The History of Ancient Art

Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-68), German classical archaeologist and art historian, is considered the founder of neoclassicism and of systematic art history. His masterpiece, Geschichte der Kunst des Altertums (1764) surveys the history of Greek Art and sets forth his theories on its fundamental aesthetic principles. This work was expanded in a second edition of 1776 and the work made Winckelmann a European celebrity. This classic text gave birth to late eighteenth-century neoclassicism, and its influence on writers and philosophers, such as Lessing, Herder and Goethe, was enormous. The only complete English version of this work is G. Henry Lodge's translation of 1880 which is reprinted here and includes a life of Winckelmann.