Walter-Herwig Schuchhardt (8 March 1900 – 14 January 1976) was a German
classical archaeologist and
art historian born in
Hanover
Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...
. He specialized in
ancient Greek art, particularly
sculpture
Sculpture is the branch of the visual arts that operates in three dimensions. Sculpture is the three-dimensional art work which is physically presented in the dimensions of height, width and depth. It is one of the plastic arts. Durable sc ...
and art from the "
Parthenon
The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are conside ...
era" (5th century BC).
He was the son of archaeologist
Carl Schuchhardt (1859-1943).
Schuchhardt studied
archaeology
Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts ...
at the Universities of
Tübingen
Tübingen (, , Swabian: ''Dibenga'') is a traditional university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer rivers. about one in thre ...
,
Göttingen
Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...
and
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
, earning his doctorate in 1923 with a
dissertation on
Pergamon
Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a promontory on th ...
friezes, titled ''Die Meister des grossen Frieses von Pergamon''.
He received his habilitation in 1929 with the thesis, ''Die Entstehung des Parthenonfrieses'' (Emergence of Parthenon friezes), and later taught classes at the
University of Giessen
University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von ...
(1934–36). From 1936 to 1968, he was a professor at the
University of Freiburg
The University of Freiburg (colloquially german: Uni Freiburg), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (german: Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg), is a public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württe ...
. Among his better known literary works are the following:
* ''Die Sima des alten Athenatempels der Akropolis'' (The
Sima of the ancient Athenian temples of the
Acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
), (1936)
* ''Die Kunst der Griechen'' (The art of the Greeks), (1940)
* ''Archaische Plastik auf der Akropolis'' (Archaic sculpture of the Acropolis), (1943)
* ''Die Epochen der griechischen Plastik'' (The epochs of
Greek sculpture
The sculpture of ancient Greece is the main surviving type of fine ancient Greek art as, with the exception of painted ancient Greek pottery, almost no ancient Greek painting survives. Modern scholarship identifies three major stages in monu ...
), (1959)
* ''Griechische Kunst'' (Greek art), (1964)
* ''Geschichte der griechischen Kunst'' (History of
Greek art
Greek art began in the Cycladic and Minoan civilization, and gave birth to Western classical art in the subsequent Geometric, Archaic and Classical periods (with further developments during the Hellenistic Period). It absorbed influences of ...
), (1971)
* "(Greek art) History Of Art & Architecture" English translation by S. MacCormack: (1990)
References
Dictionary of Art HistoriansUniversity of Giessen Biographies(translated biography)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schuchhardt, Walter Herwig
Archaeologists from Lower Saxony
University of Freiburg faculty
1900 births
1976 deaths