Arturo Carlo Quintavalle (born 1936 in

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

) is an Italian art historian, critic and academic. He was professor of art history at Parma University and founded and for several years headed that university's Centro Studi e Archivio della Comunicazione.

Life

Quintavalle's parents Armando Ottaviano Quintavalle (1894-1967) and Augusta Ghidiglia (1904-1988) were both art historians. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, his father saved about 9,000 artifacts, sculptures and paintings that formed the collection of the Galleria d'arte di Parma by hiding them in the Castle of

Torrechiara Torrechiara Castle ( it, Castello di Torrechiara) is a 15th-century castle near Langhirano, in the province of Parma, northern Italy. It sits atop a terraced hill south of the city of Parma, in a strategic position overlooking the Parma River ...

. Quintavalle studied at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa ( it, Università di Pisa, UniPi), officially founded in 1343, is one of the oldest universities in Europe. History The Origins The University of Pisa was officially founded in 1343, although various scholars place ...

, where he was a student of

Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti (18 March 1910 – 3 August 1987) was an Italian art critic, historian, philosopher of art and politician. Life Born in Lucca, Ragghianti studied in Pisa, where he was a pupil of Matteo Marangoni. His education was inf ...

. He majored in

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, also displaying great interest in contemporary art and

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

and

industrial design Industrial design is a process of design applied to physical Product (business), products that are to be manufactured by mass production. It is the creative act of determining and defining a product's form and features, which takes place in advan ...

. In 1968 he was appointed Professor of History of Art at the Parma University, where he founded the ''Centro studi e archivio della comunicazione'', that he would run until 1989 with his wife Gloria Bianchino. He has written extensively about

Wiligelmo Wiligelmo (also known as Wiligelmus, Gulielmo da Modena, Cousin of Elmo or Guglielmo da Modena) was an Italian sculptor active between c. 1099 and 1120. He was the first sculptor in Italy to produce large-format sculptures and sign his work. Wil ...

and the

Parma Baptistery The Baptistery of Parma ( it, Battistero di Parma) is a religious edifice in Parma, northern Italy. Architecturally, the baptistery of Parma Cathedral marks a transition between the Romanesque and Gothic styles, and it is considered to be among ...

.
From the early 1970s, for about 25 years, he was a culture columnist for the weekly magazine ''

Panorama A panorama (formed from Greek πᾶν "all" + ὅραμα "view") is any wide-angle view or representation of a physical space, whether in painting, drawing, photography, film, seismic images, or 3D modeling. The word was originally coined in ...

''. He has also contributed for 30 years to ''

Corriere della Sera The ''Corriere della Sera'' (; en, "Evening Courier") is an Italian daily newspaper published in Milan with an average daily circulation of 410,242 copies in December 2015. First published on 5 March 1876, ''Corriere della Sera'' is one of It ...

''.

Selected works

*''La Cattedrale di Modena'' (1964–65) *''L'opera sul

Correggio Antonio Allegri da Correggio (August 1489 – 5 March 1534), usually known as just Correggio (, also , , ), was the foremost painter of the Parma school of the High Italian Renaissance, who was responsible for some of the most vigorous and sens ...

'' (1970) *''Il territorio della fotografia'' (1979) *''Arte italiana 1960-80'', (1984) *''Design:

Roberto Sambonet The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...

'' (1993) *'' Emilio Tadini'', Fabbri, (1994) *''

Fratelli Alinari Fratelli Alinari is one of the world's oldest photographic firms, founded in Florence, Italy in 1852. Its archives contain 5.5 million photographs, ranging from daguerreotypes to modern digital photos from around the world. Founding In 1852, L ...

, Fotografi in Firenze: 150 Anni Che Illustrarono Il Mondo'' (1852-2002) *''Arredi liturgici e architettura'', Mondadori Electa (2007) *''

Mario Schifano Mario Schifano (20 September 1934, Khoms, Libya – 26 January 1998, Rome, Italy) was an Italian painter and collagist of the Postmodern tradition. He also achieved some renown as a film-maker and rock musician. He is considered to be one of th ...

: America Anemica'', Skira (2008) *''L’officina Benedetto Antelami della cattedrale di Fidenza'', 2020

References

Italian art historians Italian art critics Living people 1936 births Members of the Lincean Academy University of Pisa alumni Academic staff of the University of Parma {{italy-art-historian-stub