tour 1 of 21
Enlightenment: Art and Civilization
Enlightenment: Art and Civilization
Scholars of the European Renaissance relied heavily on the
descriptions of the lost artworks of antiquity by ancient authors.
But during the eighteenth century, collectors and connoisseurs
began to develop histories of ancient art based on the evidence of
objects they themselves owned or had seen on the Grand Tour. By
studying artefacts such as sculpture, vases and gems, they
developed a new understanding of the historical development of
art.
Initially, many studies had categorized art by material or by
subject, but by the mid-eighteenth century writers like Johann
Winckelmann (1717-68) were promoting a system based on chronology
and style. In doing this, they mapped what they saw as the
'progress' of art and civilization from their so-called primitive
origins to their culmination in ancient Greece.
As a result, objects from ancient Greece became fashionable and
collectors sought to acquire them or copies of them. The idea that
ancient Greek art and architecture embodied perfect artistic
achievement also lay behind neo-classicism and the classical
revival styles of the late eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
These drew not only on the art and architecture of ancient Greece
and Rome, but also on Renaissance revivals of the classical
style.
This is one of a series of tours exploring the themes of the
British Museum's new gallery, Enlightenment: Discovering
the World in the Eighteenth Century.
Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund
Illustration: James Stephanoff, An
Assemblage of Works of Art, from the Earliest Period to the Time of
Phydias, watercolour