José María de Azcárate y Ristori (18 April 1919 – 18 July 2001) was a Spanish art historian, author, researcher, curator, and professor, specializing in

medieval In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of World history (field), global history. It began with the fall of the West ...

Castilian art and

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

sculpture.

Biography

Born 18 April 1919 in

Vigo Vigo (, ; ) is a city and Municipalities in Spain, municipality in the province of province of Pontevedra, Pontevedra, within the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Galicia (Spain), Galicia, Spain. Located in the northwest ...

, in the province of Pontevedra,

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. His father was a sailor and early in his son's life he moved the family to

Cádiz Cádiz ( , , ) is a city in Spain and the capital of the Province of Cádiz in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula off the Atlantic Ocean separated fr ...

, Spain. He studied at

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, in 2022 it has a student body of 57,214,U-Ranking Universidades español ...

and at University of Madrid in the subjects of Philosophy and Literature, eventually earning a doctorate from University of Madrid. He was disciple of Manuel Gómez-Moreno Martinez. Azcárate authored many art history books, including a ''History of Art,'' also known as ''El Azcárate'', used by many students studying

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and letters. He also authored the thirteenth volume of Ars Hispaniae; historia universal del arte hispánico (1949), a book series on the art history of Spain. Azcárate was the Chair of History of Medieval Art at

Complutense University of Madrid The Complutense University of Madrid (, UCM; ) is a public research university located in Madrid. Founded in Alcalá in 1293 (before relocating to Madrid in 1836), it is one of the oldest operating universities in the world, and one of Spain's ...

from 1973, until his death in 2001. He died at the age of 82 on 18 July 2001, of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

at his home in Madrid, Spain. He was buried in a cemetery in Almudena.

Awards and memberships

In 1974, he joined membership to the San Fernando Royal Academy of Fine Arts with the topic "El protogótico hispánico" and he was additionally a member of the royal academies of Valladolid, Seville, Toledo, A Coruña, Cadiz and Barcelona. He was awarded with the National Prize for Literature (Spain) by

Alonso Berruguete Alonso González de Berruguete ( – 1561) was a Spanish Painting, painter, Sculpture, sculptor and architect. He is considered to be the most important sculptor of the Spanish Renaissance, and is known for his emotive sculptures depicting re ...

in 1961. The

University of Alicante The University of Alicante (, ; , ; also known by the acronym ''UA'') was established in 1979 on the basis of the Center for University Studies (CEU), which was founded in 1968. The university main campus is located in San Vicente del Raspeig/San ...

awarded Azcárate with an honorary doctorate degree in 1991.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:de Azcarate, Jose Maria 1919 births 2001 deaths Spanish art historians University of Seville alumni People from Cádiz Architecture academics Academic staff of the Complutense University of Madrid