Ronald Lightbown (1932–2021) was a noted British art historian and curator, specializing in Renaissance art. He wrote large monographs on the painters

Sandro Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

and Carlo Crivelli. After a degree from the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

, between 1958 and his retirement in 1989 he worked at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

in London, rising to be the Keeper of its library and then as Keeper of Metalwork. Before John Pope-Hennessy became the museum's director in 1967 (until 1973) they co-wrote the ''Catalogue of Italian Sculpture in the Victoria and Albert Museum'' comprising three volumes (1964). His monographs on the partnership of

Donatello Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), known mononymously as Donatello (; ), was an Italian Renaissance sculpture, Italian sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sc ...

and Michelozzo, and on

Botticelli Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), better known as Sandro Botticelli ( ; ) or simply known as Botticelli, was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 1 ...

became seminal works for their subject.

Selected publications

* ''Sandro Botticelli'' (2 vols.). Berkeley: University of California Press, 1978.Wilkins, D. G. (1980
review in ''Renaissance Quarterly'', 33(1), pp. 100–102
/ref> * ''Sandro Botticelli: Life and Work''. New York: Abbeville Press, 1989. . * ''Donatello and Michelozzo: An Artistic Partnership and Its Patrons in the Early

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 ...

.'' London: H. Miller, 1980. * ''

Piero della Francesca Piero della Francesca ( , ; ; ; – 12 October 1492) was an Italian Renaissance painter, Italian painter, mathematician and List of geometers, geometer of the Early Renaissance, nowadays chiefly appreciated for his art. His painting is charact ...

''. New York: Abbeville Press, 1992. . * '' Carlo Crivelli''. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lightbown, Ronald 1932 births 2021 deaths People associated with the Victoria and Albert Museum British art historians British curators