Winckelmanns Idee der Schönheit und ihr Einfluss auf Walter Pater

Abstract

The following work deals with the idea of Beauty as seen in the work of Winckelmann and its influence on Walter Pater, the English critic. The concept of Beauty is to be analyzed chronologically. First of all, the concept of Beauty in Winckelmann’s work will be analysed and its particularities will be described. Further, the concept of Beauty will be analyzed in so far as it changes throughout time and influences the further development of aesthetic theory. Hegel takes up Winckelmann’s idea of Beauty and uses this idea in his own aesthetic theory. Walter Pater takes up and develops the idea of Beauty not only from Winckelmann, but also from Hegel. The influence of both art critics, Winckelmann and Hegel, on Walter Pater will be shown in this thesis. The latter, as this thesis shows, was to develop his own aesthetic theory, which is supported by the concept of Beauty in Winckelmann and Hegel.