Goethe on Winckelmann

After a portrait by Angelica Kauffman

Goethe's essay on Winckelmann was published anonymously, along with two other contributions to "Winckelmann und sein Jahrhundert," by Cotta in 1805. The other two authors were Heinrich Meyer and Friedrich August Wolf, Weimarer "Kunstfreunde." It was of course known that Goethe was involved: he was the publisher, and he also signed the dedication to the duchess.

Goethe's essay is composed of small chapters, each with a heading: e.g., "Heidnisches," "Freundschaft," "Schönheit,""Katholizismus," and so on. As Ernst Howald writes in his introduction to a 1943 edition of Goethe's essay, this format spared Goethe the trouble of writing about things that he didn't know or hadn't experienced himself: much of the information was amassed from Wincklemann's letters, especially those to his friend Berendis. Winckelmann seems not only to have reported on his intellectual discoveries but also to have poured out his soul in his correspondence. In the chapter "Charakter," Goethe writes as follows:

Eine solche Natur könnte wohl mit Behaglichkeit in sich selbst zurückkehren, doch finden wir auch hier jene alterümliche Eigenheit, daß er sich immer mit sich selbst beschäftigte, ohne sich eigentlich zu beobachten. Er denkt nur an sich, nicht über sich, ihm liegt im Sinne, was er vorhat, er interessiert sich für sein ganzes Wesen, für den ganzen Umfang seines Wesens und hat das Zutrauen, daß seine Freunde sich auch dafür interessieren werden. Wir finden daher in seinen Briefen, vom höchsten moralischen bis zum gemeinsten physischen Bedürfnis, alles erwähnt, ja er spricht es aus, daß er sich von persönlichen Kleinigkeiten lieber als von wichtigen Dingen unterhalte.

Howald calls Goethe's portrait of Winckelmann "die reinste Darstellung humanistischer Menschenaufffassung Menschenschilderung, die wir haben. Nie ist von einem bedeutenden Mann menschlicher -- in humanistischen Sinne -- nie männlicher und würdiger gespsrochen worden." Thus Goethe's account avoids all the messy details and other infelicities of Winckelmann's life. What is otherwise the essence of Winckelmann's personality for later biographers "steht am Rande" in Goethe's portrayal.

Howald writes: "Sorgfältig, vielleicht sogar ängstlich vermeidet er es, in die Abgründe der Seele zu versinken; er wünscht festen Boden unter den Füßen zu behalten." It was impossible for Goethe to view Winckelmann, as did Herder and others, as having had "ein verpfuschtes Leben." Despite all of Winckelmann's personal shortcomings, "Winckelmanns Wesentliches liegt nicht in seinem Schicksal oder seinem Leiden, sondern in seinem Handeln, nicht im Passiven, sondern im Aktiven. Darin liegt der Mensch, darin zeigt und entfaltet sich seine Persönlichkeit."

Portrait by Anton v. Maron, 1768

I loved the essay by Goethe. It kindled my interest in the "classical" period of his production, which has been, I must admit, the least attractive part of his life and oeuvre for me. Nevertheless, I could not help thinking as I read each of the short, individual chapters that one could, with such an outline, write a novel. The story is there; all one needs now is to fill it in with local and personal detail. I am not speaking of messy facts, but of "color," which would certainly bring Winckelmann and Rome to life.

Winckelmann is all that Goethe describes, but he is also "modern": despite his lowly background, he pulled himself up by his boot straps, so to speak -- and what could be more appropriate for the son of a shoemaker? -- and came to consort with some of the most important men in Europe, not to forget that he inaugurated modern archaeology.

In this connection I watched an interesting documentary last evening on Winckelmann's role in bringing to light the excavations at Herculaneum and Pompeii. Well worth viewing.