Anton Heinrich Springer (13 July 182531 May 1891) was a German art historian and writer.

Early life

Springer was born in

Prague Prague ( ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in the Czech Republic, largest city of the Czech Republic and the historical capital of Bohemia. Prague, located on the Vltava River, has a population of about 1.4 million, while its P ...

, where he studied

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

Charles University Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

, earning a Ph.D. Taking an interest in art, he made several educational journeys, travelling to

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

and

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

, and spent some months in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

. After his Ph.D. he addressed himself to art history. He wrote a second Ph.D. thesis on Hegel's theory of history in

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, 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 (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

, where he also was involved in the political activities of the Revolution of 1848.

Work

He settled at

, but in 1848 returned to Prague and began to lecture at the university on the history of the revolutionary epoch. The liberal tone of these lectures brought him into disfavour with the ruling authorities, and in 1849 he left

Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...

and passed some time in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. In 1852 he settled at

Bonn Bonn () is a federal city in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, located on the banks of the Rhine. With a population exceeding 300,000, it lies about south-southeast of Cologne, in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ruhr region. This ...

, where he was lecturer and professor (from 1860) for art history. In 1872 he went to the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, and in 1873 to

Leipzig University Leipzig University (), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December 1409 by Frederick I, Electo ...

, where he became Professor for Medieval and Modern Art at the newly founded Institute for Art History. As a journalist and a publicist Springer advocated the federal union of the states ruled by the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n emperor, and asserted the right of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

to the headship of

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

; during the

Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...

he favored the emancipation of the small states in southeast

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

from Turkish supremacy. After many years of feeble health, he died at Leipzig on 31 May 1891. A fiery personality, he disparaged the art historian Herman Grimm, whom, according to Kessler, he attacked from the lectern as a writer of dime novels for wealthy readers. Likewise he berated the art historian Hermann Knackfuß as "Hermann Knackwurst."

Jacob Burckhardt Carl Jacob Christoph Burckhardt (; ; 25 May 1818 – 8 August 1897) was a Swiss historian of art and culture and an influential figure in the historiography of both fields. His best known work is '' The Civilization of the Renaissance in ...

, fully cognizant of Springer's enmity toward him, reportedly gave Springer's student Gustav Pauli a rough reception when Pauli applied to study under him in

Basel Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...

. Springer played an important role in establishing art history as an academic subject. He rejected the more literary or impressionistic approaches of his colleagues like Herman Grimm or Hermann Knackfuß. Among his own works are several treatises on occidental art: a ''Compendium on the Architecture of the Christian Middle Ages'' (1854), a ''Handbook on Art History'' (1855), a ''History of Fine Arts in the 19th Century'' (1858), ''Iconographical Studies'' (1860), a work on ''Contemporary Fine Arts'' (1875), books on

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

and

Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...

(1878) and (posthumously) a book on

Albrecht Dürer Albrecht Dürer ( , ;; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer or Duerer, was a German painter, Old master prin ...

(1892).

Bibliography

His historical works include his ''Geschichte Österreichs seit dem Wiener Frieden'' (Leipzig, 1863–1865), which was translated into Czech (Prague, 1867), as well as: ''Geschichte des Revolutionszeitalters'' (Prague, 1849); ''Österreich nach der Revolution'' (Prague, 1850); ''Österreich, Preussen und Deutschland'' (Prague, 1851); ''Paris im 18. Jahrhundert'' (Leipzig, 1856); and ''Protokolle des Verfassungs-Ausschusses im Oesterreichischen Reichstage 1848–1849'' (Leipzig, 1885). His principal works on art are: ''Leitfaden der Baukunst des christlichen Mittelalters'' (Bonn, 1854); the valuable ''Handbuch der Kunstgeschichte'' (7th ed., Leipzig, 1906), a revised edition of his ''Grundzüge der Kunstgeschichte'' (Leipzig, 1887–1888); ''Geschichte der bildenden Künste im 14. Jahrhundert'' (Leipzig, 1858); ''Bilder aus der neueren Kunstgeschichte'' (Bonn 1867, and again 1886); ''Raffael und Michelangelo'' (Leipzig, 1877 and 1885); and ''Die Kunst des 14. Jahrhunderts'' (Leipzig 1880–1881). Springer wrote two biographies: ''Friedrich Christoph Dahlmann'' (Leipzig, 1870–1872), and ''Albrecht Dürer'' (Berlin, 1892); and was responsible for the German edition of Crowe and Cavalcaselle's ''Lives of the Early Flemish Painters'', which was published at Leipzig in 1875. His book of reminiscences, ''Aus meinem Leben'' (Berlin, 1892), containing contributions by Gustav Freytag and Hubert Janitschek, was edited by his son Jaro Springer (born 1856), who is also known as a writer on art.

References

Duke University Libraries: Springer, Anton
A biography of Anton Springer, from Duke University. {{DEFAULTSORT:Springer, Anton Heinrich 1825 births 1891 deaths 19th-century German historians 19th-century Czech people German art historians Forty-Eighters German activists German Bohemian people Writers from Prague German male non-fiction writers 19th-century German male writers Charles University alumni Historians from the Austrian Empire