreme pain.

Credit: Exhibition overview from museum website.