George Washington Wurts (1843 in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

– January 25, 1928 in

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

) was an American diplomat and art collector.

Early life

George Washington Wurts was one of eight children of William Wurts of Trenton, New Jersey. William Wurts, who with his brothers founded the

Delaware and Hudson Canal Company The Delaware and Hudson Railway (D&H) is a railroad that operates in the Northeastern United States. In 1991, after more than 150 years as an independent railroad, the D&H was purchased by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). CP operates D&H ...

, left a significant inheritance to his children on his death in 1858.

Diplomatic career

In 1865 Wurts moved from Philadelphia to Florence, Italy and became an assistant to

George Perkins Marsh George Perkins Marsh (March 15, 1801July 23, 1882), an American diplomat and philologist, is considered by some to be America's first environmentalist and by recognizing the irreversible impact of man's actions on the earth, a precursor to the ...

. Marsh, the first United States minister to the Kingdom of Italy, found the young Wurts to be "cultivated, hard-working, descreet, intensely loyal" and in 1869 Wurts became the Secretary of Legation, a position which he held even after Marsh's departure in 1881 when he was 81 years old. In 1882 Wurts was assigned to St Petersburg, Russia and remained in his post there until 1892 when he was transferred back to Italy. Wurts time in the diplomatic services spanned about thirty years, although he never fulfilled his ambition to become an ambassador.

Art collection

Wurts married

Henrietta Tower Henrietta Tower (''Henriette'', ''Enrichetta'') (26 October 1856 – 3 April 1933) was born in Pottsville, Pennsylvania. While living in Rome, she and her husband, George Washington Wurts, created an art collection containing approximately 3,000 wo ...

in 1898 and the couple moved to Rome in 1902. With her inherited fortune, Tower assisted Wurts in the acquisition of the Villa Sciarra-Wurts (Rome) and in its decoration. Together they expanded his already significant art collection, which he began in 1876, to approximately 4,000 works. The collection includes ceramics, textiles, tapestries, 19th-century Russian hats, stuffed bears, 80 wooden statues from Germany, and a variety of paintings (including works by

Ottaviano Nelli Ottaviano Nelli (1375–1444?) was an Italian painter of the early Quattrocento. Nelli primarily painted frescoes, but also panel paintings. He had several pupils and two painters were influenced by him. Biography He was born in Gubbio in Umbr ...

Vincenzo Pagani Vincenzo Pagani (c. 1490–1568) was an Italian painter of the Renaissance period. Biography Vincenzo was born at Monterubbiano, near Fermo in the region of March to a father who served as a magistrate, but also had an affinity for painting. He a ...

, and

Paolo Veneziano Paolo Veneziano, also Veneziano Paolo or Paolo da Venezia (active by 1333, died after 1358) was a 14th-century painter from Venice, the "founder of the Venetian School" of painting, probably active between about 1321 and 1362.

). The collection also includes works from China and Japan. Wurts died in 1928 and by 1933 Tower had donated their villa to the Italian state. Following her death, their art collection was also donated to Italy, with the proviso that it remain in a museum. The collection was moved to the

Museo nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia The Museo Nazionale del Palazzo di Venezia is a state museum in Rome (Italy), housed in the palace of the same name together with the important Library of Archaeology and Art History. Collections The Museum preserves paintings by artists such ...

where it remains today.

References

External links

Museo Nazionale Piazza Venezia

Henrietta Tower Wurts Foundation
American art collectors 1843 births 1928 deaths American expatriates in Italy American diplomats {{US-diplomat-stub