Rodolfo Pallucchini

Rodolfo Pallucchini (born November 10, 1908 in Milan, Italy, and died April 8, 1989, in Venice) was an Italian art historian, professor, administrator, curator and patron. Pallucchini was the son of an engineer who moved with his family to Venice in 1925. In nearby Padua, Pallucchini followed his university studies, graduating in literature in 1931 under the guidance of Giuseppe Fiocco with a thesis, published three years later, focused on the figure of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta.

Career In 1935, Pallucchini was appointed inspector at the Estense Gallery in Modena, and became its director in 1939. His academic career began in 1937, and he later held the chair of History of Medieval and Modern Art in various Italian universities: Bologna, Venice and Padua.

Pallucchini curated the exhibition Five centuries of Venetian painting set up in 1945 at the Procuratie Nuove in Venice, considered a model for subsequent "regional reconnaissance" exhibitions organized throughout Italy. In 1947, Pallucchini founded the magazine Arte Veneta of which he also took over the direction. Pallucchini published numerous studies collected in books and magazines, even after ceasing his academic activity in 1979. Among his colleagues and friends were the art historians Giulio Carlo Argan, Lionello Venturi and Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti.

Death Pallucchini died on April 8, 1989, in Venice, Italy.

Administrative positions In 1939, Superintendent for the Venetian museums In 1972, director of the Institute of Art History of the Giorgio Cini Foundation of Venice.

Select bibliography Venetian painting of the sixteenth century (in 2 volumes, 1944) The Youth of Tintoretto (1950) Piazzetta (1956) Giovanni Bellini (1959) Venetian painting of the 18th century (1960) Venetian painting of the 17th century (1981)