Winckelmann, Johann Joachim (
b Stendal, 9 Dec. 1717;
d Trieste, 8 June 1768). German art historian and archaeologist, a key figure in the
Neoclassical movement and in the development of art history as an intellectual discipline. He was the son of a poor cobbler, but through hard work he gained a good education, studying at the universities of Halle and Jena. For several years he was a schoolteacher, before obtaining the post of librarian to Count Heinrich von Bünau at Nothnitz, near Dresden, in 1748. This gave him the opportunity to absorb himself in the study of classical antiquity, and in 1755 he managed to reach his goal of Rome. The previous year he had converted to Catholicism to enhance his chances of obtaining a scholarly appointment in Rome, and this did indeed help him to become librarian to Cardinal Alberigo Archinto, whom he had met in Germany. On Archinto's death in 1758 he became librarian to Cardinal Alessandro
Albani, a leading collector of antiquities, and this allowed him to lead a life of scholarly research through which he established a European reputation as a writer. In 1768, on the way back to Rome from a visit to Germany and Austria, he was murdered in Trieste; ostensibly he was killed for the sake of some gold and silver medallions he was carrying (gifts from the Empress Maria-Theresa; see
Habsburg), but it has been suggested that he had formed a homosexual relationship with his murderer (who was executed).
Winckelmann's two most important books are
Gedanken über die Nachahmung der griechischen Werke in der Malerei und Bildhauerkunst, published in 1755, shortly before he left for Rome (
Fuseli published an English translation in 1765 under the title
Reflections on the Painting and Sculpture of the Greeks), and
Geschichte der Kunst des Altertums (History of Ancient Art), published in 1764 (this is the first occurrence of the phrase ‘history of art’ in the title of a book). In these immensely influential works he proclaimed the superiority of Greek art and culture, combining rapturous descriptions of individual works (above all the
Apollo Belvedere) with historical analysis. He never went to Greece and unwittingly based most of his observations on Roman copies, but his account of the stylistic development of Greek sculpture was a milestone in archaeological writing, and he is regarded as having laid the foundations of modern methods of art history. His analysis of ancient Greek culture as a unity, and his interpretation of art as an index of the spirit of the time, were novel (he thought that when social conditions in general were good, then art was good, and when one declined the other did also); these ideas were subsequently developed into an entire philosophy of culture by 19th-century German writers. He refined the notions of how a work may be dated or its place of origin located and explained the character of works of art by reference to such factors as climate, religious customs, and social conditions. His interpretation of classical antiquity influenced many contemporary artists—above all
Mengs—and it helped to determine aspects of German education into the 20th century.
