Longing for what we have lost 4

Winckelmann and the beauty of male friendship

Winckelmann felt himself a kindred spirit to the ancient Greeks, particularly as regards friendship. According to Pater:

That his affinity with Hellenism was not merely intellectual, that the subtler threads of temperament were inwoven in it, is proved by his romantic, fervid friendships with young men.^[1]

Winckelmann found his intimate, emotional connections with other men, which elevated their friendships into a territory beyond mere acquaintance, mirrored in those of the ancient Greeks he studied. One token of such a friendship comes in the form of a portrait by Anton von Maron, which was commissioned for Winckelmann’s close friend and correspondent, Wilhelm Muzell-Stosch.

4.1. Beauty realised

4.2. Androgynous beauty

4.3. Winckelmann and desire

 

^[1] Pater 1873, 161

→ 4.1. Beauty realised