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Baron Philipp von Stosch or Philippe de Stosch etc. (22 March 1691 – 7 November 1757) was a
Prussian Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, the House of Hohenzoll ...
antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...
who lived in
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
and
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
. He is mainly remembered for his huge collection of
engraved gem An engraved gem, frequently referred to as an intaglio, is a small and usually semi-precious gemstone that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major lux ...
s, now mostly in Berlin, and his large books on that subject.


Life

Stosch was born in Küstrin (today Kostrzyn in
Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...
) in the
Neumark The Neumark (), also known as the New March () or as East Brandenburg (), was a region of the Margraviate of Brandenburg and its successors located east of the Oder River in territory which became part of Poland in 1945 except some villages o ...
region of
Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...
. In 1709, with the blessings of his father, a successful artist who became Mayor (German: Bürgermeister) of Küstrin, Stosch began a tour of
Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
,
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
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 ...
, which eventually led him to
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 ...
. In Rome, a letter of introduction brought him into the circle of
Pope Clement XI Pope Clement XI (; ; ; 23 July 1649 – 19 March 1721), born Giovanni Francesco Albani, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 23 November 1700 to his death in March 1721. Clement XI was a patron of the arts an ...
, a collector and connoisseur of antiquities. Soon he developed a close friendship with the
cardinal-nephew A cardinal-nephew (; ; ; ; )Signorotto and Visceglia, 2002, p. 114. Modern French scholarly literature uses the term "cardinal-neveu'". was a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal elevated by a pope who was that cardinal's relative. The practice of c ...
,
Alessandro Albani Alessandro Albani (15 October 1692 – 11 December 1779) was a Roman Catholic cardinal remembered as a leading collector of antiquities, dealer and art patron in Rome. He supported the art historian, Johann Joachim Winckelmann and commissioned pa ...
. Called home with the death of his elder brother in 1717, Stosch began a series of broader European journeys. Once again in Rome, Stosch became a dealer in art and antiquities at the center of the antiquarian group that were commissioning excavations in search of works of art. Above all he was a collector of
engraved gem An engraved gem, frequently referred to as an intaglio, is a small and usually semi-precious gemstone that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major lux ...
s of antiquity, books and manuscripts, early engravings and drawings and reputedly a connoisseur of Roman men (reference to his homosexuality). He financed his passions by some unorthodox means, including spying on the Jacobite court in Rome for Sir
Robert Walpole Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford (; 26 August 1676 – 18 March 1745), known between 1725 and 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British Whigs (British political party), Whig statesman who is generally regarded as the ''de facto'' first Prim ...
's British Government. Stosch was unmasked as a clandestine operative in 1731, and his life was threatened. He was forced to flee the
Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...
and took refuge in Florence, under the tolerant rule of Grand Duke
Gian Gastone de' Medici Gian Gastone de' Medici (born Giovanni Battista Gastone; 25 May 1671 – 9 July 1737) was the seventh and last Medicean grand duke of Tuscany. He was the second son of Grand Duke Cosimo III and Marguerite Louise d'Orléans. His sister, Elect ...
. There he settled into a long retirement devoted to connoisseurship, pensioned by the British until he died in 1757. Before long his growing collection required a separate house of its own. (ref. Datenbank Altertumswissenschaften) Stosch was a founder of a
Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...
in Florence in 1733, that became a direct concern of Rome, leading to the ban on Catholics becoming Freemasons. The first papal ban of Freemasonry, issued by the Florentine-born
Pope Clement XII Pope Clement XII (; ; 7 April 16526 February 1740), born Lorenzo Corsini, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 July 1730 to his death in February 1740. Clement presided over the growth of a surplus in the papal ...
, was not based on any ideological objection to Freemasonry, as is often supposed. In the wake of the 1738 bull Clement's cardinal-nephew Neri Corsini, wrote stressing that Freemasonry in England was merely an innocent amusement; the main objection, according to Corsini, was that the lodge in Florence had become "corrupt". His house became a center for spiritual inquiry of a
Rosicrucian Rosicrucianism () is a spirituality, spiritual and cultural movement that arose in early modern Europe in the early 17th century after the publication of several texts announcing to the world a new Western esotericism, esoteric order. Rosicruc ...
, alchemical-panphilosophical nature. The lodge was closed and
Tommaso Crudeli Tommaso Baldasarre Crudeli (December 21, 1702 – March 27, 1745) was a Florentine Freethought, free thinker who was imprisoned by the Roman Inquisition. He was a poet, lawyer, champion of free thought and is remembered as the first martyr of Un ...
was imprisoned. He encouraged young German artists, not merely those who illustrated his own works but others, like Johann Lorenz Natter (1705-1763), a German gem-engraver and medalist whom Stosch set to copying ancient carved gems in Florence and whose Masonic medal commemorating the Mastership of Charles Sackville, 1733, was engraved and widely distributed (ref. Pelizzi). Versions of it exist in gold and in silver; the Grand Duke apparently got a silver one, now at the
Bargello The Bargello, also known as the or ("Palace of the People"), is a former public building and police headquarters, later a prison, in Florence, Italy. Mostly built in the 13th century, since 1865 it has housed the , a national art museum. It ...
. Stosch is credited with making the
monocle A monocle is a type of corrective lens used to correct or enhance the visual perception in only one eye. It consists of a circular lens placed in front of the eye and held in place by the eye socket itself. Often, to avoid losing the monoc ...
fashionable, but as a connoisseur, Stosch made his lasting impression with a great volume on the subject of ''Gemmæ Antiquæ Cælatæ (Pierres antiques graveés)'' (1724), in which
Bernard Picart Bernard Picart or Picard (11 June 1673 – 8 May 1733), was a French draughtsman, Engraving, engraver, and Book illustration, book illustrator in Amsterdam, who showed an interest in cultural and religious habits. Life Picart was born i ...
's engravings reproduced seventy antique carved hardstones like
onyx Onyx is a typically black-and-white banded variety of agate, a silicate mineral. The bands can also be monochromatic with alternating light and dark bands. ''Sardonyx'' is a variety with red to brown bands alternated with black or white bands. ...
,
jasper Jasper, an aggregate of microgranular quartz and/or cryptocrystalline chalcedony and other mineral phases, is an opaque, impure variety of silica, usually red, yellow, brown or green in color; and rarely blue. The common red color is due to ...
and
carnelian Carnelian (also spelled cornelian) is a brownish-red mineral commonly used as a semiprecious stone. Similar to carnelian is sard, which is generally harder and darker; the difference is not rigidly defined, and the two names are often used int ...
from European collections, a volume of inestimable value to antiquarians and historians. It immediately joined the repertory of books of engravings after antiquities of all kinds, which were an essential part of eighteenth century classical studies and informed the Neoclassical styles that got under way shortly after Stosch's death. In English translation by
George Ogle George Ogle (14 October 1742 – 10 August 1814) was an Irish Tory politician. Life He was born 14 October 1742, the only child of George Ogle (1704–1746). He was brought up at Rossminoge, near Camolin, County Wexford, under the care of ...
it had several editions. At
Burton Constable Hall Burton Constable Hall is a large Elizabethan English country house, country house in England, with 18th- and 19th-century interiors and a fine 18th-century cabinet of curiosities. The hall, a Grade I listed building, is set in a park designed b ...
, Yorkshire, the Dining Room overmantel relief executed in the 1760s features Bacchus and Ariadne riding on a panther, modeled on a cameo from the volume. Dozens of other
Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
and Neoclassical uses of the Stosch volume might be instanced. The baron's own great collection eventually contained over 10,000 cameos, intaglios, and antique glass pastes, the majority of which eventually went to the
museums in Berlin A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...
. The hardstone carvings among his collections, which rivaled
numismatics Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals, and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also inclu ...
for their interest to antiquarians, were engraved and entrusted for publication to Winckelmann. Winckelmann's work was underwritten by Baron von Stosch's nephew and heir, Heinrich Wilhelm Muzel, another lifelong bachelor, who had come to stay in Florence with Stosch in 1757 and had been adopted and made Philipp von Stosch's heir (ref. Universitätsbibliothek Trier) .Thus he was looking for prospective purchasers of his uncle's collection just at this moment. Winckelmann's last letter, penned in the Trieste inn the night he was murdered by a young man he had just picked up, was addressed to Muzel-Stosch. In 1765 King
Frederick the Great Frederick II (; 24 January 171217 August 1786) was the monarch of Prussia from 1740 until his death in 1786. He was the last Hohenzollern monarch titled ''King in Prussia'', declaring himself ''King of Prussia'' after annexing Royal Prussia ...
eventually purchased the greatest part of the collection, for 20 or 30,000
Reichsthaler The ''Reichsthaler'' (; modern spelling Reichstaler), or more specifically the ''Reichsthaler specie'', was a standard thaler silver coin introduced by the Holy Roman Empire in 1566 for use in all German states, minted in various versions for the ...
and an annuity of 400 Reichsthaler (refs. Datenbank Altertumswissenschaften, Universitätsbibliothek Trier); so the engraved gems came to rest in the
Berlin museums Active museums This is a list of museums and non-commercial Art gallery, galleries in Berlin, Germany. Defunct museums References External links Museumsportal Berlin
. ''Description des Pierres gravées'' provided subjects for the familiar Neoclassical jasperware medallions in low relief, against green or blue grounds, which were produced in great number by
Josiah Wedgwood Josiah Wedgwood (12 July 1730 – 3 January 1795) was an English potter, entrepreneur and abolitionist. Founding the Wedgwood company in 1759, he developed improved pottery bodies by systematic experimentation, and was the leader in the indu ...
. Individual figures were re-engraved for ''
Gentleman's Magazine ''The Gentleman's Magazine'' was a monthly magazine founded in London, England, by Edward Cave in January 1731. It ran uninterrupted for almost 200 years, until 1907, ceasing publication altogether in 1922. It was the first to use the term '' ...
'' and found their way into Neoclassical marquetry medallions on London-made furniture and other minor decorative arts. Among other elements in the dispersed collections, the ''Atlas''—of 324 volumes— in which Stosch kept his drawings, among other things the entire cache of drawings left by the Baroque architect Borromini, which Stosch acquired about 1730, before his withdrawal to Florence (ref. Connors), eventually went to Vienna. His considerable library, strong in "history, politics, diplomacy, conclaves, embassies and relazioni from distant parts" (Connors), was purchased in 1759 for the
Vatican Library The Vatican Apostolic Library (, ), more commonly known as the Vatican Library or informally as the Vat, is the library of the Holy See, located in Vatican City, and is the city-state's national library. It was formally established in 1475, alth ...
where it is housed with the then recently purchased Ottoboni library (and bear the shelfmarks Ottob.lat. 2565-3100). One of the codices, containing important musical notation, which had belonged to Queen Christina and was given by her to the Vatican Library, was stolen and appeared in Stosch's library, when was then sold to the Vatican in 1759 and thus was returned (ref. Ottoboni Lat. 3025).(Particularly valuable early prints found individual purchasers: Stosch's group of
niello Niello is a black mixture, usually of sulphur, copper, silver, and lead, used as an inlay on engraved or etched metal, especially silver. It is added as a powder or paste, then fired until it melts or at least softens, and flows or is push ...
prints attributed to Tommaso di Finiguerra were bought by the Leipzig merchant Ernst Peter Otto (1724–99), whose celebrated print collection was dispersed in massive sales in 1851-52. Some of his medals were acquired by unconventional means. According to an anecdote related by
Isaac d'Israeli Isaac D'Israeli (11 May 1766 – 19 January 1848) was a British writer, scholar and the father of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, British prime minister Benjamin Disraeli. He is best known for his essays and his associations with other me ...
,
It was in looking over the gems of the royal cabinet of medals, that the keeper perceived the loss of one; his place, his pension, and his reputation were at stake; and he insisted that Baron Stosch should be most minutely examined: in this dilemma, forced to confession, this erudite collector assured the keeper of the royal cabinet, that the strictest search would not avail “Alas, sir! I have it here within,” he said, pointing to his breast. An emetic was suggested by the learned practitioner himself, probably from some former experiment.
In 1764 some of his collections were sold at auction, his architectural drawings, strong in sixteenth century architects, went to enrich the
Albertina, Vienna The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as wel ...
. The ''Codex Stosch'', a bound volume of measured drawings of ancient Roman buildings made by the brother of
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger Antonio da Sangallo the Younger (12 April 14843 August 1546), also known as Antonio Cordiani, was an Italian architect active during the Renaissance, mainly in Rome and the Papal States. One of his most popular projects that he worked on des ...
, disappeared after the sale. The codex reappeared in 2005 and was purchased for the RIBA Library, London. His profile portrait appears on a medal he commissioned from François Marteau in 1727. His widely circulated letters on antiquarian subjects were reassembled in Carl Justi, ''Antiquarische Briefe des Baron Philipp von Stosch'' (1871). Baron Von Stosch was buried in the Old English Cemetery in
Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of the Tuscany region of Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 152,916 residents as of 2025. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn ...
, where his grave, still existing, is badly damaged.


Notes


References


Historisches Seminar der Universität Zürich
Datenbank Altertumswissenschaften: Stosch, Philipp von
Johann Justin Preisler, Four drawings of Antique intaglios
probably executed for Stosch
BBC News 12 July 2005
"'Lost' book is sold for £230,000"
Baron Heinrich Wilhelm (von Muzell-Stosch, (1723-1782): Portrait of Stosch's nephew and heir, at the Universitätsbibliothek Trier
*Joseph Connors, "Borromini, Hagia Sophia and S. Vitale," ''Architectural Studies in memory of
Richard Krautheimer Richard Krautheimer (6 July 1897 in Fürth (Franconia), Germany – 1 November 1994 in Rome, Italy) was a German art historian, architectural historian, Baroque scholar, and Byzantinist. Biography Krautheimer was born in a Jewish family in Germ ...
'', ed. Cecil Striker, (Mainz am Rhein, 1996), pp. 43–48
on-line pdf file


Leipzig, J.B. Hirschfeld, 1851-1852
Artnet.com Tuscher, Marcus
notes on the "English Lodge" at Florence, active c 1732-38

Brief family history
Ottoboni Lat. 3025
The codex from Queen Christina's library, given to the Vatican but stolen and passed into Stosch's collection, returned to the Vatican Library with the purchase of Stosch's manuscripts. * Section on signed gems and forged signatures in the wake of ''Gemmae antiquae caelatae''.


Further reading

*Gołyźniak, Paweł, 2023. "From Stosch through Carafa to Hamilton and the British Museum: Provenance and study of some Egyptian scarabs and Near Eastern cylinder seals in the eighteenth century," ''Journal of the History of Collections'', Volume 35, Issue 3, November: 441–454. * Lesley Lewis, "Philipp von Stosch", in ''Apollo'', 63, LXXXV, 1967, pp 320–327 * J.J.L. Whiteley, 1999. "Philipp von Stosch, Bernard Picart and the ''Gemmae Antiquae Caelatae''", in ''Classicism to Neo-classicism: Essays dedicated to Gertrud Seidmann'' edited by Martin Henig and Dimitris Plantzos. * Peter and Hilde Zazoff, 1983. ''Gemmensammler und Gemmenforscher : Von einer noblen Passion zur Wissenschaft'' (Munich: Beck Verlag) * Joern Lang, Netzwerke von Gelehrten: Eine Skizze antiquarischer Interaktion am Beispiel des Philipp von Stosch (1691–1757), in: J. Broch – M. Rassiller – D. Scholl (Hrsg.), Netzwerke der Moderne. Erkundungen und Strategien. Würzburg 2007 (= FORUM – Studien zur Moderneforschung 3) pp. 203–226. * Erika Zwierlein-Diehl, Glaspasten im Martin-von Wagner-Museum der Universitaet Würzburg (1986) p 12. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stosch, Philipp von 1691 births 1757 deaths People from Kostrzyn nad Odrą Catholicism and Freemasonry German antiquarians People from the Margraviate of Brandenburg German male non-fiction writers