Mosse on Winckelmann and masculinity

The theories of Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768), known as the founder of art history and classical archaeology as academic disciplines, were of great importance for later generations’ understanding of ancient art. His expertise in classical archaeology was respected even by those who criticized his theories. This image was not significantly changed until the middle of the twentieth century, when his ideas about ancient art came under stronger attack. In this article, I will take a closer look at some of the last century’s criticism of Winckelmann, particularly that of George L. Mosse (1918-1999). In his book The Image of Man, Mosse argued that Winckelmann’s aesthetics focused on a body ideal that was exclusively male and European, precluding images of women and non-Europeans. In this way, Winckelmann created a masculine stereotype that regarded the European (especially the German) as the heir of the ancient Greek. This view, Mosse claimed, was later incorporated into the Nazis’ racial theories. By pointing out the biases in Mosse’s interpretation, I will, through a close reading of key texts and a closer look at the Winckelmann reception at the end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth centuries, propose an alternative view, which shows the importance of the feminine and androgynous in Winckelmann’s aesthetics.