Giovanni Battista Visconti or Giovanni Battista Antonio Visconti (17222 September 1784) was an Italian archaeologist and museum curator.

Biography

Giovanni Battista Visconti was born in 1722. After the murder of

Johann Joachim Winckelmann Johann Joachim Winckelmann ( ; ; 9 December 17178 June 1768) was a German art historian and archaeologist. He was a pioneering Hellenism (neoclassicism), Hellenist who first articulated the differences between Ancient Greek art, Greek, Helleni ...

in 1768, Visconti succeeded him as the

Papal States The Papal States ( ; ; ), officially the State of the Church, were a conglomeration of territories on the Italian peninsula under the direct sovereign rule of the pope from 756 to 1870. They were among the major states of Italy from the 8th c ...

' Superintendent of Antiquities (Commissario delle Antichita), a post which he retained until his death in 1784. His main task was to reorganise and secure new acquisitions for the

Vatican Museums The Vatican Museums (; ) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of the best-known Roman sculptures and ...

and he became the first curator of the Museo Pio-Clementino, commissioning its neoclassical form. He also controlled the granting of export-licences to archaeologists and dealers throughout the Papal States - such as

Gavin Hamilton Gavin Hamilton may refer to: * Gavin Hamilton (archbishop of St Andrews) (died 1571), archbishop of St Andrews * Gavin Hamilton (bishop of Galloway) (1561–1612), bishop of Galloway * Gavin Hamilton (artist) (1723–1798), Scottish artist * Ga ...

and Thomas Jenkins. A first volume of his catalogue of the Vatican collections appeared under his name in 1782; which was continued after his death by his son, Ennio Quirino Visconti. In his old age he was helped by both his sons, Ennio Quirino Visconti and Filippo Aurelio Visconti. He died on 2 September 1784. After his death his son, Filippo Aurelio, succeeded his father as Commissario and in 1785 was made director of the

Musei Capitolini The Capitoline Museums () are a group of art and archaeology, archaeological museums in Piazza del Campidoglio, on top of the Capitoline Hill in Rome, Italy. The historic seats of the museums are Palazzo dei Conservatori and Palazzo Nuovo, facing ...

. Ennio Quirino eventually became director of the Musee Napoleon in Paris, to which many antiquities from Italy had been carried off by Napoleon.

External links

*http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-ViscontiE.html *https://web.archive.org/web/20121005034550/http://www.reocities.com/Paris/Gallery/5802/testo4.htm 1722 births 1784 deaths Italian art curators Italian archaeologists Italian classical scholars {{Italy-academic-bio-stub

Biography

Further reading

External links