Cecil Hilton Monk Gould (24 May 1918 – 7 April 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 ...
and
curator
A curator (from , meaning 'to take care') is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the particular ins ...
who specialised in
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 ...
painting. He was a former Keeper and deputy director of the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of more than 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current di ...
in London.
Life
Born in London in 1918, Gould was the son of Admiralty Lieutenant-Commander
Rupert Gould
Rupert Thomas Gould (16 November 1890 – 5 October 1948) was a lieutenant-commander in the British Royal Navy noted for his contributions to horology (the science and study of timekeeping devices). He was also an author and radio personality.
...
, the restorer of
John Harrison
John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was an English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the History of longitude, problem of how to calculate longitude while at sea.
Harrison's sol ...
's chronometers and well-known panellist of the BBC's "Brains Trust" programme during WWII, and Muriel Estall. Gould was educated at
Kingswood House preparatory school, near Epsom, and then at
Westminster School
Westminster School is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school in Westminster, London, England, in the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It descends from a charity school founded by Westminster Benedictines before the Norman Conquest, as do ...
. When he was nine, Gould's mother permanently separated from his father and raised Cecil and his sister Jocelyne.
After leaving school he began studying at the
Courtauld Institute in 1939, although he was not able to complete his degree due to the outbreak of World War II.
During the
Second World War
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
Pilot Officer
Pilot officer (Plt Off or P/O) is a junior officer rank used by some air forces, with origins from the Royal Air Force. The rank is used by air forces of many countries that have historical British influence.
Pilot officer is the lowest ran ...
Gould in
R.A.F. Intelligence, first in
Egypt
Egypt ( , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the Northeast Africa, northeast corner of Africa and Western Asia, southwest corner of Asia via the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to northe ...
from 1941 to 1943 and then in
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
. In early 1945 he was transferred to the
Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives program
The Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives Section Unit (MFAA) was a program established by the Allies of World War II, Allies in 1943 to help protect cultural property in war areas during and after World War II. The group of about 400 service membe ...
under the Civil Affairs and Military Government Sections of the Allied armies, which was established in 1943 to help protect cultural property in war areas during and after World War II. The group of approximately 400 service members and civilians, known commonly as the "Monuments Men", worked with military forces to safeguard historic and cultural monuments from war damage, and as the conflict came to a close, to find and return works of art and other items of cultural importance that had been stolen by the Nazis or hidden for safekeeping. During the war Gould's sister Jocelyne worked at
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and Bletchley Park estate, estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes (Buckinghamshire), that became the principal centre of Allies of World War II, Allied World War II cryptography, code-breaking during the S ...
.
After the war, he joined the National Gallery staff in 1946 and worked there until his retirement in 1987. He was Keeper and deputy director for the last five years of his tenure. Upon retiring from the National Gallery he moved to
Thorncombe in West Dorset. He was a prolific author, publishing many books and articles during his career.
In 1970, Gould established that the National Gallery's ''
Portrait of Pope Julius II'' was the
prime version
In the art world, if an artwork exists in several versions, the one known or believed to be the earliest is called the prime version. Many artworks produced in media such as painting or carved sculpture which create unique objects are in fact r ...
by
Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...
and not a copy, as had previously been thought. He was also responsible for a new attribution of a work to
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...
.
In his last years Gould lived with his younger sister Jocelyne Stacey in the village of
Thorncombe,
Dorset
Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...
. Towards the end of his life, with his health declining, Cecil was made a ''correspondant'' (foreign associate) of the Institut de France. He developed a brain tumour and, after a short illness, died on 7 April 1994. Gould never married and was survived by Jocelyne.
A collection of Gould's large-format black-and-white photographs of Islamic architecture in Cairo, taken during World War II, is in the
RIBA
''Riba'' (, or , ) is an Arabic word used in Islamic law and roughly translated as " usury": unjust, exploitative gains made in trade or business. ''Riba'' is mentioned and condemned in several different verses in the Qur'an3:130
library. Other photographs taken by Gould are held in the Conway Library at the
Courtauld Institute and are currently being digitised.
Gould was portrayed during his childhood in the 2000
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...
television drama about
John Harrison
John Harrison ( – 24 March 1776) was an English carpenter and clockmaker who invented the marine chronometer, a long-sought-after device for solving the History of longitude, problem of how to calculate longitude while at sea.
Harrison's sol ...
's chronometers, ''
Longitude
Longitude (, ) is a geographic coordinate that specifies the east- west position of a point on the surface of the Earth, or another celestial body. It is an angular measurement, usually expressed in degrees and denoted by the Greek lett ...
''. He was played by child actor Joe Williams.
IMDb
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Partial bibliography
*''The Sixteenth Century Venetian School'' 1959 (National Gallery Catalogue Series)
*''The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools (excluding the Venetian)'' 1962 (National Gallery Catalogue Series)
* The last two were revised and combined as: ''The Sixteenth Century Italian Schools'' 1975 (National Gallery Catalogue Series)
*''Michelangelo: Battle of Cascina'' 1966 University of Newcastle upon Tyne
*''Titian'' 1969 Hamlyn
*(with Martin Davies) ''French School: Early 19th Century Impressionists, Post-Impressionists etc.'' 1970 (National Gallery Catalogue Series)
*''Leonardo: The Artist and the Non-Artist'' 1975 Weidenfeld and Nicolson
*''The Paintings of Correggio'' 1978 Cornell University Press
*''Bernini in France: An Episode in Seventeenth Century History'' 1981 Weidenfeld and Nicolson
*''Parmigianino'' 1995 Abbeville Press
Sources
*Betts, Jonathan (2006) ''Time Restored: The Harrison timekeepers and R. T. Gould, the man who knew (almost) everything'', Oxford University Press .
* Levey, Michael (1994) 'Cecil Gould (1918–94)', ''The Burlington Magazine'', Volume 136, 554.
References
External links
Gould describes the discovery of a new Raphael
Tribute to Cecil Gould in Monuments Men Foundation for the Preservation of Art website.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gould, Cecil
1918 births
1994 deaths
British art historians
Monuments men
English curators
People associated with the National Gallery, London
Alumni of the Courtauld Institute of Art
People educated at Westminster School, London
Royal Air Force officers
People educated at Kingswood House School
20th-century British historians
Royal Air Force personnel of World War II