The following article traces the ways in which Antoine-Yves Goguet’s works influenced Johann Gottfried Herder’s notion of history and the philosophy of history. Drawing on Goguet, Herder develops a concept of ‘Völkergeschichte’ which leads him to critically revise Winckelmann’s claim of the superiority of ancient Greek culture and its role as a transhistorical ideal. With Goguet Herder argues that a people’s creativity is not restricted to visual art, but includes a whole range of cultural techniques such as law, trade and the sciences which equally contribute to its formation and self-realization. The paper concludes with an outline of the resonances this debate produced in the Italian discussion, in particular in Carlo Fea’s reconsideration of Winckelmann in the light of the archaeological findings at Rome.