Stosch collection

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Sophocles ' Medusa in an engraving by Bernard Picart, page 89 of the work Gemmae antiquae caelatae

The Stosch Collection was one of the most important archaeological collections of the 18th century. It primarily comprised original antique gems as well as copies, imitations and casts of other works. Due to the documentation of the collection, it is still largely comprehensible today and is the subject of research.

Philipp von Stosch (1691–1757) began collecting antique coins and gems while studying at the Brandenburg University of Frankfurt in Frankfurt (Oder) . Since he stayed in the Netherlands in 1710, he expanded his interests, supported by the coin collector François Fagel . During diplomatic trips to London , southern France , Rome , Vienna , Prague and Dresden , he continued his studies and continuously expanded his collection. From 1722 he lived in Italy until the end of his life, first in Rome and later in Florence. Here he devoted himself more to his studies and became a respected specialist in gem and coin studies . Georg Martin Preissler and Johann Adam Schweickart acted as assistants in processing the material . The preoccupation with cut stones was regarded as evidence of the highest level of learning and education during Stosch's lifetime. One of the most famous works in the collection is the so-called Stosch's stone , an Etruscan ring stone scarab with its inscription, which was controversial at the time . He received help with the interpretation of individual pieces from members of the Accademia Etrusca at their monthly meetings.

Detail of a gem imprint on the lid of a potpourri vase: Iulia , daughter of Augustus , from the Sèvres porcelain factory, around 1770, now in the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore

In 1724 Stosch published the catalog Gemmae antiquae celatae, scalptorum nominibus insignitae with the artist and publisher Bernard Picart , in which he published 70 signed gems that Stosch considered to be genuinely antique or impressions of genuine pieces. The work was published bilingually in Latin and in French . He arranged the pieces in the book according to the artist's signatures and thus followed more recent findings from Charles César Baudelot de Dairval , which he had found in the salon gem . Up until Baudelot de Dairval's research, inscriptions were used to designate those portrayed. The work also gained its value through the high-quality drawings by Picart, who, contrary to the norm at the time, created portraits close to the original and thus created a lasting scientific value to this day. Through his knowledge of monuments, Stosch was able to discover many contemporary forgeries and imitations in his collection. In addition to Picart, Schweickart, Johannes Hieronymus Odam and Pier Leone Ghezzi also created drawings from Stosch's collection. After his death, Johann Joachim Winckelmann was commissioned by Stosch's heirs and nephew Heinrich Wilhelm Muzel-Stosch to create a comprehensive catalog. In 1758 and 1759 he worked on the catalog based on the handwritten notes of Stosch, which appeared in 1760 under the title Description des pierres gravées du feu Baron de Stosch .

Potpourri vase with an unglazed Merkur stencil imprint on the lid, from the Sèvres porcelain factory, around 1770, today in the Walters Art Museum, counterpart of the vase with the imprint of the Iulia gem.

In 1764 Friedrich II. Acquired Stosch's collection for 12,000 (Rudolf Schwarze) and 30,000 ( Sepp-Gustav Gröschel ) thalers , which later became one of the foundations of the Berlin Collection of Antiquities . According to Winckelmann's list, it comprised 3444 antique originals intaglia and around 28,000 impressions as glass pastes and in sulfur. They still make up the majority of the glyptic collection in the Berlin Collection of Antiquities. Many of the impressions from almost all important collections of other art enthusiasts, but also from “public” collections of the time, Stosch himself made for his collection and brought it to a championship here. With that he had created a unique documentation of this art direction. His Dactyliothek became a model for many others, which were widespread in Europe, especially in the hundred years after his death. The Prussian state even had plaster casts from the Stosch collection made and distributed to grammar schools. Stosch and Picart's engravings also had a lasting influence on the reception of antiquity in early classicism through its English translation . In many villas and country houses, dining rooms were decorated with gem impressions. Josiah Wedgwood also used templates from the Stosch collection for his Jasperware , as did the Porcelain Manufactory Sèvres .

literature

  • Gemmae antiquae celatae, scalptorum nominibus insignitae. Ad ipsas gemmas, aut earum ectypos delineatae & aeri incisae, per Bernardum Picart. Ex praecipuis Europae museis selegit & commentariis illustravit Philippus de Stosch = Pierres antiques gravées, sur les quelles les graveurs ont mis leurs noms. Dessinées et gravées en cuivre sur les originaux ou d'après les empreintes by Bernard Picart. Tirées des principaux cabinets de l'Europe, expliquées par Philippe de Stosch. Bernard Picart, Amsterdam 1724 ( digitized ).
  • Bibliotheca Stoschiana sive Catalogus selectissimorum librorum quos collegerat Philippus liber baro de Stosch. Florence 1759 ( digitized ).
  • Johann Joachim Winckelmann : Description of the pierres gravées du feu Baron de Stosch. Florence 1760 ( digitized ).
  • Directory of a collection mainly on antiquities, history, beautiful and The sciences of mostly Italian, English and French books, including country charts, drawings and copperplate engravings by famous masters, including some paintings, etc. a collection of sulfur prints from antique gems & c. which the deceased Mr. Heinrich Wilhelm Muzel called Stosch Walton left behind and on April 22nd, 1783 and the following days ... in the apartment of the deceased on the corner of Linden-Allee and Kirchgasse ... in a public auction ... Spener, Berlin [1783] (remains of the Stosch collection from his nephew's estate).
  • Rudolf Schwarze:  Stosch, Philipp von . In: Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (ADB). Volume 36, Duncker & Humblot, Leipzig 1893, p. 462 f.
  • Dorothy MacKay Quynn: Philipp von Stosch. Collector, Bibliophile, Spy, Thief (1691-1757). In: The Catholic Historical Review. Volume 27, No. 3, 1941, ISSN  0008-8080 , pp. 332-344.
  • Peter Zazoff , Hilde Zazoff: Gem collector and gem researcher. From a noble passion to science. CH Beck, Munich 1983, ISBN 3-406-08895-3 .
  • JJL Whiteley: Philipp von Stosch, Bernard Picart and the "Gemmae Antiquae Caelatae". In: Martin Henig, Dimitris Plantzos (ed.): Classicism to Neo-classicism. Essays dedicated to Gertrud Seidmann (= BAR International Series. Volume 793). Archaeopress, Oxford 1999, ISBN 1-8417-1009-1 , pp. 183-190.
  • Jörn Lang: Scholars' networks. A sketch of antiquarian interaction using the example of Philipp von Stosch (1691–1757). In: Jan Broch, Markus Rassiller, Daniel Scholl (Eds.): Networks of Modernity. Explorations and strategies (= Forum. Volume 3). Königshausen & Neumann, Würzburg 2007, ISBN 978-3-8260-3720-7 , pp. 203-226 ( digitized version ).
  • Max Kunze : Stosch, Philipp von. 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. 1193-1196.

Web links

Commons : Sammlung Stosch  - collection of images, videos and audio files