Adolfo Venturi

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Venturi, Adolfo (b Modena, 4 Sept. 1856; d Santa Margherita Ligure, nr. Genoa, 10 June 1941). The most distinguished Italian art historian of his generation. He taught at the university of Rome from 1890 to 1931, and in 1901 he was appointed professor there—the first holder of a chair in art history at an Italian university. His main work is the monumental Storia dell'arte italiana (11 vols. in 25 parts, 1901–40; a separate index volume was published in 1975). This covers Italian art from Early Christian times up to the end of the 16th century in great detail, with a vast number of illustrations, and it is still much used by scholars. Venturi wrote several other books and he founded L'arte (1898), one of the major Italian art-historical periodicals. His son Lionello Venturi (b Modena, 25 Apr. 1885; d Rome, 14 Aug. 1961) was professor of the history of art at the university of Turin from 1915 to 1931, but resigned because of his opposition to Fascism and moved to Paris and then the USA. After returning to Italy in 1945, he taught at the university of Rome. Like his father, he was a prolific writer, his books including History of Art Criticism (1936) and studies of Caravaggio (1911 and 1952), Cézanne (2 vols., 1936: the standard catalogue of his works for many years), and Giorgione (1913).

Adolfo Venturi , 1856–1941, Italian art historian. Director of Galleries and Museums in Italy, Venturi completed his exhaustive history of Italian art as far as the 16th cent. He was skilled in interpreting the authenticity of art works and made several significant judgments concerning important Renaissance pieces. His son, Lionello Venturi, 1885–1961, taught the history of art at the Univ. of Rome. Central to his thought was the notion that a work of art must be judged as to how well it expresses the intention of its creator. Venturi was primarily interested in modern art, believing that it informs and illuminates the art of the past. His major work is his History of Art Criticism (tr. 1936).