Rodolfo Pallucchini (born November 10, 1908 in

Milan Milan ( , , ; ) is a city in northern Italy, regional capital of Lombardy, the largest city in Italy by urban area and the List of cities in Italy, second-most-populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of nea ...

, Italy, and died April 8, 1989, 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 ...

) was an Italian art historian, professor, administrator, curator and patron. Pallucchini was the son of an engineer who moved with his family to

in 1925. In nearby

Padua Padua ( ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Veneto, northern Italy, and the capital of the province of Padua. The city lies on the banks of the river Bacchiglione, west of Venice and southeast of Vicenza, and has a population of 20 ...

, Pallucchini followed his university studies, graduating in literature in 1931 under the guidance of Giuseppe Fiocco with a thesis, published three years later, focused on the figure of

Giovanni Battista Piazzetta Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (also called Giambattista Piazzetta or Giambattista Valentino Piazzetta) (February 13, 1682 or 1683 – April 28, 1754) was an Italian Rococo painter of religious subjects and genre scenes. Biography Piazzetta was ...

Career

In 1935, Pallucchini was appointed inspector at the Estense Gallery in

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

, and became its director in 1939. His academic career began in 1937, and he later held the chair of History of Medieval and Modern Art in various Italian universities:

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 ...

and

. Pallucchini curated the exhibition ''Five centuries of Venetian painting'' set up in 1945 at the

Procuratie Nuove The Procuratie (English: Procuracies) are three connected buildings along the perimeter of Saint Mark's Square in Venice, Italy. Two of the buildings, the Procuratie Vecchie (Old Procuracies) and the Procuratie Nuove (New Procuracies), were c ...

in Venice, considered a model for subsequent "regional reconnaissance" exhibitions organized throughout Italy. In 1947, Pallucchini founded the magazine Arte Veneta of which he also took over the direction. Pallucchini published numerous studies collected in books and magazines, even after ceasing his academic activity in 1979. Among his colleagues and friends were the art historians

Giulio Carlo Argan Giulio Carlo Argan (17 May 1909 – 12 November 1992) was an Italian art historian, critic and politician. Biography Argan was born in Turin and studied in the University of Turin, graduating in 1931. In 1928 he entered the National Fascist Part ...

Lionello Venturi Lionello Venturi (25 April 1885 – 14 August 1961) was an Italian historian and critic of art. He edited the first catalogue raisonné of Paul Cézanne. His son was the historian Franco Venturi. Life Lionello Venturi was born in Modena in 1885 ...

and

Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti Carlo Ludovico Ragghianti (18 March 1910 – 3 August 1987) was an Italian art critic, historian, philosopher of art and politician. Life Born in Lucca, Ragghianti studied in Pisa, where he was a pupil of Matteo Marangoni. His education was inf ...

. Pallucchini is noted for putting forth and emphasizing of the theory that

Giambattista Pittoni Giambattista Pittoni or Giovanni Battista Pittoni (6 June 1687 – 6 November 1767) was a Venetian painter of the late Baroque or Rococo period. He was among the founders of the Academy of Fine Arts of Venice, of which in 1758 he became the s ...

studied under

Antonio Balestra Antonio Balestra (12 August 1666 – 21 April 1740) was an Italian painter of the Rococo period. Biography Born in Verona, he first apprenticed there with Giovanni Zeffio. By 1690 he moved to Venice, where he worked for three years under Anto ...

that has now generally been discounted in the classical arts historical circles.Alice Binion (n.d.)
Pittoni, Giambattista
''Grove Art Online'' / ''Oxford Art Online''. Oxford: Oxford University Press. .

Death

Pallucchini died on April 8, 1989, in Venice, Italy. His library and personal archive were donated to the

University of Udine The University of Udine (Italian language, Italian ''Università degli Studi di Udine'') is a public university in the city of Udine, Italy. It was founded in 1978 as part of the reconstruction plan of Friuli after the 1976 Friuli earthquake, ear ...

by his heirs, his daughters Vittoria and Teresa: the library in 1989 and personal archive in 2001. The material is preserved in the Special Collections Section of the university's Humanities Library.

Administrative positions

*In 1939, Superintendent for the Venetian museums *From 1939 to 1950, director of ''Fine Arts'' of the Municipality of Venice. *From 1948 to 1954, secretary 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 (), ...

. *From 1958 to 1973, president of the ''Scientific Council'' of the Andrea Palladio International Center for Architectural Studies, of which he also edited the bulletin. *Since 1968, national member of the

Accademia dei Lincei The (; literally the "Academy of the Lynx-Eyed"), anglicised as the Lincean Academy, is one of the oldest and most prestigious European scientific institutions, located at the Palazzo Corsini on the Via della Lungara in Rome, Italy. Founded in ...

, from which in 1964 he received the Minister Prize. *In 1972, director of the ''Institute of Art History'' of the

Giorgio Cini Foundation The Giorgio Cini Foundation (''Italian: Fondazione Giorgio Cini''), or just the Cini Foundation, is a cultural foundation founded by industrialist and politician Vittorio Cini on 20 April 1951 in memory of Giorgio Cini, his son who died in an air ...

of Venice.

Select bibliography

* ''Venetian painting of the sixteenth century'' (in 2 volumes, 1944) * ''The Youth of Tintoretto'' (1950) * ''Piazzetta'' (1956) * ''Giovanni Bellini'' (1959) * ''Venetian painting of the 18th century'' (1960) * ''Venetian painting of the 17th century'' (1981)

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pallucchini, Rodolfo Members of the Lincean Academy Italian magazine founders Academic staff of the University of Padua Academic staff of the University of Pavia Academic staff of the University of Bologna Academic staff of the Ca' Foscari University of Venice 1908 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Italian historians 20th-century Italian male writers