Winkelmann Art History

Johann Joachim Winckelmann is an extremely important figure in art history, he is the first to write art history instead discusses the history of the individual artists and scholars, so he lives in the first of the German tradition of art history, this tradition since then actually define the discipline of art history. His writings on ancient Greek and Roman sculpture to redefine the history of art, and actually play the role of a neoclassical theory apologia. Until into the19th century, the history of Ancient Art is still a standard reference book on the art of the ancient world.Winckelmann debated for achievements of ancient Greece and called on people to return to the pure form of the Greek Art, thus criticizing modern art degeneration. Despite his knowledge about Greek largely comes from text description and the Greek-Roman reproductions prints and plaster, he played the sound, not original, also provoked a strong resonance in contemporary human heart. His phrase,’noble simplicity and solemn greatness’, became a slogan of Classical Revival in18th century, due to it’s definite summarization of essential characteristics of Greek ideal.In this paper, I mainly want to explore his aesthetics ideas and arguments about art history, as well as the profound impact of that on future generations. Why he was so fascinated with ancient Greek Art, as himself such a thinker of the18th century, and what kind of person he was? Winckelmann’s history of Ancient Art, which is the first real art history, for the first time creates a style in division of Greek and Egyptian art, and analyses the basis and the reason for the development of Greek Art from the point of sociological, is a first work to study evolution of art style against cultural background. Hegel had given high marks to Winckelmann’s writings, he said," Winckelmann was inspired by the observation of the ancient art for art appreciation, through which the form a new sensitive, he opened a new chapter in the art research, we should say, Winckelmann found a new function for soul in the field of art." Creating a new chapter and discovery of new functions, which can be seen as the highest rating to the critics, how did Winckelmann achieve this and under what conditions? This article focuses on these problems to be discussed.