The publication of Orient oder Rom in 1901 triggered an academic firestorm that defined the career of Josef Strzygowski, an Austrian art historian whose research challenged the established emphasis on Roman influence in European artistic history. By shifting focus toward disparate regional styles and architecture, he fundamentally altered the scope of art history as a formal university discipline.
Early Research and Roman Studies
Born in 1862 in Bielsko-Biała, Strzygowski initially pursued a career in the textile industry before enrolling at the University of Vienna in 1882. He subsequently moved to the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München to study art history, completing his doctorate with a dissertation on the iconography of the Baptism of Christ. During a three-year residence in Rome, he produced Cimabue und Rom, which argued for Byzantine influences in Italian painting.
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Following his Roman studies, he traveled extensively through Thessaloniki, Mount Athos, Saint Petersburg, and Moscow to expand his knowledge of Byzantine and Russian art. Appointed to the University of Graz in 1892, he later spent time in Cairo cataloging Coptic holdings. These experiences informed his later work on Islamic and early Christian aesthetics, which he championed as significant fields of study.
Academic Conflict and the Vienna School
In 1909, Strzygowski succeeded Franz Wickhoff at the University of Vienna. His tenure was marked by intense friction with colleagues including Max Dvořák and Julius von Schlosser, leading him to establish his own research institute. Throughout this period, he utilized his platform to advocate for pan-German ideologies and theories regarding the northern and eastern origins of art, a departure from the traditional study of Mediterranean influences.
Final Years and Scholarly Legacy
Strzygowski retired from his university position in 1933. A year later, he founded the Gesellschaft für vergleichende Kunstforschung to continue promoting his comparative theories. While much of his methodology faced criticism for being erratic and racially charged, his focus on Armenian, Slavic, and Norse subjects helped broaden the academic canon. He died in 1941 in Vienna, leaving a complex legacy that is currently subject to modern analysis at the University of Vienna.
Fast facts
- Born: 1862, Bielsko-Biała
- Died: 1941, Vienna
- Primary Field: Art history
- Academic Base: University of Vienna
- Notable Recognition: Corresponding Fellow, Medieval Academy of America (1928)
- Professional Titles: Teacher, professor, art historian, preservationist, armenologist
Questions readers ask
What was the central argument in Strzygowski's 1901 work?
Orient oder Rom argued that late antique art was driven by influential trends from outside the Roman world, specifically citing Semitic and Oriental artistic contributions.
How did he view the origins of Gothic architecture?
In his two-volume study Die Baukunst der Armenier und Europa, he claimed that the roots of Gothic architecture could be traced directly back to Armenia.
