Abstract/Summary

Like many antiquarians of his day, the German art historian and archaeologist Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–1768) first learned about the ancient world through immersion in literature. As a teacher then librarian in his native Germany, Winckelmann encountered the classics primarily through literary texts, as well as the souvenirs—coins, gems and figurines—that Grand Tourists and other travellers had brought north from their visits to Italy. Once he arrived in Rome, where he rose to prominence at Prefect of Antiquities in the Vatican, Winckelmann studied the remains of Greek, Graeco-Roman and Roman art on a larger scale. Through personal contacts, letters and other writings, Winckelmann influenced his and subsequent generations of scholars, aesthetes, collectors, craftsmen and artists both within and beyond Italy. Winckelmann and Curiosity in the 18th-Century Gentleman's Library explores the scholar's varied influence on the arts in Britain, through printed media, architecture and decorative arts. This exhibition is part of the Anniversary celebrations of the work of Winckelmann and particularly his impact on the reception of Classical art in Britain.