Lot 08163

Winckelmann J., “Histoire de l Art chez les anciens“, Harrevelt, Amsterdam, 1766. Complete in two (2) Volumes. 8vo, pp.lvi,360 + xxviii, 343. Rare edition in French of this most important work in art history and criticism, printed the same year as the first in French edition of Paris. Firstly published in German in 1764. Including 22 beautiful plates in text.

Johann Joachim Winckelmann was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenist, one of the first to separate Greek Art into periods, and time classifications and the first to articulate the difference between Greek, Greco-Roman and Roman art. Winckelmann is considered one of the founders of scientific archaeology and the father of the discipline of art history.

Contemporary full calf, covers stamped in gilt, rubbed and worn along extremities and joints, spine split to 2nd volume. Interior in extremely fine condition.