Luisa Vertova

Luisa Felicita Vertova (30 December 1920 – 28 June 2021) was an Italian art historian. Her research work mostly focused on Renaissance Italian painters such as Piero della Francesca, Mantegna, Paolo Veronese, Titian, Botticelli and Caravaggio. In addition, she undertook numerous projects as editor of several editions of her mentor Bernard Berenson's and her husband Benedict Nicolson's writings.

Early life and education Vertova was born to philosopher Giacomo Vertova, a descendant of a noble family in Bergamo. Giacomo Vertova was forced out of his university teaching job due to his anti-fascist ideals. Despite his liberal views, he was described as "intolerant and authoritarian" and led a strict household. Vertova had two siblings, brother Gino and sister Nori.

Vertova spent her childhood in Florence, Italy, but when she was six the family moved from Florence to a villa in Fiesole, Italy with their extended family.

Career During the German occupation of Italy, Vertova survived with her knowledge of the German language. At about this time, anti-fascist friends of her father's took her to meet Bernard Berenson, who was under house arrest at Villa I Tatti, in the outskirts of Florence. Two years later, he learned she was ill and malnourished, and so invited her to villa I Tatti to recover. Although she had been awarded a postgraduate bursary to study in Germany, she turned that down - and remained at i Tatti until her marriage.

Vertova was a consultant for Christie's and curated their catalogs.

Marriage and children Vertova met Benedict Nicolson at villa i Tatti while they were both guests of Berenson. They married on 8 August 1955 in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, Italy. There was conflict between Vertova and her family because of gossip that Nicolson was homosexual, but he had already told her. One year later, they had a daughter, Vanessa Pepita Giovanna Nicolson in 1956.

At the end of 1955, she moved to England with Nicolson. Vertova felt "isolated and trapped" in England after leaving her career and family in Italy. She had "been her own person, a respected art historian, rather than just 'Mrs. Benedict Nicolson.'" They divorced in 1962.

Vertova's relationship with her daughter Vanessa was loving but complex and often difficult.

Works Botticelli (Electa, Florence, 1949) Giovanni Bellini (Electa, Florence, 1949) Mantegna (Electa, Florence, 1950) Tiziano (Electa, Florence, 1951) Vittore Carpaccio|Carpaccio (Electa, Florence, 1952) L'Arco di Costantino o Della decadenza della forma With Berenson, B. (Milan, 1952) Botticelli (Vol.3 of Art et artistes: Série les peintres) (Hatier, Paris, 1952) Mantegna (Art et artistes) (Hatier, Paris, 1952) Fra Angelico (Vol.8 of Art et artistes) (Hatier, Paris, 1953) Veronese (Electa, Florence, 1953) Vittore Carpaccio|Carpaccio (Electa, Florence, 1954) I disegni dei pittori fiorentini With Berenson, B. & Mariano, N. (Milan, 1961) I Cenacoli Fiorentini (ERI, 1965) Firenze: I Tatti (EDAM, Florence, 1969) Giulio Licino (1976) Carlo Ceresa: un pittore bergamasco nel '600 (Bergamo, 1983) Carlo Ceresa (Bolis, 1984) Caravaggism in Europe With Nicolson, B. (Allemandi, Turin, 1989) Ben Nicolson (Pitti arte e libri, Florence, 1991) Luisa Vertova (Pitti arte e libri, Florence, 1991)