This article aims to contextualize the main currents in the interpretation of medieval images, underlining to appearance of an original matrix of thought, thinking through art, between 1950 and 2000. At the heart of the new épistémè, the concept of image-presence is put forward and it is discussed on the basis of three examples dated between the year 1000 and c. 1450 and through and interdisciplinary dialogue with social anthropology and the philosophy science.