Meyer was born in
Stäfa, near
Lake Zürich in Switzerland. His father, Johann Baptist Meyer, was a merchant from
Zürich. He took his first drawing lessons at the age of sixteen. Two years later the painter,
Johann Caspar Füssli, introduced him to the works of the
archaeologist and art critic,
Johann Joachim Winckelmann. His
History of the Art of Antiquity was decisive in shaping Meyer's attitudes and approach to art. In 1784, he went to Rome to join the German "colony". Two years later, he met
Goethe, who was apparently impressed with Meyer's knowledge. In 1788, he moved to
Naples and worked as a drawing teacher. Later, he visited his hometown in Switzerland with Goethe, who gathered material on
William Tell that he would pass along to
Friedrich Schiller. He got together with Goethe again, in 1790, and accompanied him to Weimar, where he would live for the rest of his life. Until 1802, he lived with Goethe. In 1795, after a study trip to Italy, he became a Professor at the Weimar Princely Free Drawing School. Three years later, he and Goethe began publishing a short-lived art journal;
Propyläen. He was placed in charge of managing the paintings and decorations at
Schloss Weimar in 1799, following a major reconstruction overseen by Goethe. In 1803, he married Amalie von Koppenfels (1771–1825), the youngest daughter of Johann Friedrich Kobe von Koppenfels (1737–1811), a confidential government councilor at the Grand Ducal Court in
Jena. They had no children. From 1804, he published articles on art history in the
Allgemeine Literatur-Zeitung, signed with the initials, "W.K.F". In 1805, he contributed a chapter on 18th century art to Goethe's compilation,
Winckelmann and His Century. The following year, he was appointed to succeed the late
Georg Melchior Kraus as Director of the Weimar Princely Free Drawing School. He received the honorary title of Councilor in 1807. From 1809 to 1815, he was engaged in writing his
History of Art, which was published posthumously, as was the last volume of his three-volume work,
A History of the Fine Arts Among the Greeks. He also made contributions to Goethe's
Theory of Colours. Meyer died 11 October 1832 in Jena. == References ==