Abraham Moritz Warburg, known as Aby Warburg, (June 13, 1866 – October 26, 1929) was a German

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

 art historian and cultural theorist who founded a private Library for Cultural Studies, the Kulturwissenschaftliche Bibliothek Warburg, later Warburg Institute

Warburg Institute

The Warburg Institute is a research institution associated with the University of London in central London, England. A member of the School of Advanced Study, its focus is the study of the influence of classical antiquity on all aspects of European civilisation.-History:The Institute was founded by...

. At the heart of his research was the legacy of the Classical World in the most varied areas of western culture through to the Renaissance.

Warburg described himself as:

Amburghese di cuore, ebreo di sangue, d'anima Fiorentino

(Hamburger at heart, Hebrew by blood, Florentine in spirit)

Aby Warburg was born in Hamburg into the wealthy Warburg family

Warburg family

The Warburg family is a financial dynasty of German Jewish origin, noted for their accomplishments in physics, classical music, art history, pharmacology, physiology, finance, private equity and philanthropy. They are believed to be descended from the Venetian Jewish del Banco family, in the early...

 of German Jewish bankers.