Peter Heinrich von Blanckenhagen

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Peter Heinrich von Blanckenhagen (born March 21, 1909 in Riga , † March 6, 1990 in New York ) was an American classical archaeologist .

Life

Blanckenhagen was born in Riga, which was then part of the Russian Empire . He and his Baltic German family fled from the Bolsheviks to Germany in 1918 , where he went to school in Schwerin . Due to the independence of Latvia in 1918/1919 , Blanckenhagen received the Latvian citizenship, which he retained until the Russian annexation of Latvia in 1940 - despite the associated difficulties in Germany.

Von Blanckenhagen completed his studies in classical archeology in Hamburg , Berlin and Munich in 1936 with a doctorate in Munich; The subject of his dissertation was Flavian architecture. Only after obtaining German citizenship was he able to work at the university from 1941 and that same year became an assistant to Friedrich Matz at the University of Marburg . For 1942/43 he was awarded the travel grant of the German Archaeological Institute , which he could not take due to the war. The time in between he spent studying in Italy and Germany. From 1946 to 1950 he was a lecturer at the University of Hamburg , interrupted by a visiting professorship in Chicago .

In 1950 Blanckenhagen moved permanently as a professor at the University of Chicago , he received the citizenship of the United States in 1956. In 1959 he received the Robert Lehman Chair at the Institute of Fine Arts at New York University . Blanckenhagen gave guest lectures at Princeton University (Christian Gauss Seminars, 1969), the University of Cincinnati ( Semple Lectures , 1972), and the Mellon Lectures at the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC (1976). After his retirement in 1977 he stayed in New York and was available to teach at his university for several years.

Blanckenhagen was a specialist in Hellenistic and, above all, Roman art , primarily architecture, wall painting and sculpture. His lectures on these topics were characterized by a charismatic presentation style.

Memberships and honors

Fonts (selection)

  • Flavian architecture and its decoration examined at the Nervaforum. Dissertation. Mann, Berlin 1940.
  • The image of man in Roman art. Scherpe, Krefeld 1948.
  • with Christine Alexander: The Paintings from Boscotrecase (= communications from the German Archaeological Institute, Roman Department . Supplement 6). Kerle, Heidelberg 1962.
  • The Odyssey Frieze. In: Communications of the German Archaeological Institute, Roman Department. Volume 70, 1963.
  • The complementary viewer. Notes on an Aspect of Hellenistic Art. In: Changes. Studies of ancient and modern art. Festschrift for Ernst Homann-Wedeking. Stiftland, Waldsassen 1975.
  • with Christine Alexander: The Augustan Villa at Boscotrecase (= German Archaeological Institute Rome. Special publications. Volume 8). Zabern, Mainz 1990.

literature

  • Emanuel Winternitz: Peter H. von Blanckenhagen. In: Günter Kopke, Mary B. Moore (Eds.): Studies in Classical Art and Archeology. A Tribute to Peter Heinrich von Blanckenhagen. Augustin, Locust Valley (NY) 1979, pp. Xi-xiv.
  • Evelyn B. Harrison: Peter Heinrich von Blanckenhagen (1909–1990). In: American Journal of Archeology. Volume 95, 1991, pp. 155-156.
  • Dela von Boeselager : Peter Heinrich von Blanckenhagen. In: Gnomon . Volume 64, 1992, pp. 283-285.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Peter H. von Blanckenhagen Memorial Lecture . Archaeological Institute of America, accessed April 27, 2013
personal data
SURNAME Blanckenhagen, Peter Heinrich von
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Blanckenhagen, Peter H. von; Blanckenhagen Peter von
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American classical archaeologist
DATE OF BIRTH March 21, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Riga
DATE OF DEATH March 6, 1990
Place of death New York City