Kurt Gschwantler

Kurt Gschwantler (born February 9, 1944 in Kitzbühel , Tyrol ) is an Austrian classical archaeologist . The specialist in antique bronzes was director of the antique collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna from 1995 to 2009 .

Life

After attending the Vienna Schottengymnasium and graduating from the Academic Gymnasium in Graz in 1962, Gschwantler studied classical philology , classical archeology and Egyptology at the universities of Graz and Vienna . In 1966 he received a grant from the Austrian Archaeological Institute in Athens , which enabled him to do research.

From 1972 Gschwantler worked as an assistant at the antiquities collection of the Art History Museum. On March 29, 1973 he was awarded a Dr. phil. PhD . In his dissertation he dealt with the biographies of the Greek painters Parrhasios and Zeuxis ; Shortly afterwards he wrote about Zeuxis on behalf of Konrat Ziegler an extensive article for the real encyclopedia of classical antiquity .

From 1976 to 1978 Gschwantler worked on the reorganization of the Ephesos Museum in the Neue Burg in Vienna. In 1979 he stayed for two months at the Austrian Historical Institute in Rome.

Gschwantler's specialty are ancient bronzes, on which he wrote numerous relevant essays. Since 1984 he has headed an interdisciplinary research project on the bronze statuette of the young man from Magdalensberg . The project proved that the statuette is not an ancient original, but a cast from the Renaissance . In this context, he organized the 9th international conference on ancient large bronzes in Vienna in 1986.

In 1992 Gschwantler took part in the organization of the Adán y Eva en Aranjuez exhibition . In 1995 he was appointed director of the Antikensammlung of the Kunsthistorisches Museum. In this capacity he organized the reorganization of the antiquities collection, which opened in 2005. In December 2009, Gschwantler retired.

Fonts (selection)

Zeuxis and Parrhasios. A contribution to the ancient monograph of artists . Vienna 1975
with Wolfgang Oberleitner, Alfred Bernhard-Walcher: Finds from Ephesus and Samothrace . Vienna 1978
with Wolfgang Oberleitner, Alfred Bernhard-Walcher: From graves and sanctuaries in Etruria and southern Italy . Linz 1985
with Alfred Bernhard-Walcher: Greek and Roman statuettes and large bronzes, files from the 9th conference on ancient bronzes . Vienna 1988
with Alfred Bernhard-Walcher: Guß + Form. Bronzes from the antique collection . Vienna 1986
with others: masterpieces from the antique collection . Vienna 2009

Web links

Literature by Kurt Gschwantler in the catalog of the German National Library
Lecture by Kurt Gschwantler on the young man from Magdalensberg

Individual evidence

^ Kurt Gschwantler: Der Jüngling vom Magdalensberg - A research project of the antique collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna . In: Greek and Roman statuettes and large bronzes. Files from the 9th session on ancient bronzes . Vienna 1988, pp. 16-27; the same: the youth from Magdalensberg in Aranjuez. The search for the missing original . In: Yearbook of the Art History Collections in Vienna 89/90 (1993/1994), pp. 311–339.

personal data
SURNAME	Gschwantler, Kurt
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Austrian archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH	February 9, 1944
PLACE OF BIRTH	Kitzbühel , Tyrol

[1] Kurt Gschwantler: Der Jüngling vom Magdalensberg - A research project of the antique collection of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna . In: Greek and Roman statuettes and large bronzes. Files from the 9th session on ancient bronzes . Vienna 1988, pp. 16-27; the same: the youth from Magdalensberg in Aranjuez. The search for the missing original . In: Yearbook of the Art History Collections in Vienna 89/90 (1993/1994), pp. 311–339.