ABSTRACT
In the age of global or at least transnational history it is appropriate to investigate the possible links between this new historiographical orientation and the particular discipline of art history. The Amerindian masks or African statues that the chapter describes as Indian or African art do not have the same function in their original context as the sculptures exhibited in European museums. The chapter starts with some observations on the circulation of artworks in periods long past to observe what is signified by the history that one country develops of the art of a different space, for example German historiography of Italian art. The use of the arts necessarily appeals to an anthropological dimension of the artistic phenomenon, particularly as the chapter moves away from the European centers. If the history of art makes it possible to reveal circulations of works creating new forms belonging to a global history, historiography represents still more a form of cultural transfer.
