Johann Joachim Winckelmann

Gerhart Hoffmeister (University of California, Santa Barbara)

Ed. by Gerhard P. Knapp, University of Utah
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.4.1: German-language Writing and Culture: Germany, 500-present.
Vol. editors: Gerhard P. Knapp (University of Utah), Jennifer Marston William (Purdue University), Herbert Rowland (Purdue University), Jill E. Twark (East Carolina University)

Dates

Born 9 Dec 1717
Died 8 Jun 1768
Activity 1737-1768

Places

Born in Germany
Active in Germany

Activities

Primary

Philosopher

Resources

Winckelmann's Works

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Johann Joachim Winckelmann was born in Stendal (north of Magdeburg) to a poor cobbler on 9 December 1717 and became one of the most famous German classic scholars and art historians with a European-wide appeal. He was instrumental in eliminating the adherence to late baroque taste in the fine arts and, breaking with the dominant reliance of French

classicisme

on Roman and Latin models, shaped the new Greece-inspired Weimar Classicism.

Already as a boy, young Winckelmann acquired a love of Greek antiquity, mythology, and Homer. After attending grammar school, he tried out several disciplines at university beginning in 1738, first at Halle, where he studied theology and philosophy, then medicine and mathematics at Jena. Yet these studies did not lead to a degree, so he decided to become a

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1985 words

Citation: Hoffmeister, Gerhart. "Johann Joachim Winckelmann". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 April 2008 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=4761, accessed 23 November 2024.]

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