Luisa Vertova (30 December 1920 – 28 June 2021) was an Italian art historian. Her research work mostly focused on Renaissance Italian painters such as

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca (, also , ; – 12 October 1492), originally named Piero di Benedetto, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. To contemporaries he was also known as a mathematician and geometer. Nowadays Piero della Francesca i ...

Mantegna Mantegna is a surname. Notable people with the name include: * Andrea Mantegna ( – 1506), Italian painter * Gia Mantegna (born 1990), American actress * Joe Mantegna (born 1947), American actor See also * Mantegna Tarocchi The Mantegna Tarocc ...

Paolo Veronese Paolo Caliari (152819 April 1588), known as Paolo Veronese ( , also , ), was an Italian Renaissance painter based in Venice, known for extremely large history paintings of religion and mythology, such as ''The Wedding at Cana'' (1563) and ''The ...

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), ...

Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered ...

and

Caravaggio Michelangelo Merisi (Michele Angelo Merigi or Amerighi) da Caravaggio, known as simply Caravaggio (, , ; 29 September 1571 – 18 July 1610), was an Italian painter active in Rome for most of his artistic life. During the final four years of hi ...

. In addition, she undertook numerous projects as editor of several editions of her mentor Bernard Berenson's and her husband

Benedict Nicolson Lionel Benedict Nicolson (6 August 1914 – 22 May 1978) was a British art historian and author. Nicolson was the elder son of authors Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West and the brother of writer and politician Nigel Nicolson, Nigel. ...

's writings.

Early life and education

Vertova was born to philosopher Giacomo Vertova, a descendant of a noble family in Bergamo. Giacomo Vertova was forced out of his university teaching job due to his anti-fascist ideals. Despite his liberal views, he was described as "intolerant and authoritarian" and led a strict household. Vertova had two siblings, brother Gino and sister Nori. Vertova spent her childhood 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 ...

, Italy, but when she was six the family moved from Florence to a villa in

Fiesole, Italy Fiesole () is a town and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Florence in the Italian region of Tuscany, on a scenic height above Florence, 5 km (3 miles) northeast of that city. It has structures dating to Etruscan and Roman times. Si ...

with their extended family. Vertova originally wanted to be an artist, but art school was considered unsuitable for a girl from a "good family." Vertova studied art history and archaeology at the University of Florence in the 1940s.

Career

During the German occupation of Italy, Vertova survived with her knowledge of the German language. During her postgraduate scholarship, anti-fascist friends took her to meet Bernard Berenson, who was hiding in the outskirts of Florence. Two years later, he learned she was ill and malnourished, so he invited her to villa I Tatti to recover. She remained at i Tatti until her marriage. Vertova impressed Berenson and became his assistant, working on his photographic collection, and remained so even after moving to London. She worked with Elisabetta "Nicky" Mariano and Berenson until his death in 1959. Vertova was a consultant for

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

and curated their catalogs. She worked as Old Master Paintings and Drawings Specialist and from the 1960s to the 1980s, she was advisor for most auctions for Christie's in Milan, Florence, and Rome. In 2018, Vertova gave the

Federico Zeri Federico Zeri (12 August 1921 – 5 October 1998) was an Italian art historian specialised in Italian Renaissance painting. He wrote for the Italian newspaper '' La Stampa'', and was a well known television-personality in Italy. Zeri was born i ...

Foundation her archive of art books, auction catalogs, photos and other documents from her time at Christie's. " Most of the photographs – gelatin silver prints and negative film – are of works of 19th-century Italian art as documented by major photographic studios: Cooper of London, Boccardi of Rome, Luigi Artini of Florence."

Marriage and children

Vertova met

at villa i Tatti while they were both guests of Berenson. They married on 8 August 1955 in the

Palazzo Vecchio The Palazzo Vecchio ( "Old Palace") is the City hall, town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria, which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David (Michelangelo), David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent ...

in Florence, Italy. There was conflict between Vertova and her family because of gossip that Nicolson was homosexual, but he had already told her. One year later, they had a daughter, Vanessa Pepita Giovanna Nicolson in 1956. At the end of 1959, she moved to England with Nicolson. Vertova felt "isolated and trapped" in England after leaving her career and family in Italy. She had "been her own person, a respected art historian, rather than just 'Mrs. Benedict Nicolson.'" They divorced in 1962. Vertova's relationship with her daughter Vanessa was difficult.

Works

* Botticelli (Electa, Florence, 1949) * Giovanni Bellini (Electa, Florence, 1949) * Mantegna (Electa, Florence, 1950) * Tiziano (Electa, Florence, 1951) * Vittore Carpaccio, Carpaccio (Electa, Florence, 1952) * L'Arco di Costantino o Della decadenza della forma With Berenson, B. (Milan, 1952) * Botticelli (Vol.3 of Art et artistes: Série les peintres) (Hatier, Paris, 1952) * Mantegna (Art et artistes) (Hatier, Paris, 1952) * Fra Angelico (Vol.8 of Art et artistes) (Hatier, Paris, 1953) * Veronese (Electa, Florence, 1953) * Vittore Carpaccio, Carpaccio (Electa, Florence, 1954) * I disegni dei pittori fiorentini With Berenson, B. & Mariano, N. (Milan, 1961) * I Cenacoli Fiorentini (ERI, 1965) * Firenze: I Tatti (EDAM, Florence, 1969) * Giulio Licino (1976) * Carlo Ceresa: un pittore bergamasco nel '600 (Bergamo, 1983) * Carlo Ceresa (Bolis, 1984) * Caravaggism in Europe With Nicolson, B. (Allemandi, Turin, 1989) * Ben Nicolson (Pitti arte e libri, Florence, 1991) * Luisa Vertova (Pitti arte e libri, Florence, 1991)

References

External links

Archivio Luisa Vertova

Luisa Vertova - WorldCat identities
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vertova, Luisa 1921 births 2021 deaths Italian centenarians Women centenarians Italian women historians People from Florence