L’unità del visus absolutus e lo scarto dell’immagine

Inspired by Sandro Mancini’s work, the discussion focuses on some reflections on the concept of imago viva between philosophy and ar- tistic portraiture from the 15th to the 17th century. The authors of reference, besides Nicholas of Cusa, who is the core of the present analysis, are Jan van Eyck, Leonardo da Vinci, and Johannes Gumpp. These authors, whose paintings are highly philosophical, delve into the theme of the singularitas of human subjectivity, even from a legal view- point, thus laying the foundations of a philosophical anthropology that conceives of the human being as a dynamic, in fieri essence. Crucial to these doctrines is the theme of the specular reflection, which plays a major role in Gumpp’s double self-portrait.