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Eventually, however, he departed Dresden onnSeptember 20th 1775, bound for Rome. On arrival, he took lodgings innan inn, where he lived with several painters and first met the artist AntonnMengs, another German, who would become his lover (Winckelmann was openly gaynthroughout his life). n
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| Anton Mengs – Self-Portrait |
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nIn January 1756, he received an audience from PopenBenedict XIV and was presented to Cardinal Passionei, who granted him fullnliberty to his private library between the morning hours of nine to twelve.
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| Laocoon |
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nHe alsonsaw, for the first time, the Apollo Belvedere, the Laocoön, the Antinoös andnthe Belvedere Torso, which inspired him to begin writing a large work on Greeknart.
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| The Belvedere Torso |
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The newly elected Cardinal Archinto employed Winckelmann as his librarian,ngave him an apartment in the Chancellaria and frequently dined with him, annenormous honour for, as State Secretary, he usually only dined with prelates;nWinckelmann also dined with Cardinal Passionei and Cardinal Albani, who was anleading collector of antiquities in Rome. n
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| Cardinal Albani |
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nUnsurprisingly, his spirits and hisnhealth improved greatly, his appetite returned and he ate heartily and dranknlike a German (that is, wine without water), he retired to bed early and rosenearly, his sleep now untroubled by night-sweats. Early in 1758, he travelled tonNaples, where he greatly advanced his knowledge of antiquities and witnessednthe excavations being made at Pompeii and Herculaneum.
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| J J Winckelmann – Catalogue of Cardinal Albani’s Engraved Gems – 1760 |
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nOn the day he arrivednback in Rome, May 13th 1758, the Pope died and later in that year,non September 30th, he lost a powerful patron (and his lodgings) whennCardinal Archinto also died, in all likelihood by poisoning. Fortunately,nCardinal Albani wrote a letter in his own hand, offering him rooms in his ownnhouse and wages of ten scudi a month to become his librarian, which Wincklemannnimmediately accepted. Albani was building a magnificent villa outside of thenPorta Salaria, to his own design and built to house his collection ofnantiquities, statues and paintings. In addition to various private libraries,nWinckelmann had access to the Vatican library, possibly the finest in thenworld, which contained in excess of 300,000 volumes, including many rare andnexquisite texts, and in these most advantageous of circumstances he began worknon his own history of art.
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| Winckelmann – Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums – 1764 |
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nThis was finally published in 1764, as Geschichtender Kunst des Alterthums (The History of Art in Antiquity), whichnwas immediately recognised as a masterpiece; it was the first real work of artnhistory, which it established as a discipline and can also be said to be thenfirst work on archaeology. It is difficult to emphasise the importance of thisnbook, as it influenced the whole of the Neo-Classical revival (and thensubsequent Romantic movement) that touched every aspect of aesthetic life, fromnpainting and sculpture, through architecture, literature, poetry, philosophy,nto furniture design and pottery. Oddly, for such a crucial book, it was notntranslated into English until 1849, and then by the American, George HenrynLodge. We can, with the benefit of hindsight, criticise Wincklemann for what henomits and ignores but without him, we would be in no position to make thesenjudgements. He does not mention the Parthenon at all, for example, and Phidiasnonly manages nine mentions in total.
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| Anton Mengs – Portrait of Johann Winckelmann |
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Wincklemann spent much of the next fewnyears revising, elaborating and editing his manuscript for a second edition,nbut in 1765 he revisited Naples again, where he witnessed an eruption ofnVesuvius and trekked to the crater, like some latter day Pliny the Elder. n
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| J J Winckelmann – Sendschreiben von den Herculanischen Entdeckungen (Letter about the Discoveries at Herculaneum) – 1762 |
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nHenalso began to make plans to return back to Germany, if only for a visit, and innMarch 1768, he received permission from his employer, Cardinal Albani, and hisnsuperiors, to make the journey. He travelled in the company of Cavaceppi, thensculptor, but when they arrived in Germany, Wincklemann saw the Tyrol with newneyes and hated what he saw, so he resolved to return to Italy at once.
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| Winckelmann – Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums – 2nd Edition 1776 |
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nTheynturned about, much to Cavaceppi’s displeasure, and on May 12th they arrivednin Vienna. Here, Wincklemann fell ill with fever and took to his bed fornseveral days, and as he recovered he was presented to Empress Marie-Theresa,nwho received him graciously and made him a gift of a gold and two silvernmedals. She expressed a wish that he remain at her court in Vienna, and PrincenKaunitz repeated this wish and also presented Wincklemann with a goldnmedallion. However, his mind was made up.
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nTomorrow – The Return Trip
