MEYER, JOHANN HEINRICH, 1759-1832; b. Switzerland; studied painting at :Zurich, under Filasly, brother of the Well-known royal academician, Henry Fuseli.
In 1784 he went to Rome, where he met Goethe, with whom he contracted a friendship. so intimate that he was known in Germany by the name of " Goethe-Meyer." After spending some time in Venice, Naples. and other Italian cities, he returned to Zurich in 1787. He made at Naples the accjuaintance of Tischbein, and of Herder, who was making a tour of Italy as an attache in the service of the duchess of Weimar. In 1792 he visited Goethe at Weimar, and was appointed to a professorship in the Weimar school of design. Three years later he revisited Italy, again passing much of his time at Naples and Florence. In 1797 he returned to Weunar, which became henceforth his .cime. He was on intimate terms with the court and the literary men and scholars at Weimar. He was honored with the title of Hofrath, and in 1807 was made a director of the academy there. He continued his intimacy with Goethe, who consulted him on
all matters of art; and many of the critical portions of Goethe's works on art, such as Kunst und Alterthum, and Winckelmann uncl sein Jahrhundert are to be credited to Meyer. As a painter, his production was scanty. There is. an allegorical frieze by him in the palace at Weimar, and he left a few water-colors, for the most part sketches from ancient works of art. It was as a writer on the history and theory of art, and par ticularly of Greek and Roman art, that he acquired authority. He published, with ex tensive annotations of his own, the works of Winckelmann. These notes he subse quently expanded into a general history of Greek art, which appeared at Dresden in 1820, under the name of Gesehkhte der Bildenden lanste bei den G-riechen. A third vol ume of this work was published by Reimer, after Meyer's death, as Geschichte cler Bil deaden Kiinste bei den Griechen und Rennern.