We examine the methodological and epistemological consequences of the visual turn in historical cognition. It is noted that the ongoing transformation of research practices is systemic in nature and is not limited to a simple expansion of the source base of historical science. Special attention is paid to the consideration of historical knowledge through the prism of bodily and present sensory experience. Philosophical reflection focuses not on technology as such, but on changing the form of the very existence of historical knowledge. The limitations of classical analytical and narrative approaches in understanding the visual forms of historical knowledge are demonstrated. The visual is interpreted as a kind of pre-discursive condition for understanding history, generating a semantic excess that cannot be fully verbalized.