Isabella or Isabelle Alice Errera (née Goldschmidt; 5 April 1869 - 23 June 1929) was a Belgian

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 ...

specializing in textiles.

Life

Isabelle Goldschmidt was born in Florence in 1869. Her parents were Isaac "John" Goldschmidt and Sophie Franchetti. Her uncle Giulio Franchetti was a textile collector, whose collection is partly kept at 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 ...

in Florence and was the subject of an exhibition at the Palazzo Pretorio in

Prato Prato ( , ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, Italy, the capital of the Province of Prato. The city lies in the north east of Tuscany, at the foot of Monte Retaia, elevation , the last peak in the Calvana chain. With more than 200,000 i ...

in 1981. Another uncle was politician and writer Baron

Leopoldo Franchetti Leopoldo Franchetti (; 31 May 1847 – 4 November 1917) was an Italian publicist, politician, and patron. He was a deputy in the Italian Chamber of Deputies and later became a Senator. He was very active in promoting education and concrete solution ...

. In 1870, her sister Élena Goldschmidt-Franchetti was born in Florence as well. She would become famous as the writer Jean Dornis. Isabelle married the lawyer Paul-Joseph Errera (1860-1922), brother of botanist Léo Errera, in 1890 in Paris. They moved to the

Hotel Errera A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

in the

Rue Royale, Brussels The Rue Royale (, "Royal Street") or Koningsstraat (Dutch, "King's Street") is a street in Brussels, Belgium, running through the municipalities of Schaerbeek, Saint-Josse-ten-Noode and the City of Brussels. It is limited to the south by the ...

, where Isabelle Errera worked from 1897 on as the conservator for the textiles department of the

Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium The Royal Museums of Fine Arts of Belgium (french: Musées royaux des Beaux-Arts de Belgique, nl, Koninklijke Musea voor Schone Kunsten van België) are a group of art museums in Brussels, Belgium. They include six museums: the Oldmasters Muse ...

, and Paul Errera was a professor at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, eventually becoming its rector, and from 1912 to 1921 mayor of

Uccle Uccle () or Ukkel () is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. In common with all of Brussels' municipalities, it is legally bilingual (French–Dutch). It is generally considered an affluent area of the city a ...

. Isabelle and Paul became patrons of the arts, supporting the artists of

Les XX ''Les XX'' ( French; "''Les Vingt''"; ; ) was a group of twenty Belgian painters, designers and sculptors, formed in 1883 by the Brussels lawyer, publisher, and entrepreneur Octave Maus. For ten years, they held an annual exhibition of their art ...

and

La Libre Esthétique ''La Libre Esthétique'' ( French; "The Free Aesthetics") was an artistic society founded in 1893 in Brussels, Belgium to continue the efforts of the artists' group ''Les XX'' dissolved the same year. To reduce conflicts between artists invited or ...

, and Isabelle's portrait was painted by

Fernand Khnopff Fernand Edmond Jean Marie Khnopff (12 September 1858 – 12 November 1921) was a Belgian symbolist painter. Life Youth and training Fernand Khnopff was born to a wealthy family that was part of the high bourgeoisie for generations. Khnopf ...

. In 1891, Isabelle became a member of the Société des mères israélites (Society of Israelite Mothers), a charity for poorer Jewish families and Jewish orphans. During the first world war, she was active in the resistance against the German occupation, and after the war she received exiled antifascist Italians in her home. Isabelle Errera is chiefly remembered as a collector and art historian of textiles, specializing in Egyptian textiles but with a broad collection spanning many centuries and regions, and including avant-garde textile. Her two catalogues are still considered irreplaceable reference works. The room displaying her collection in the Brussels Museum still bears her name and is adorned with a bust of her sculpted by

Thomas Vinçotte Baron Thomas Jules Vinçotte (1850–1925) was a Belgian sculptor and medallist. Life Vinçotte was the son of Jean-Marie Vinçotte, born in Borgerhout and brother of the engineer Robert Vinçotte. Thomas initially trained at the Académie ...

. 764 Pieces from her collection were donated to the museum, while her library was legated to the art school of

La Cambre L'École nationale supérieure des arts visuels de La Cambre (ENSAV), more known as La Cambre, is a renowned visual arts school founded by Henry van de Velde in Brussels in 1926. It was founded as the ''Institut supérieur des Arts décoratifs'' ...

after her death in Brussels in 1929. The chemist and professor

Jacques Errera Jacques Errera (25 September 1896 – 30 March 1977) was a Belgian physicochemist, specialized in the molecular constitution of matter.Errera J, Hirshberg Y, Potentiometric analysis of pure animal proteins, Biochem. J. (1933) 027 (764–770) ...

was the second of her children. Her daughter, Gabrielle, married the German Industrialist \ Philosopher of Science Paul Oppenheim

Works

*1901: ''Collection d'anciennes étoffes: réunies et décrites'' *1902: ''Hôtel Gruuthuuse, Bruges. Juin-septembre 1902. Exposition des primitifs flamands et d'art ancien. Section des tissus et broderies. Catalogue.''Collection de broderies anciennes décrites par madame Isabelle Errera. Catalogue orné de 104 photogravures
by Errera, Isabelle, 1870-1929; Musées royaux d'art et d'histoire (Belgium), 1902 Published 1905 *1905: ''Collection de broderies anciennes décrites par madame Isabelle Errera'', catalogue of the textile department of the

(reprinted 1907) *1916: ''Collection d'Anciennes Etoffes égyptiennes décrites par Isabelle Errera. Catalogue orné de 454 photogravures'' *1920: ''Répertoire Des Peintures Datées''

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Errera, Isabelle 1869 births 1929 deaths Italian emigrants to Belgium Writers from Brussels Belgian art historians Belgian Jews Jewish historians Women art historians Textile historians