Giovanni Poggi (11 February 1880 – 27 March 1961) was an Italian historian and museum curator.

Life

Born in Florence to Luigi and Assunta Papini, he graduated in literature from the

Istituto di studi superiori di Firenze The University of Florence (Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'', UniFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The first universi ...

in 1902 and dedicated his life to archival research and study of the arts, which remained central to his work throughout his life. He began his career as an official for antiquity and fine arts following the passing of state law number 185 ("Conservation of monuments, art objects and antiquities") on 12 June 1902. From 1904 onwards he was inspector extraordinary to the Regie Gallerie in Florence then director of the

Museo Nazionale del 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 ...

from 1906 onwards and of the

Uffizi The Uffizi Gallery (; it, Galleria degli Uffizi, italic=no, ) is a prominent art museum located adjacent to the Piazza della Signoria in the Historic Centre of Florence in the region of Tuscany, Italy. One of the most important Italian museums ...

from 1912 onwards. He also founded and co-edited the ''Rivista d'arte''. In 1913 he managed to recover the ''

Mona Lisa The ''Mona Lisa'' ( ; it, Gioconda or ; french: Joconde ) is a Half length portrait, half-length portrait painting by Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. Considered an archetypal masterpiece of the Italian Renaissance, it has been described ...

'', stolen from the

Louvre The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...

two years earlier. It had been stolen by

Vincenzo Peruggia Vincenzo Peruggia (8 October 1881 8 October 1925) was an Italian museum worker, artist, and thief, most famous for stealing the ''Mona Lisa'' from the Louvre museum in Paris on 21 August 1911.

who hoped to sell it on and got in touch with Poggi, who in turn contacted the Florentine art dealer Alfredo Geri to verify the work's authenticity. Poggi also put in place a plan to protect and safeguard Florence's artworks after Italy's entry into the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

in 1940, identifying several safe locations to host the objects and thus ensuring they remained undamaged by bombing and out of reach of Nazi looting. He retired in 1949 after reaching the age limit for his roles but the Comune di Firenze decided it wished him to continue overseeing the institutes and monuments relating to his own subject areas. He died in Florence in 1961.

Selected works

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Poggi, Giovanni 1880 births 1961 deaths Writers from Florence 20th-century Italian historians Italian art historians Directors of the Uffizi