Page:Studies in the history of the renaissance (IA studiesinhistor01pategoog).djvu/187

Rh knowledge hidden for a time in the mind itself, as if the mind of one φιλοσοφήσας πότε μέτ' έρωτος, fallen into a new cycle, were beginning its intellectual culture over again, yet with a certain power of anticipating its results. So comes the truth of Goethe's judgment on his works; they are ein Lebendiges für die Lebendigen geschrieben, ein Leben selbst.

In 1758, Cardinal Albani, who possessed in his Roman villa a precious collection of antiques, became Winckelmann's patron. Pompeii had just opened its treasures; Winckelmann gathered its firstfruits. But his plan of a visit to Greece remained unfulfilled. From his first arrival in Rome he had kept the 'History of Ancient Art' ever in view. All his other writings were a preparation for it. It appeared, finally, in 1764; but even after its publication Winckelmann was still employed in perfecting it. It is since his time that many of the most significant examples of Greek art have been submitted to criticism. He had seen little or nothing of what we ascribe to the age of Phidias; and his conception of Greek art tends, therefore, to put the mere elegance of Imperial society in place of the severe and chastened grace of the palæstra. For the most part he had to penetrate to Greek art through copies, imitations, and later Roman art itself; and