Otto J. Brendel

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Otto Johannes Brendel (born October 10, 1901 in Nuremberg , † October 8, 1973 in New York City ) was a German-American classical archaeologist whose career in Germany was interrupted by the effects of the Nuremberg race laws and reached its peak in the USA reached, where he is considered to be the innovator of classical archeology.

Life

Otto Brendel was born as the son of the church council Rudolf Brendel and his wife Mathilde Gareis. His family, which produced clergymen for generations, came to southern Germany in 1732 as a result of the Protestants' expulsion from Salzburg . His interest in classical antiquity , but also in literature and music, developed during his time at the New High School in Nuremberg . But initially the desire to become a painter predominated. During his last school year his father allowed him to study painting with Max Unold in Munich . Even if he did not end up becoming a painter, Brendel remained an artistic person throughout his life.

In 1920 he began studying archeology with Ludwig Curtius at Heidelberg University . He also studied Latin and Ancient History . His most important teachers, besides Curtius, whose most important students he is, were Karl Meister , Eugen Täubler , Franz Boll , Ernst Robert Curtius , Alfred von Domaszewski , Friedrich von Duhn , Karl Lehmann-Hartleben , Bernhard Schweitzer and Alfred Weber . At Karl Jaspers he heard philosophy. From 1923 to 1926 Brendel worked as an assistant to Frederik Poulsen in Copenhagen on the catalog of the Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek , where he laid the basis for his familiarity with the ancient monuments. He received his doctorate in 1928 at Curtius in Heidelberg with the work Iconography of Emperor Augustus . In the same year, as an assistant at the headquarters of the German Archaeological Institute (DAI) , he prepared the centenary of the DAI in Berlin. He also married his fellow student Maria Weigert (1902–1994) during this time. As holder of the travel grant of the German Archaeological Institute , Brendel toured Greece and Italy in 1929/30.

After returning, Brendel completed his habilitation in 1931 at the University of Erlangen with the thesis The Snake-strangling Herakliskos . The university gave him leave of absence the following year so that he could take up the position of first assistant at the Rome department of the DAI under his teacher Curtius. At the end of 1935 he was dismissed because his wife was Jewish and he was no longer allowed to be employed by a Reich authority due to the provisions of the Nuremberg Race Laws. In 1936 he accepted an invitation from the University of Durham and was a research fellow there for a year . Brendel did not return to Germany after giving a lecture in the USA in 1938 after being offered a visiting professorship at Washington University in St. Louis . At the request of Frederik W. Shipley, this was initially followed by another year teaching art history . In 1941 Brendel was appointed to the Chair of Classical Archeology and Art History at Indiana University in Bloomington . In 1949 he became a Fellow of the American Academy in Rome , which he remained until 1951. The appointment to the professorship for art history and archeology at Columbia University in New York took place in 1956. 1963 Brendel retired.

Act

Even in Germany, Brendel broke new ground by asking new questions and placing ancient works of art in a new historical context. The most important work of that time was the symbolism of the sphere . Brendel only had a lasting effect after moving to the USA. He is considered to be the resuscitator of American archeology, which had become a discipline of sterile over-specialization and trivial studies. The writings Prolegomena to the Study of Roman Art (1953) and Etruscan Art (1978) were particularly influential in revitalizing US archeology . Jerome Jordan Pollitt , Larissa Bonfante and David Cast were among the most important students of Brendel, who was considered lovable, witty, reserved and funny . He researched Greek, Roman and Etruscan art, the history of religion , symbolism, allegories and the aftermath of ancient art right through to modern art.

Brendel died at the age of 71. His daughter Cornelia was married to the conductor and composer Lukas Foss and was also Glenn Gould's lover for many years .

Fonts (selection)

  • Iconography of the Emperor Augustus. Nuremberg 1931 (also: dissertation, University of Heidelberg 1928).
  • Heracliskus, strangling from the snake. Habilitation thesis, Erlangen 1931.
  • Symbolism of the sphere. In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Roman Department . Volume 51, 1936, pp. 1-95.
    • English: Symbolism of the sphere. A contribution to the history of earlier Greek philosophy (= Études préliminaires aux religions orientales dans l'empire romain. Volume 67). Brill, Leiden 1977, ISBN 90-04-05266-6 .
  • Borrowings from ancient art in Titian. In: Art bulletin. Volume 37, 1955, pp. 113-125.
  • Etruscan art ( Pelican history of art ). Penguin Books, New York 1978. 2nd edition, Yale University Press, New Haven 1995.
  • Prolegomena to the study of Roman art. In: Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome. Volume 21, 1953, pp. 7-73. Reprint: Yale University Press, New Haven 1979.
  • The visible idea. Interpretations of classical art . Decatur House, Washington DC 1980.

literature

  • W. Eugene Kleinbauer: Modern perspectives in Western art history. An anthology of 20th-century writings on the visual arts. Holt / Rinehart and Winston, New York 1971, p. 81.
  • Larissa Bonfante , Helga von Heintze (eds.): In memoriam Otto J. Brendel. Essays in archeology and the humanities. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1976. Therein: William M. Calder III : Biographical note. S. X-XI, Complete bibliography : S. XII-XIV.
  • William M. Calder III: Paul Jacobsthal 1880–1957 . In: Reinhard Lullies , Wolfgang Schiering (Hrsg.): Archäologenbildnisse . Portraits and short biographies of classical archaeologists in the German language. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 1988, ISBN 3-8053-0971-6 , pp. 283-284.
  • William M. Calder III: Brendel, Otto J. In: Nancy de Grummond (Ed.): Encyclopedia of the history of classical archeology Volume 1., Greenwood Press, Westport 1996, pp. 190-91.
  • Katharina Lorenz: Otto Brendel (1901–1973) . In: Gunnar Brands , Martin Maischberger (Hrsg.): Lebensbilder. Classical archaeologists and National Socialism (= people - cultures - traditions. Studies from the research clusters of the German Archaeological Institute. Volume 2.1). Rahden 2012, pp. 193-206
  • Katharina Lorenz: Brendel, Otto Johannes. In: Peter Kuhlmann , Helmuth Schneider (Hrsg.): History of the ancient sciences. Biographical Lexicon (= The New Pauly . Supplements. Volume 6). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2012, ISBN 978-3-476-02033-8 , Sp. 150 f.
  • Hans Peter Obermayer: "He is pure Aryan" - Otto Brendel. In: The same: German ancient scholars in American exile. A reconstruction. De Gruyter, Berlin 2014, pp. 192–220.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Brendel, Otto J.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Brendel, Otto Johannes
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German-American classical archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH October 10, 1901
PLACE OF BIRTH Nuremberg
DATE OF DEATH October 8, 1973
Place of death New York City