Adolfo Venturi

Adolfo Venturi (3 September 1856, Modena – 10 June 1941, Santa Margherita Ligure) was an Italian art historian. His son, Lionello Venturi, was also an art historian.

Biography He received his education in Modena and Florence, and in 1878 started working as a curator at the Galleria Estense in Modena. In 1888 he was appointed general inspector of the Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma. In 1888, with Domenico Gnoli, he founded the journal, "Archivio storico d'arte" (after 1901 it was called "L'Arte"). He would remain editor of the publication up until 1940. From 1896 to 1931 he served as chair of medieval and modern art at the University of Rome.

In 1923, author John R. Eyre reported Venturi's opinion on the Isleworth Mona Lisa, which had become known to the public a decade earlier, and was proposed to be a work of Leonardo da Vinci. According to Eyre:

Pursuant to museum director Corrado Ricci's claim that La Scapigliata had been forged by its former owner, Gaetano Callani, causing it to be re-attributed as "by the school of Leonardo", It was reported that Venturi, "while admitting that the execution is very fine and that the picture resembles the lost original, nevertheless declared that the painting is too precious, too classical, too elegant to be entirely a product from the master's brush".

Published works In 1901 he began publishing his magnum opus, "Storia dell'arte italiana", a multi-volume work on the history of Italian art that spanned from the Early Christian era to the 16th century. The following is a list of works by Venturi that have been published in English: "A short history of Italian art", English translation by Edward Hutton; New York, Macmillan Co. (1926). "Michelangelo", English translation by Joan Redfern (1928). "Giovanni Pisano, his life and work", Paris, The Pegasus Press; New York, Harcourt, Brace and Company (1929). "North Italian painting of the quattrocento: Lombardy, Piedmont, Liguria" (1974), English translation of "La pittura del Quattrocento nell'Emilia" and "La pittura del Quattrocento nell'alta Italia".