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n Although we are separated by 239 years, I share anbirthday with Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who was born on December 9thn1717, at Stendal, Brandenburg. His father, Martin Winckelmann, was a mender ofnshoes but we do not know if this was because he lacked either the skills or thenapplication to be a fully-fledged shoemaker, or if he lacked sufficient fundsnto buy enough raw leather to set himself up in business. He intended youngnJohann (who never used his second name, which he felt was somewhat coarse and whoninherently preferred simplicity anyway) to follow him into his handicraft, asnwas the habit in Stendal, but the boy was studious and serious minded andnbegged to be sent to school. Eventually, Martin relented and Johann was sent tonthe Latin School, where his diligence, industry and application marked him outnas a model pupil.
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| Johann Joachim Winckelmann |
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nHe earned his tuition fees as a chorister and made a littlenmore money through paid instruction to richer, younger children, money withnwhich he could afford to buy a few books. It sometimes happens that onenperson’s misfortune is a blessing to another, as it was with Johann, who becamenthe reader, amanuensis and eyes of an ageing, kindly and virtually blindnteacher, Isaiah William Tappert, who repaid Johann’s care by becoming his mentor.nThe position also gave Johann access to the old master’s library, and the boynimmersed himself in the classics of Greece and Rome; whilst the lads of Stendalnwere skating or rough-housing, Johann was working on his Greek and Latinngrammar, with the help of a little pocket notebook that went everywhere withnhim. He studied Greek and Roman literature, geography, history and archaeology,nand at sixteen he moved to Cologne Gymnasium in Berlin where, on Tappert’snrecommendation, the rector Backe gave him lodgings and he also attracted somengenerosity from well-wishers, which he remembered with gratitude for the restnof his life.
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| J J Winckelmann |
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nAfter a year, he returned to the love of his family and thensupportive Tappert, who hoped he might study theology. In March 1838, henentered the university at Halle, where he entered the Theology school funded byna meagre stipend provided by his patrons, and made the best of it by studyingnGreek and Hebrew, and sitting in on other lectures, particularly medical ones.nIn the following years, he worked as a private children’s tutor and although henwas seemingly successful, Winckelmann found it to be unrewarding tedium. Henmoved on to Seehausen, in Altmark, where he took the post of associate rectornin the school there, thinking maybe that the position would also give him timenfor private study.
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nIf he did, he was mistaken, and resorted to sleeping fornonly four hours each night, to allow him more time to read – it is said thatnone winter he gave up going to bed entirely and slept only in a recliningnchair, surrounded by his books. He argued with the Inspector, who objected tonWinckelmann reading his Greek poets in church, instead of listening to hisninterminable sermons, and he began to look for work elsewhere. It came to hisnattention that the Count von Bünau might have need of a librarian and sonWinckelmann wrote to him, offering his services. The Count accepted and gavenWinckelmann a position with room and board, and an annual salary of aboutneighty thalers, in his library at Nötheniz, near Dresden.
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| Winckelmann Memorial – Stendal |
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nAs he left Seehausen,nhe visited his father at Stendal for the last time, where he left what books henhad collected over the years with his friend Uden, with instructions that hensell them for the best price he could get and use the money to provide a weeklynsum for the old man and, when he eventually died, to provide a decent funeralnfor him.
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nIn 1748, Johann Winckelmann arrived at Nötheniz and began to work innthe library of Count Heinrich von Bünau, assisting him by collectingninformation for his proposed history of the Holy Roman Empire and helping toncatalogue and organise the 40,000 books. Winckelmann was, by now, astonishinglynfamiliar with the Classics of Greece and Rome but now he came into contact withnthe works of the Enlightenment authors, including Voltaire, Diderot andnRousseau.
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nHe also became friends with John Michael Franke, another of thenCount’s librarians, whom he worked alongside. Winckelmann also began to visitnthe galleries in nearby Dresden and developed an intense interest in the visualnarts, and at the same time began to meet and talk with men of similar interestsnand tastes. He found a kind of heaven in the library, surrounded by so manynbooks, but the surfeit was almost too much for him and his health began tonsuffer, as overwork and the years of lack of sleep began to take their toll andnin 1751, he was forced to take a rest cure in Altmark.
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nIn 1748, Johann Winckelmann arrived at Nötheniz and began to work innthe library of Count Heinrich von Bünau, assisting him by collectingninformation for his proposed history of the Holy Roman Empire and helping toncatalogue and organise the 40,000 books. Winckelmann was, by now, astonishinglynfamiliar with the Classics of Greece and Rome but now he came into contact withnthe works of the Enlightenment authors, including Voltaire, Diderot andnRousseau.
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nHe also became friends with John Michael Franke, another of thenCount’s librarians, whom he worked alongside. Winckelmann also began to visitnthe galleries in nearby Dresden and developed an intense interest in the visualnarts, and at the same time began to meet and talk with men of similar interestsnand tastes. He found a kind of heaven in the library, surrounded by so manynbooks, but the surfeit was almost too much for him and his health began tonsuffer, as overwork and the years of lack of sleep began to take their toll andnin 1751, he was forced to take a rest cure in Altmark.
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| Cardinal Alberico Archinto |
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nIn the same year,nAlberico Archinto, Papal Nuncio and future Cardinal, visited Nötheniz and wasnshown around the library by Winckelmann, who deeply impressed him with hisnlearning. Archinto was concerned about Winckelmann’s obvious ill-health andnmentioned to him that the food and climate of Italy would be more conducive tonit. Archinto recommended the German to Cardinal Passionei, who was enthusiasticnabout employing him and wrote letters to Archinto specifically mentioning thenconditions, duties and salary that a position in his library would accord.nWinckelmann was concerned about the impression this would have on Count vonnBünau, who had showed him nothing but kindness and to whom he felt deeplynindebted, not wishing to show even a hint of ingratitude but the Count wasnaccommodating and understanding in the extreme. As a necessary pre-requisite,nWinckelmann converted to the Roman Catholic faith in 1754, and the followingnyear he published his Gedanken über die Nachahmung der griechischen Werke innMalerei und Bildhauerkunst (Reflections on the Imitation of Greek Works innPainting and Sculpture), a work that made him famous.
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| Title Page – Fuseli’s Translation of Reflections – 1765 |
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nHenry Fuseli, the Englishnartist, translated it into English and it received some slight attention innartistic circles although Fuseli’s translation did not go into a secondnedition. The book brought Winckelmann to the attention of Augustus III, King ofnPoland and Elector of Saxony, who granted him a pension of 200 thalers per yearnfor the two years it was intended the Italian visit to take. The anxiety of thenproposed move worsened Winckelmann’s health even further – the night-sweatsnreturned, he ate meat only once a week but eventually gave it up completely andnate only vegetables and watery soup.
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nnnTomorrow – A journey to Italy
