"Published in 1764 to wide acclaim, Johann Joachim Winckelmann's History of the Art of Antiquity transformed the study of art and its history. Erudite, systematic, historically grounded, and aesthetically inspired, this work by one of art history's founding fathers argued the unique importance of Greek ideals for the modern world, awakening a passion for the classical past that still enlivens the Western cultural imagination."--Book jacket.