DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.29195#0008
Count Stanistaw Kostka Potocki (1755-1821),
the first Polish art critic and art historian
Count Stanistaw possessed a knowledge ofthefine arts I have never encountered in any
other art lover. To him we owe some very interesting research in thatfield, and some im-
portant scholarly studies (thegenerally known translation ofWinckelmann’s great volume
among them). Being in love with his studies, he found relaxation after his lahours in su-
pervising the work ofartists and men ofletters, to whom he generously gave hisprotection.
In whomever a budding talent or a youthful inspiration blossomed, they could atways
count on his helpful advice and material support. Under the influence of his repeated
Italian journeys he developed that noble adoration ofbeauty which is Nature’s gift she so
rarely grants, and which can be likened to an additional sense. Often did I look at him in
wonderment, thinking of the enormous amount of knowledge one man could amass, never
forgetting one iota of it. He was an excellent Latinist: often did I hear him reciting whole
books of Virgil, which he knew by heart, translating them freely and easily as he spoke.
Memoirs ofthe Countess Potocka 1901, pp. 26-27.
the first Polish art critic and art historian
Count Stanistaw possessed a knowledge ofthefine arts I have never encountered in any
other art lover. To him we owe some very interesting research in thatfield, and some im-
portant scholarly studies (thegenerally known translation ofWinckelmann’s great volume
among them). Being in love with his studies, he found relaxation after his lahours in su-
pervising the work ofartists and men ofletters, to whom he generously gave hisprotection.
In whomever a budding talent or a youthful inspiration blossomed, they could atways
count on his helpful advice and material support. Under the influence of his repeated
Italian journeys he developed that noble adoration ofbeauty which is Nature’s gift she so
rarely grants, and which can be likened to an additional sense. Often did I look at him in
wonderment, thinking of the enormous amount of knowledge one man could amass, never
forgetting one iota of it. He was an excellent Latinist: often did I hear him reciting whole
books of Virgil, which he knew by heart, translating them freely and easily as he spoke.
Memoirs ofthe Countess Potocka 1901, pp. 26-27.