Gabriella Belli (born 1952) is an Italian

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, currently director of the Foundation for the municipal museums of Venice (''"Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia"'').

Life

Gabriella Belli was born in

Trento Trento ( or ; Ladin language, Ladin and ; ; ; ; ; ), also known in English as Trent, is a city on the Adige, Adige River in Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol in Italy. It is the capital of the Trentino, autonomous province of Trento. In the 16th ...

, the overwhelmingly Italian speaking capital of Italy's bilingual

Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol ( ; ; ), often known in English as Trentino-South Tyrol or by its shorter Italian name Trentino-Alto Adige, is an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy, located in the ...

region. She graduated from

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

University A university () is an educational institution, institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly ...

, producing a dissertation with Anna Ottavi Cavina on the history of court painting in nineteenth century

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. She then specialised in contemporary art criticism at the

University of Parma The University of Parma () is a public university located in Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. Organized into nine departments, it is one of the oldest universities in the world. As of 2016, it had approximately 26,000 students. History During the ...

. Returning to

in 1981 she was appointed curator at the Buonconsiglio Castle Museum. In 1982 she was given responsibility for the project to transform the Palazzo delle Albere into what would become the nucleus, till 2011, of the

Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art of Trento and Rovereto (MART) (''Museo d'Arte Moderna e Contemporanea di Trento e Rovereto'', in Italian) is a museum centre in the Italian province of Trento. The main site is in Rovereto, and contains ...

. She held the post of commissioner at the

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

in 1995 and 2003, and became a member of the scientific committees for the Bolzano Museum of Contemporary Art and for the Bologna Modern Art Gallery. She has been involved since 1989 in the MART project. In 2002 she inaugurated the new

MART Mart may refer to: * Mart, or marketplace, a location where people regularly gather for the purchase and sale of provisions, livestock, and other goods * Mart (broadcaster), a local broadcasting station in Amsterdam * Mart (given name) * ''Mart ...

museum complex at

Rovereto Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. History Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the fronti ...

, becoming its first director. It was still under her direction that in 2009 the restored home for the Deperio Futurist Art Museum reopened. In 2011 she was appointed director of the Foundation for the municipal museums of Venice (''"Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia"''), a structure created to bring together the administration of several of the most important palace-museums in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, including (but not restricted to) the

Doge's Palace The Doge's Palace (''Doge'' pronounced ; ; ) is a palace built in Venetian Gothic architecture, Venetian Gothic style, and one of the main landmarks of the city of Venice in northern Italy. The palace included government offices, a jail, and th ...

, the Ca' Rezzonico Palace, the

Correr Museum The Museo Correr () is a museum in Venice, northern Italy. Located in St. Mark's Square, Venice, it is one of the 11 civic museums run by the Fondazione Musei Civici di Venezia. The museum extends along the southside of the square on the upper f ...

, the Ca' Pesaro Palace, the Fortuny Palace-Museum and the Mocenigo Palace-Museum.

Recognition

In 2003, jointly with Novello Finotti and Cesare Montecucco, Belli was a winner of the Premio internazionale Civiltà Veneta (Venetian international arts prize). In 2011 she received from Guy Cogeval, on behalf of the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

Culture Minister A culture minister or a heritage minister is a common cabinet position in governments. The culture minister is typically responsible for cultural policy, which often includes arts policy (direct and indirect support to artists and arts organizat ...

a Knighthood of Arts and Literature and the

ICOM ICOM may refer to: * International Council of Museums * Idaho College of Osteopathic Medicine, a medical school in the United States * Icom Incorporated, radio equipment manufacturer * Industrial Common Ownership Movement (ICOM), a co-operative fe ...

Italy prize when she was named as the best museologist of the year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Belli, Gabriella Italian art historians Italian art curators Directors of museums in Italy Italian women museum directors People from Trento Writers from Venice 1952 births Living people Italian women art historians Italian women curators