Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–1768)

Anton Raphael Mengs German

On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 627

This idealized posthumous portrait depicts Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who is credited with the reevaluation of ancient Greek art through his work as an archaeologist and a pioneer in writing art history. His History of Ancient Art, published in 1764, became a bedrock of neoclassical thinking about the idealized European body as well as a key reference for travelers. In his portrait, Winckelmann holds a Greek edition of Homer’s Iliad, an allusion to his knowledge of classical poetry. Mengs was a friend in Winkelmann’s social circle in Rome, where the two shared an investment in the often homoerotic themes of classical Greek art.

This idealized posthumous portrait depicts Johann Joachim Winckelmann, who is credited with the reevaluation of ancient Greek art through his work as an archaeologist and a pioneer in writing art history. His History of Ancient Art, published in 1764, became a bedrock of neoclassical thinking about the idealized European body as well as a key reference for travelers. In his portrait, Winckelmann holds a Greek edition of Homer’s Iliad, an allusion to his knowledge of classical poetry. The portraitist and his sitter shared an often homoerotic investment in their appreciation for classical Greek art.

Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717–1768), Anton Raphael Mengs (German, Ústi nad Labem (Aussig) 1728–1779 Rome), Oil on canvas

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