Page:Edward Prime-Stevenson - The Intersexes.djvu/294

 long continued, need not be analyzed here. He had love-affairs with several young men in Rome that have long been historic, including the ungrateful Lambrecht, his acquaintance with von Stosch, Berendis, and so on. His friendship with the homosexual painter Raphael Mengs was apparently not of such character. The ultimate chapter of his sexual history brought tragedy. In 1767, Winckelman left Rome to visit some German friends, and travelled North as far as Regensburg. At that place, he abruptly decided to return to Italy, by way of Vienna. In Vienna he was made much of by the learned world, and by the Empress Maria-Theresia, who presented him with a quantity of curious ancient money, mostly in gold, that she knew would gratify his archéologie taste. He reached Triest, to sail. There, Winckelman fell into the society of an extremely handsome young Italian (mis-named Arcangeli) a café-waiter, in poverty, and a dangerous character. Arcangeli was homosexual, ingratiating and a thorough rascal. His beauty charmed the idealistic savant. For some days, Winckelmann kept Arcangeli with him, and the two men passed each night together. Winckelman however did not disclose his identity; but he was imprudent enough to inform Arcangeli of the money! A day or so before Winckelmann was to have left Triest, Arcangeli began to be insistant on Winckelmann's real name and so on, and demanded a sight of the gold. Winckelmann refused. A quarrel came. Winckelmann, thinking to end it, sat down at his desk to write. The murderous Italian glided behind Winckelmann, with a cord in his hand; and first garrotted and then stabbed the unfortunate savant. Arcangeli was tried, convicted and executed, the facts in his intimacy with Winckelmann being elicited during the trial. Apart from the regular biographies of Winckelmann, where the affair is presented with much reserve, they are embodied, with some romancing, in one of the narratives in Alex, von Sternberg's volume "Künstlerbilder." (See a later reference).