Sir ''Sir'' is a formal honorific address in English for men, derived from Sire in the High Middle Ages. Both are derived from the old French "" (Lord), brought to England by the French-speaking Normans, and which now exist in French only as part ...

John Wyndham Pope-Hennessy (13 December 1913 – 31 October 1994), was a British

art historian Art history is the study of artistic works made throughout human history. Among other topics, it studies art’s formal qualities, its impact on societies and cultures, and how artistic styles have changed throughout history. Traditionally, the ...

. Pope-Hennessy was director of the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

between 1967 and 1973, and director of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

between 1974 and 1976. He was a scholar of

Italian Renaissance The Italian Renaissance ( ) was a period in History of Italy, Italian history between the 14th and 16th centuries. The period is known for the initial development of the broader Renaissance culture that spread across Western Europe and marked t ...

art. Many of his writings, including the tripartite ''Introduction to Italian Sculpture'', and his

magnum opus A masterpiece, , or ; ; ) is a creation that has been given much critical praise, especially one that is considered the greatest work of a person's career or a work of outstanding creativity, skill, profundity, or workmanship. Historically, ...

, ''Donatello: Sculptor'', are regarded as classics in the field.

Early years

Born into an

Irish Catholic Irish Catholics () are an ethnoreligious group native to Ireland, defined by their adherence to Catholic Christianity and their shared Irish ethnic, linguistic, and cultural heritage.The term distinguishes Catholics of Irish descent, particul ...

family in the

Belgravia Belgravia () is a district in Central London, covering parts of the areas of the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Belgravia was known as the 'Five Fields' during the Tudor Period, and became a dangerous pla ...

district of

Central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning the City of London and several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local gove ...

, Pope-Hennesssy's father was Major-General Richard Pope-Hennessy, who was the son of the politician Sir John Pope Hennessy. Pope-Hennessy's mother was Dame Una Pope-Hennessy. He was the elder of two sons; his younger brother, James Pope-Hennessy, was a noted writer. Pope-Hennessy was educated at

Downside School Downside School (formally The College of St Gregory the Great, Downside but simply referred to as Downside) is an 11–18 mixed, Roman Catholic, independent, day and boarding school in Stratton-on-the-Fosse, Somerset, England. It was establish ...

, a

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

boarding school for boys, in

Stratton-on-the-Fosse Stratton-on-the-Fosse is a village and civil parish located on the edge of the Mendip Hills, south-west of Westfield, north-east of Shepton Mallet, and from Frome, in Somerset, England. It has a population of 1,108, and has a rural agricult ...

. He then went on to

Balliol College, Oxford Balliol College () is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. Founded in 1263 by nobleman John I de Balliol, it has a claim to be the oldest college in Oxford and the English-speaking world. With a governing body of a master and aro ...

, where he specialised in modern history. At Oxford, he was introduced by

Logan Pearsall Smith Logan Pearsall Smith (18 October 1865 – 2 March 1946) was an American-born British essayist and critic. Harvard and Oxford educated, he was known for his aphorisms and epigrams, and was an expert on 17th century divines. His ''Words and Idio ...

, a family friend, to

Kenneth Clark Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, Baron Clark (13 July 1903 – 21 May 1983) was a British art historian, museum director and broadcaster. His expertise covered a wide range of artists and periods, but he is particularly associated with Italian Renaissa ...

, who later became a mentor. Upon graduation, Pope-Hennessy embarked his

journeyman years In the European apprenticeship tradition, the journeyman years (, also known in German as , , and colloquially sometimes referred to as , ) is a time of travel for several years after completing apprenticeship as a craftsman. The tradition date ...

by travelling in continental Europe and becoming acquainted with art collections, both public and private. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

he served as a Flight Lieutenant in the Deputy Directorate of Intelligence at the

Air Ministry The Air Ministry was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom with the responsibility of managing the affairs of the Royal Air Force and civil aviation that existed from 1918 to 1964. It was under the political authority of the ...

Career

Between 1955 and 1963, Pope-Hennessy's three-volume ''Introduction to Italian Sculpture'' was published, covering Gothic, Renaissance and High Renaissance and Baroque sculpture. The following year, he was named

Slade Professor of Fine Art The Slade Professorship of Fine Art is the oldest professorship of art and art history at the universities of Cambridge, Oxford and University College, London. History The chairs were founded concurrently in 1869 by a bequest from the art collect ...

at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. Pope-Hennessy served as the director of the

between 1967 and 1973, and then as director of the British Museum from 1974 until 1976. There, he was nicknamed by colleagues as "The Pope". Traumatised by the murder of his

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

brother James in January 1974, Pope-Hennessy left the British Museum after only two years as director. Initially, he went to

Tuscany Tuscany ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of 3,660,834 inhabitants as of 2025. The capital city is Florence. Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, artistic legacy, and its in ...

, but was enticed by an offer from the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an Encyclopedic museum, encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor area, it is the List of largest museums, third-largest museum in the world and the List of larg ...

to head its department of European painting, and moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. He combined this curatorial post with a professorship at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

Institute of Fine Arts An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

. Pope-Hennessy was elected to the

American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...

in 1974 and the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1978. In 1986, Philippe de Montebello, director of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, created the John Pope-Hennessy Curatorship of European Paintings. Pope-Hennessy also served on the boards of the Venice in Peril Fund and Save Venice Inc., two non-profit organisations dedicated to the conservation and preservation of Venetian cultural heritage. Besides his own scholarly publications, some of which became classics and were often reprinted, and his responsibilities as a museum director, he provided his name and expertise for others (such as Sotheby's or the ''Collins Encyclopedia of Antiques''). He also wrote a foreword for

Helmut Gernsheim Helmut Erich Robert Kuno Gernsheim (1 March 1913 – 20 July 1995) was a historian of History of photography, photography, a Collecting, collector and a photographer. Early life and education Born in Munich, Germany, he was the third son of the ...

's photographies of ''Beautiful London'', contributed to a book on ''Westminster Abbey'' (1972), and wrote an autobiography that was published in 1991.

Death and legacy

Although never really rich, Pope-Hennessy improved his financial situation substantially in the 1980s by selling two paintings he had acquired in 1946 in the sale of the Bridgewater House collection:

Domenichino Domenico Zampieri (, ; October 21, 1581 – April 6, 1641), known by the diminutive Domenichino (, ) after his shortness, was an Italian Baroque painter of the Bolognese School of painters. Life Domenichino was born in Bologna, son of a shoe ...

's ''Christ Carrying the Cross'', which he had bought for GBP38, to the

Getty Museum The J. Paul Getty Museum, commonly referred to as the Getty, is an art museum in Los Angeles, California, United States, housed on two campuses: the Getty Center and Getty Villa. It is operated by the J. Paul Getty Trust, the world's wealthies ...

for USD750,000 and

Annibale Carracci Annibale Carracci ( , , ; November 3, 1560 – July 15, 1609) was an Italian painter and instructor, active in Bologna and later in Rome. Along with his brother Agostino Carracci, Agostino and cousin Ludovico Carracci, Ludovico (with whom the Ca ...

's ''Vision of Saint Francis'', which he had bought for only GBP28, to the

National Gallery of Canada The National Gallery of Canada (), located in the capital city of Ottawa, Ontario, is Canada's National museums of Canada, national art museum. The museum's building takes up , with of space used for exhibiting art. It is one of the List of large ...

for GBP100,000. With these proceeds he was able to afford his new lodging in Florence. Hence, he retired at the age of seventy-five and moved permanently to Florence with his lover, Michael Mallon, and resided at Palazzo Canigiani, where he died five years later. Pope-Hennessy is buried in the Cimitero degli Allori in Florence. His

gravestone A gravestone or tombstone is a marker, usually stone, that is placed over a grave. A marker set at the head of the grave may be called a headstone. An especially old or elaborate stone slab may be called a funeral stele, stela, or slab. The us ...

includes a quote from the

First Epistle to the Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church i ...

in the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

. The remains of his impressive art collection in Florence were sold two years after his death for roughly GBP1,000,000 at

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, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shan ...

in New York.

Bibliography

* ''Sassetta'', Chatto & Windus 1939 * ''Sienese Quattrocento Painting'', Phaidon 1947 * ''The Drawings of Domenichino in the Collection of His Majesty the King at Windsor Castle'', Phaidon 1948 * ''A Lecture on Nicholas Hilliard'', Home and Van Thal 1949 * ''The Life of Benvenuto Cellini. Written by Himself'', introduced and illustrated by JPH, Phaidon 1949 * ''Uccello. The Complete Work of the Great Florentine Painter'', Phaidon 1950 * ''Fra Angelico. Complete Edition'', Phaidon 1952 * ''Piero Della Francesca'', The Metropolitan Museum of Art Miniatures, 1954 * ''Introduction to Italian Sculpture'' (3 vols.), Phaidon 1955–1963, 3rd revised ed. 1996 ** Vol. I: ''Italian Gothic Sculpture'', 1955 ** Vol. II: ''Italian Renaissance Scutpture'', 1958 ** Vol. III: ''Italian High Renaissance and Baroque Sculpture'', 1963 * ''The Portrait in the Renaissance'', the A. W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts, Phaidon 1963 * ''Renaissance Bronzes from the Samuel H. Kress Collection'', Phaidon 1965 * ''Essays on Italian Sculpture'', Phaidon 1968 * ''The Frick Collection. An Illustrated Catalogue'', assisted by Anthony F. Radcliffe, Princeton Univ. Press 1970 ** Vol. III: ''Sculpture – Italian'' ** Vol. IV: ''Sculpture – German, Netherlandish French and British'' * ''Raphael'', The Wrightsman Lectures, delivered under the Auspices of the New York University Institute of Fine Arts, Harper & Row 1970 * ''The Study and Criticism of Italian Sculpture'', Metropolitan Museum of Art/Princeton Univ. Press 1980 * ''Luca Della Robbia'', Cornell Univ. Press 1980 * ''Cellini'', photography by

David Finn David Finn (born Finkelstein, August 30, 1921 – October 18, 2021) was an American public relations executive, photographer, and historian of sculpture. He is known in public relations as a co-founder of the Ruder Finn firm. In addition to his ...

, Takashi Okamura a.o., Abbeville 1985 * ''Donatello'', photography by Liberto Perugi, critical apparatus by Giovanna Ragionieri, Cantini (Florence) 1985 (Italian) * ''Learning to Look. An Autobiography'', Heinemann 1991 * ''The Piero Della Francesca Trail'', Twenty-Third Walter Neurath Memorial Lecture, Thames & Hudson 1991 * ''Andrea Mantegna'', photography by David Finn, Olivetti/Electa 1992 * ''Paradiso: The Illuminations to Dante's Divine Comedy by Giovanni di Paolo'', Random House 1993 * ''Donatello: Sculptor'', Abbeville 1993 Victoria and Albert Museum publications As the museum's director he wrote the foreword for several exhibition catalogues –''Musical Instruments as Works of Art'' (1968), ''Berlioz and the Romantic Imagination'', ''English Watches'', ''Fine Illustrations in Western European Printed Books'' and ''The Fashionable Lady in the 19th Century'' (all in 1969), ''Charles Dickens'' (1970), ''Kokoschka: Prints and Drawings'' (1971), a.o.– and introduced the Museum's first Yearbook in 1969. But even before that he wrote the texts and was responsible for the following publications * Victoria and Albert Museum Monographs ** No. 1: ''Donatello's Relief of the Ascension with Christ Giving the Keys to St. Peter'', HMSO 1949 ** No. 2: ''The Virgin with the Laughing Child'', HMSO 1949 ** No. 5: ''Italian Gothic Sculpture in the Victoria & Albert Museum'', HMSO 1952 ** No. 6: ''The Virgin and Child by Agostino di Duccio'', HMSO 1952 ** No. : ''Samson and a Philistine by Giovanni Bologna'', HMSO 1954 * ''The Raphael Cartoons'' (foreword), HMSO 1950 * ''Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum'' (3 vols.), HMSO 1964 * ''An Ivory by Giovanni Pisano'', Museum Bulletin 1965 * ''An American Museum of Decorative Art and Design: Designs from the Cooper-Hewitt Collection, New York'', HMSO 1973 Metropolitan Museum of Art catalogues * ''Secular Painting in 15th-Century Tuscany: Birth Trays, Cassone Panels, and Portraits'', co-ed. with Keith Christiansen, 1980 * ''France in the Golden Age: Seventeenth-Century French Paintings in American Collections'', with Pierre Rosenberg, Grand Palais, Paris, 1982 * ''The Jack and Belle Linsky Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art'', 1984 * ''Italian Paintings in the Robert Lehman Collection'', 1986 * ''Giovanni di Paolo'', Museum Bulletin Vol. XLVI, Nr. 2, 1988 The Metropolitan Museum also published ''John Pope-Hennessy: A Bibliography'' in 1986, compiled by Everett Fahy Posthumous compilations * ''On Artists and Art Historians: Selected Book Reviews by John Pope-Hennessy'', Villa i Tatti: The Harvard Univ. Center for Italian Renaissance Studies, 12, edited by Walter Kaiser and Michael Mallon, L. S. Olschki (Florence) 1993 * ''Italian Art 1200-1800 from the Libraries of Sir John Pope-Hennessy & Rudolf Wittkower with Some Additions'', Catalogue No. 188 (listed are 1214 monographs plus 938 general books), Ursus Books 1996

References

External links

* Finding aid for the John Pope-Hennessy Papers at the

Getty Research Institute The Getty Research Institute (GRI), located at the Getty Center in Los Angeles, California, is "dedicated to furthering knowledge and advancing understanding of the visual arts".