Karl Schnaase

However, his philosophical studies were cut short when he passed his first juristic exam in July 1819, and received a position in the municipal court of Danzig.

In summer 1830 Schnaase travelled through the Low Countries; his examination of the monuments there led to his first major publication, the Niederländische Briefe (Dutch letters), which appeared in 1834.

Although written in the form of a conventional travel narrative, the Briefe constituted in fact a major contribution to the theoretical literature on art history.

As Michael Podro has written, Schnaase's first book is the principal transposition of Hegel's thought into the general discussion of the development of art....

In this way clear and exact historical consideration leads to higher aesthetic realisation... which feels in the beauty of each individual period its connection with the others.

As he neared completion of the first volume, however, Schnaase was surprised by the appearance of a Handbuch der Kunstgeschichte (Handbook of art history) (1841) by Franz Theodor Kugler.

"[4] The first volume of his Geschichte began with a lengthy treatise on aesthetics, indicating a philosophical inclination that was criticized in reviews by both Kugler and Gustav Friedrich Waagen.

It has been suggested that Schnaase stopped where he did "because of the appearance of Jacob Burckhardt's equally contextual works on the Renaissance as well as... the areligious attitudes of the modern era.

"[5] Schnaase retired from his legal commitments in 1857, and received a series of awards in honor of his art-historical achievements, including an honorary doctorate from the University of Bonn and the Order of Maximilian from the King of Bavaria.