Friedrich Schiller's treatise on the aesthetic education of man, presented in a series of letters from 1795, is one of the most influential theoretical texts on beauty and art around 1800. As research on Hölderlin, Jean Paul, Herder, the Schlegel brothers, Schelling, and many others shows, Schiller's letters were read immediately after their publication and critically engaged with in relation to the respective developments. Even Hegel and Vischer referred to Schiller's significant work in their comprehensive aesthetics around the mid-19th century, both critically and affirmatively. Furthermore, Schiller is able to give a form to Rousseau's critique of enlightenment and culture that retains its effectiveness well into the late 20th century, as seen with Habermas. In these "learned letters," Schiller thus not only legitimizes art during a time of revolutionary upheaval in Europe.