Giovan battista cavalcaselle, XIX century

Giovanni Battista Cavalcaselle (22 January 1819 – 31 October 1897) was an Italian writer and art critic, best known as part of "Crowe and Cavalcaselle", for the many works in English on art history he co-authored with

Joseph Archer Crowe Sir Joseph Archer Crowe (25 October 1825, London – 6 September 1896, Werbach, Gamburg an der Tauber, today Werbach, Germany) was an England, English journalist, consular official and art historian, whose volumes of the ''History of Painti ...

. Their multi-volume ''A New History of Painting in Italy'' continued to be revised and republished until 1909, after both were dead. Though now outdated, these are still often cited by modern art historians.

Biography

Cavalcaselle was born in

Legnago Legnago () is a town and ''comune'' in the Province of Verona, Veneto, northern Italy, with population (2012) of 25,439. It is located on the Adige river, about from Verona. Its fertile land produces crops of rice, other cereals, sugar, and toba ...

Veneto Veneto (, ; vec, Vèneto ) or Venetia is one of the 20 regions of Italy. Its population is about five million, ranking fourth in Italy. The region's capital is Venice while the biggest city is Verona. Veneto was part of the Roman Empire unt ...

. He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in

Venice Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...

. Cavalcaselle participated in the

Revolution of 1848 The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

and in the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

, and was sentenced to death ''in absentia''. After the fall of the republic he lived in England for several years. There he published, together with Joseph A. Crowe, their first joint work, ''Early Flemish Painters'' (1856), later followed by the ''History of Painting in Italy'' (3 volumes, 1864-1866). Other important works by Crowe and Cavalcaselle are ''The Life of

Titian Tiziano Vecelli or Vecellio (; 27 August 1576), known in English as Titian ( ), was an Italians, Italian (Republic of Venice, Venetian) painter of the Renaissance, considered the most important member of the 16th-century Venetian school (art), ...

'' (London, 1876), and ''The Life of

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...

'' (London, 1883). He worked as a consultant on acquisitions to the

National Gallery, London The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

. By the late 1850s he was able to revisit Rome. In 1867 he was made inspector of the

Bargello The Bargello, also known as the Palazzo del Bargello, Museo Nazionale del Bargello, or Palazzo del Popolo (Palace of the People), was a former barracks and prison, now an art museum, in Florence, Italy. Terminology The word ''bargello'' appears ...

museum in

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 ...

. He returned to Rome in 1875 to become the chief of the art department at ministerial level under the Minister of Public Instruction, until 1893.

Publications

With Crowe: * * * * *''Titian: his Life and Times'' (in two volumes, 1877) *''Raphael: his Life and Works'' (in two volumes 1883-5)

Notes

References

* "Dictionary"
Biography from the ''Dictionary of Art Historians''
1819 births 1897 deaths People from Legnago Italian biographers Male biographers Italian male non-fiction writers Italian art critics 19th-century Italian people 19th-century journalists Male journalists 19th-century Italian male writers {{Italy-writer-stub