Recent interest in the “agency” of images prompts an examination of their times. If images can be inserted into temporal structures such as the chronological architecture that currently serves to organize art historical studies, they also have the power to “break” or interrupt time. The anachronic power of objects and images registers in their fascination for us, the way they capture our attention and hold us enthralled. This talk examines the intrinsic temporality of images, reflecting on the time of their materiality as well as the means used by artists to manipulate those temporalities for their own ends. What conclusions can we draw about the encounter of human and material time? To what extent is it possible to think of the time of materials as active partners in understanding images?