Wölfflin

Ludwig Heinrich von Wölfflin (1864–1945) was a Swiss art historian whose systematic approach to visual form helped establish formal analysis as a central method in art history. He is best known for Principles of Art History (Grundsätze der Kunstgeschichte), published in German in 1915. In this work he proposed a set of five opposing categories to compare styles across periods, notably Renaissance and Baroque, to reveal how artists used line, plane, form, light and shadow, and spatial organization to shape perception and meaning.

Wölfflin's method treats style as a history of perceptual choices rather than a catalog of individual works. He argued that shifts in technique—from linear to painterly handling, from closed, self-contained forms to more open and dynamic compositions, and from flatter to more spatially organized planes—reflect broader cultural changes. Although his terminology reflects early 20th-century debates, his emphasis on formal properties influenced subsequent theories of style and the development of modern art history.

His work contributed to the professionalization of art history, promoting careful, systematic description and comparison. Wölfflin's concepts remain a foundational reference in introductory curricula and continue to prompt discussion about the relationship between form, perception, and meaning in art.