Mirella Levi D'Ancona
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Mirella Levi D'Ancona (1919–2014) was an Italian-born American professor and art historian. She was
professor emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retirement, retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". ...
at Hunter College (from 1959–1986) in art history. D’Ancona did critical research on iconography of animal, floral and vegetable symbolism on art from the
Late Middle Ages The late Middle Ages or late medieval period was the Periodization, period of History of Europe, European history lasting from 1300 to 1500 AD. The late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period ( ...
period to the
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 ...
.


Biography

Mirella Levi D’Ancona was born on 7 June 1919 in
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
,
Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
, the daughter of Flora Aghib (1895–1982) and Ezio Levi D’Ancona (1884–1941). Her grandfather was writer Alessandro d'Ancona. She attended high school at Giambattista Vico State High School in Naples. D’Ancona started her college studies at
University of Naples The University of Naples Federico II (; , ) is a public university, public research university in Naples, Campania, Italy. Established in 1224 and named after its founder, Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, Frederick II, it is the oldest public, s ...
(Università di Napoli), later transferring to
University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...
(Università di Firenze) where she graduated in 1941 with a degree in art history.
Mario Salmi Mario Salmi (San Giovanni Valdarno, 14 June 1889 – Rome, 16 November 1980) was an Italian art historian and art critic who specialized in Romanesque architecture, Tuscan sculpture and the early Italian Renaissance. Life and work After completin ...
was her thesis advisor, and her thesis was focused on Francesco d’Antonio Del Chierico. In 1944, D’Ancona fled to Switzerland with her brothers due to the uprising of
fascism Fascism ( ) is a far-right, authoritarian, and ultranationalist political ideology and movement. It is characterized by a dictatorial leader, centralized autocracy, militarism, forcible suppression of opposition, belief in a natural social hie ...
and racial laws. In 1946, she moved to New York City to join her mother, who was already living there. She took various odd jobs upon arrival, eventually becoming the assistant to Richard Offner of
New York University Institute of Fine Arts New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...
. She eventually registered as a PhD student at New York University Institute of Fine Arts. In 1959, D’Ancona took a position as a professor of History of Modern Art at
Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...
,
City University of New York The City University of New York (CUNY, pronounced , ) is the Public university, public university system of Education in New York City, New York City. It is the largest urban university system in the United States, comprising 25 campuses: eleven ...
and by 1972 she was a full professor. She remained there until 1986, eventually earning the title professor emeritus. After her retirement in 1986, she moved back to Florence.


Publications

*


See also

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Women in the art history field Women were professionally active in the academic discipline of art history in the nineteenth century and participated in the important shift early in the century that began involving an "''Emphatically Corporeal Visual Subject''", with Vernon Lee ...


References

{{Authority control 1919 births 2014 deaths Hunter College faculty University of Florence alumni New York University Institute of Fine Arts alumni American women art historians American art historians People from Florence Italian emigrants to the United States