Roberto Pane (21 November 1897 – 29 July 1987) was an Italian art historian, art critic, architect and painter.

Life and career

Born in

Taranto Taranto (; ; previously called Tarent in English) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Taranto, serving as an important commercial port as well as the main Italian naval base. Founded by Spartans ...

, at a young age Pane moved with his family to

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

.Rosa Monaco (2014).
Pane, Roberto
. ''

Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani The ''Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani'' () is a biographical dictionary published in 100 volumes by the Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana, started in 1960 and completed in 2020. It includes about 40,000 biographies of distinguished Italia ...

'', Vol. 80 (in Italian). Rome:

Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana Institute Giovanni Treccani for the publication of the Italian Encyclopedia (), also known as Treccani Institute or simply Treccani, is a cultural institution of national interest, active in the publishing field, founded by Giovanni Treccani a ...

. After taking part in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

as a volunteer, and participating in the Gabriele D'Annunzio-led occupation of Rijeka, in 1922 he graduated in architecture at the

Sapienza University of Rome The Sapienza University of Rome (), formally the Università degli Studi di Roma "La Sapienza", abbreviated simply as Sapienza ('Wisdom'), is a Public university, public research university located in Rome, Italy. It was founded in 1303 and is ...

. In the 1920s he served as professor at the Classical Lyceum Umberto I in Naples, and collaborated with the Superintendency of Antiquities of

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...

on several projects. Starting from 1924, he took part in several editions of 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 (), ...

, held several solo exhibitions, and cured several projects in Naples, including the Molosiglio Gardens, the restoration of the Madonna della Pace Church, and the African-Christianity pavilion at the 1940

Mostra d'Oltremare The Mostra d'Oltremare in Naples is one of the main trade fair venues in Italy and, together with the Fiera del Levante in Bari, the largest in Southern Italy. The venue covers an area of and includes buildings of considerable historical and a ...

. In 1930 he became professor of architecture at the

University of Naples Federico II 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 ...

, a role he held until 1942. After debuting as an art critic in the journal ''Pan'', Pane made his literary debut in 1936, with ''Architettura rurale campana'' ("Rural Architecture in Campania"), which was followed by ''Architettura del Rinascimento in Napoli'' ("Renaissance Architecture in Naples", 1937) and ''Architettura dell’età barocca in Napoli'' ("Baroque Age Architecture in Naples",1939). Characterized by noticeable

Benedetto Croce Benedetto Croce, ( , ; 25 February 1866 – 20 November 1952) was an Italian idealist philosopher, historian, and politician who wrote on numerous topics, including philosophy, history, historiography, and aesthetics. A Cultural liberalism, poli ...

's influences, his major work was ''Architettura e arti figurative'' ("Architecture and figurative arts", 1948). Starting from the 1950s, Pane was a vocal opponent of the speculative construction and championed the inalterability of historic centres. He collaborated on restoration and landscape plans of various cities, and in 1969 he founded a postgraduate school specializing in monument restoration. He collaborated with various institutions including

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...

, and served as president of the interdisciplinary coordination committee for the reconstruction following the

1980 Irpinia earthquake The 1980 Irpinia earthquake () took place in Italy on 23 November 1980, with a moment magnitude of 6.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (''Extreme''). It left at least 2,483 people dead, at least 7,700 injured, and 250,000 homeless. Eart ...

. Active until his later years, Pane died on 29 July 1987, at the age of 89.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pane, Roberto 1897 births 1987 deaths People from Taranto Italian art historians Italian art critics Italian architects Italian essayists Sapienza University of Rome alumni Academic staff of the University of Naples Federico II