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Description
The paper presents the research on the collecting, antiquarian and scholarly activities of Philipp von Stosch (1691-1757) related to engraved gems made on the basis of the unknown pictorial (drawings) and archival sources discovered in the Princes Czartoryski Museum in Krakow, the Vatican Library and private collections. Stosch's large commissions of drawings of intaglios and cameos are related to his several research projects which prove that he was not only interested in collecting a vast number of gems but conducted regular research based on academic principles, recording the gems and studying their iconography, artistic value and provenance. The pictorial documentation of interest suggests that Stosch and his works greatly inspired Johann Joachim Winckelmann (1717-1768) in writing his first synthesis of ancient art published in 1764. The paper also discusses ancient coins owned by Stosch to which he applied a similar strategy as far as documenting techniques are concerned.
