Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, Zur Farbenlehre [Treatise on Colour; Colour Theory]

Beate Allert (Purdue University)
Download PDF Add to Bookshelf Report an Error

Goethe's work on color and seeing has a complicated history spanning the years from 1790 to 1832. During the years of 1791-1793 Goethe was much concerned with the genesis and evolution of color and color perception; his first published work on the subject appeared in Weimar in 1791-92 with parts one and two of his

Beiträge zur Optik

[

Contributions on Optics

], for the most part studies of prismatic light. He planned a further four parts in this series, but the third part, “Von den Farbigen Schatten” [“Concerning Colored Shadows”] (written 1792-93), explaining his surprise discovery of the phenomenon he termed “farbige Schatten” [colored shadows], never made it into print until much later. He was aware of related aspects in the theory and practice of Leonardo da Vinci's…

2356 words

Citation: Allert, Beate. "Zur Farbenlehre". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 23 August 2006 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=5189, accessed 19 March 2024.]

5189 Zur Farbenlehre 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

Save this article

If you need to create a new bookshelf to save this article in, please make sure that you are logged in, then go to your 'Account' here

Leave Feedback

The Literary Encyclopedia is a living community of scholars. We welcome comments which will help us improve.