Flesh and the Ideal：Winckelmann and the Origins of Art History

Winckelmannwasnotjustanhistorianofconsiderablestature.HewasalsoaverypowerfulwriterwhoofferedanunusuallyeloquentaccountoftheaestheticandimaginativechargeoftheGreekidealinart.Heisparticularlyrevealingastothepoliticalandthehomoerotic,sexualcontentofthefantasiesthatgavetheantiqueidealmalenudeitslargerresonance.Thisbookre-examinesWinckelmann'scanonicalstatusastheso-calledfatherofmodernarthistory,showinghowhissystematicdefinitionsofstyleandhistoricaldevelopmentcancastanewlightonpresent-dayunderstandingofthesenotions.ThecomplexitiesofhisnewhistoricalperspectiveontheartofantiquitybothprefigureandunderminethemorestrictlyhistoricisingviewsoftheGreekidealputforwardinthe19thcentury.TheforceofWinckelmann'swritingcanonlybefullyunderstoodifitisseeninthecontextofthedistinctivepreoccupationsandvaluesofEnlightenmentculture.Ithasacquiredanewsignificance,however,asthedarkeraspectofEnlightenmentideals-suchasthefantasyofacompletelyfreesovereignsubjectivityassociatedwithGreekart-comemoreandmoretothefore.Winckelmann'swritinghasarichnessanddensitythattakeitwellbeyondtheboundsofthesimplerationalistarthistoryandNeo-classicalarttheorywithwhichitisusuallyassociated.Heoftenseemstospeakdisturbinglydirectlytoourpresentawarenessofthediscomfortingideologicalandpsychiccontradictionsinherentinsupposedlyidealsymbolicforms.