Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768) rose from poverty in northern Germany to a resplendent life in Rome, as the major art historian of his time. His open courtship of other men as well as his sensational murder made his lifestyle a model for educated men who were sexually attracted to other men, much like Oscar Wilde a century later. These same erotic instincts were behind a willingness to challenge establish morality and imbue the human body with a nobility that paved the way for the emerging conception of the rights of man.
Robert Tobin, Henry J. Leir Chair in Language, Literature and Culture, Clark University
✽ February 21 @ 4:15 | Hollander 241.
* Sponsored by the Department of German and Russian, and the Center for Foreign Languages, Literatures, and Cultures, Art History and the Dively Committee.
Megamenu Social