Adolfo Venturi (3 September 1856,

Modena Modena (, , ; egl, label=Emilian language#Dialects, Modenese, Mòdna ; ett, Mutna; la, Mutina) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern I ...

– 10 June 1941,

Santa Margherita Ligure Santa Margherita Ligure ( lij, Santa Margaita) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Genoa in the Italian region Liguria, located about southeast of Genoa, in the area traditionally known as Tigullio. It has a port, used for b ...

) was an Italian

art historian Art history is the study of aesthetic objects and visual expression in historical and stylistic context. Traditionally, the discipline of art history emphasized painting, drawing, sculpture, architecture, ceramics and decorative arts; yet today ...

. His son,

Lionello Venturi Lionello Venturi (25 April 1885, Modena – 14 August 1961, Rome) was an Italian historian and critic of art. He edited the first catalogue raisonné of Paul Cézanne. Life Lionello Venturi was born in 1885, son of art historian Adolfo Venturi. ...

, was also an art historian.

Biography

He received his education in Modena and

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...

, and in 1878 started working as a curator at the

Galleria Estense The Galleria Estense is an art gallery in the heart of Modena, centred around the collection of the d’Este family: rulers of Modena, Ferrara and Reggio from 1289 to 1796. Located on the top floor of the ''Palazzo dei Musei'', on the St. Augusti ...

in Modena. In 1888 he was appointed general inspector of the ''

Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma The Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma is a public tertiary academy of art in Rome, Italy. It was founded in the sixteenth century, but the present institution dates from the time of the unification of Italy and the capture of Rome by the Kingdom ...

''. 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 In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the Post-classical, post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with t ...

and

modern art Modern art includes artistic work produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the styles and philosophies of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the tradi ...

at the University of Rome.Venturi, Adolfo
Dictionary of Art Historians In 1923, author John R. Eyre reported Venturi's opinion on the ''

Isleworth Mona Lisa The ''Isleworth Mona Lisa'' is an early sixteenth-century oil on canvas painting depicting the same subject as Leonardo da Vinci's ''Mona Lisa'', though with the subject ( Lisa del Giocondo) depicted as being a younger age. The painting is thou ...

'', which had become known to the public a decade earlier, and was proposed to be a work of

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

. According to Eyre: Pursuant to museum director Corrado Ricci's claim that ''

La Scapigliata ''La Scapigliata'' () is an unfinished painting generally attributed to the Italian High Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci, and dated . Painted in oil, umber, and white lead pigments on a small poplar wood panel, its attribution remains co ...

'' had been forged by its former owner,

Gaetano Callani Gaetano Callani (16 January 1736 – 6 November 1809) was an Italian painter and sculptor, active mainly in his native Parma in a Neoclassical style. Biography Born at Parma, he was a pupil of Giambettino Cignaroli . causing it to be re-attributed as "by the school of Leonardo", Venturi asserted that the work was by Leonardo, and revealed evidence that sought to link the work with the

House of Gonzaga ) , type = Noble house , country = , estates = Ducal Palace (Mantua) Ducal Palace (Nevers) , titles = * Prince of Arches * Duke of Montferrat * Duke of Mantua * Duke of Guastalla * Duke of Nevers * Duke ...

. In 1928, Venturi expressed doubt in a painting claimed to be Leonardo's ''

Leda and the Swan Leda and the Swan is a story and subject in art from Greek mythology in which the god Zeus, in the form of a swan, seduces or rapes Leda. According to later Greek mythology, Leda bore Helen and Polydeuces, children of Zeus, while at the sa ...

'' which had been sold in an auction for $88,400."Painting Sold for $88,400", ''The San Francisco Examiner'' (June 20, 1928), p. 9. 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". Venturi's reputation as an art expert was called upon in 1929 in the ''Hahn vs.

Duveen Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen (14 October 1869 – 25 May 1939), known as Sir Joseph Duveen, Baronet, between 1927 and 1933, was a British art dealer who was considered one of the most influential art dealers of all time. Life and career Jos ...

'' court case, a sensational trial that centered on the authenticity of a version of

's ''

La Belle Ferronière LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second largest city in the United States. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note * "L.A.", a song by Elliott Smith on Figure 8 ( ...

''. Venturi testified against the asserted authenticity, deeming the painting at issue to be a "low copy". Venturi died in

at the age of 85.

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 Giovanni Pisano (c. 1250 – c. 1315) was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect, who worked in the cities of Pisa, Siena and Pistoia. He is best known for his sculpture which shows the influence of both the French Gothic and the Ancient Rom ...

, 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''".Most widely held works by Adolfo Venturi
WorldCat Identities

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Venturi, Adolfo 1856 births 1941 deaths Writers from Modena Academic staff of the Sapienza University of Rome Italian art historians Italian art curators Italian magazine editors 19th-century Italian historians 20th-century Italian historians