Johannes Wiedewelt: A Danish Artist in Search of the Past, Shaping the Future

In the latter half of the 18th century, Johannes Wiedewelt (1731-1802) played a pivotal role in introducing an early form of Neoclassicism in Danish sculpture, by creating a large number of monuments for many different purposes. In the 17505 he studied in Paris and Rome, where he became part of an international network of pioneer-ing artists and scholars (e.g: J J Winckelmann). In Denmark Wiedewelt endeavoured to translate the ancient idiom in statuary and monuments into an "eternal", national monument style, which still appears surprisingly modern. The volume contains twelve interdisciplinary articles. The authors aim at reassess-ing Wiedewelt's role in the service of art, art theory, academic education, design, etc. Special emphasis is placed on his persistent studies on Classical Antiquity and Danish Prehistoric and Medieval monuments, which make him particularly interesting for the history of archaeology, also seen from an international perspective.