Seite - 259 - in Der Arkadenhof der Universität Wien und die Tradition der Gelehrtenmemoria in Europa

The Roman sarcophagus is thus citing a Greek iconography, which, in turn, was adopted by the Greeks from another, older civilization: the Greek prototypes bore in themselves an archaic réminiscence Egyptienne, which was transmitted from Egypt, via Greece, to Roman art. From Egyptian art, to the appropriation of the Sphinx by the Greeks, whose adaptions of this ancient image formed the prototypes for Caylus’ Roman sarcophagus, the whole history of ancient art as described in Caylus’ Recueil, seems to be condensed in this single object. It virtually mirrors ontogenetically the develop- ment of art as a whole.5 Precisely in this vein, the Recueil presented the history of ancient art as an uninterrupted continuous development, spanning from Egyp- tian times to the downfall of the Roman Em- pire.6 As already suggested by the book’s full title, Caylus argues for a transmission of the arts in a kind of relay from one nation to the next, thus continuing their uninterrupted development. His Roman urn was virtually the last link in an uninterrupted chain of artistic and symbol- ic tradition, leading back to the earliest times of art.7 Published in the final volume of this long history, the urn might therefore be described as the metonymical synopsis of this history.8 One might have already guessed by the somewhat strange praise that Caylus gave to the intérieur of the urn that he had a very special usage for this object in mind. Unlike the rest of his collection of antiques, which he bequeathed to the Royal collections, he wanted to keep this urn all to himself: Caylus selected it to be his sar- cophagus in which he wished to be entombed.9 This idea was clearly facilitated by the fact that the urn was abandoned, so to speak: there was no inscription documenting to whom this monu- ment once belonged. It was thus free for a new inhabitant.10 In death, Caylus wanted, quite literally, to become part of the past, or better, to become part of the antiquity whose art and culture he re- vered so much. During his lifetime, this immedi- ate contact with antiquity was precisely what he lacked. His continuous and somewhat holistic history of ancient art came, as already indicat- ed, to an end with the downfall of the Roman Empire. The modern antiquary had to content himself with a somewhat belated standpoint, from where he could only guess the richness and PaPer monuments for antiquaries 259 5 Caylus repeatedly uses a rhetoric that suggests a ‘recapitulation’ of the phylogeny of art history as a whole in the ‘ontogeny’ of the art of the respective nations: Les ouvrages des Etrusques […] suivent absolument la route à laquelle tous les hommes sont soumis (Caylus, Recueil (cit. n. 2), vol. V, Paris 1762, p. 91). Cf. D. Syndram, Ägypten-Faszina- tionen: Untersuchungen zum Ägyptenbild im europäischen Klassizismus bis 1800, Frankfurt a.M. 1990, p. 42, who provides a brilliantly concise account on Caylus’ idea of history. 6 On les [the arts] voit formés en Egypte avec tout le caractère de la grandeur; de-là passer en Etrurie, où ils acquièrent des parties de détail , mais aux dépens de cette même grandeur ; être ensuite transportés en Grèce, où le sçavoir joint à la plus noble élégance, les a conduits à leur plus grande perfection ; à Rome enfin [...] (Caylus, Recueil (cit. n. 2), vol. I, Paris 1752, IX). 7 „Wie in einem Brennglas schien diese zoomorphe Kollage den Entwicklungsgang der alten Kunst selbst noch einmal zu bündeln und dabei deren Transformation nachzuzeichnen.“ (Rees, Kultur des Amateurs (cit. n. 1), p. 432ff.) 8 Rees, Kultur des Amateurs (cit. n. 1), p. 431. 9 As the editor of this volume informs the reader: M. le Comte de Caylus, qui avoit acheté ce monument, l’a destine à être placé dans le lieu de sa Sépulture à S. Germain l’Auxerrois, & à lui server de tombeau. En attendant qu’il pût être employé à cet usage, il l’avoit fait dresser dans son Jardin, où il le considéroit souvent d’un oeil tranquille, & se faisoit un plaisir de le montrer à ses amis (Caylus, Recueil (cit. n. 2), p. 236). Cf. S. Rocheblave, Essai sur le Comte de Caylus, Paris 1889, p. 140; Rees, Kultur des Amateurs (cit. n. 1), ch. 6. 10 [I]l n’est chargé d’aucune inscription, ainsi on ne peut attribuer [whose ashes were stored in the reputed urn] (Caylus, Recueil (cit. n. 2), p. 235); ‘Die Urne war nicht nur leer, sondern sie war auch semantisch frei’ (Rees, Kultur des Amateurs (cit. n. 1), p. 432).