Johann Joachim Winckelmann

Johann Joachim Winckelmann was a pioneering German art historian and archaeologist whose systematic study of ancient Greek and Roman art helped establish modern archaeology and art history. His Geschichte der Kunst des Alterthums (1764) shaped Neoclassical taste by presenting classical art as a historical development rather than a collection of isolated masterpieces. After settling in Rome, he served as papal antiquarian and held scholarly positions at the Vatican Library, where his expertise in Greek language and antiquity was especially valued.