Heinrich Wölfflin Biography

Heinrich Wölfflin was a Swiss art historian whose objective classifying principles, such as "painterly" versus "linear," profoundly shaped the formal analysis of art history in the early 20th century. He taught at Basel, Berlin, and Munich, belonging to the generation that elevated German art history to prominence. His seminal works, still consulted today, delve into the stylistic transitions from the Renaissance to the Baroque and establish foundational concepts for understanding art history.