Rudolf Wittkower
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Rudolf Wittkower (22 June 1901 – 11 October 1971) was a British art historian specializing in Italian
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 ...
and
Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
art and architecture, who spent much of his career in London, but was educated in Germany, and later moved to the United States. Despite having a British father who stayed in Germany after his studies, he was born and raised in Berlin.


Early life

Wittkower was born in
Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...
to Henry Wittkower (1865–1942) and Gertrude Ansbach (Wittkower) (1876–1965). His siblings were Kate Wittkower (1900-1968), Werner Joseph Wittkower (1903-1997), and Elly Friedmann (1912-1988).


Career

Rudolf Wittkower moved to
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
in 1933 with his wife Margot Holzmann because they were both Jewish and were fleeing Nazi Germany. He taught at the
Warburg Institute The Warburg Institute is a research institution associated with the University of London in central London, England. A member of the School of Advanced Study, its focus is the study of cultural history and the role of images in culture – cros ...
,
University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...
from 1934 to 1956, was appointed Durning Lawrence professor at the
Slade School of Fine Art The UCL Slade School of Fine Art (informally The Slade) is the art school of University College London (UCL) and is based in London, England. It has been ranked as the UK's top art and design educational institution. The school is organised as ...
,
University College, London University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...
in 1949 and then moved to the United States to work at
Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
from 1956 to 1969 where he was chairman of the Department of Art History and Archaeology. Among Wittkower's books were monographs on
Bernini Gian Lorenzo (or Gianlorenzo) Bernini (, ; ; Italian Giovanni Lorenzo; 7 December 1598 – 28 November 1680) was an Italian sculptor and architect. While a major figure in the world of architecture, he was more prominently the leading sculptor ...
and
Michelangelo Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...
, volumes in standard textbook series, and more individual subjects such as his ''Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism'', "his most significant book". This introduced an in depth analysis of the Venetian architect
Andrea Palladio Andrea Palladio ( , ; ; 30 November 1508 – 19 August 1580) was an Italian Renaissance architect active in the Venetian Republic. Palladio, influenced by Roman and Greek architecture, primarily Vitruvius, is widely considered to be on ...
and his relation to sixteenth century music theory. Part Four specifically deals with how and why Palladio adapted harmonic musical ratios and incorporated them into the physical proportions of his buildings. Although this theory of Palladian proportions was universally accepted after the book's release, recent works in art history have made it the subject of much controversy. Wittkower had encountered this notion that musical harmony may act in a manner analogous to visual harmony in
Pythagoras Pythagoras of Samos (;  BC) was an ancient Ionian Greek philosopher, polymath, and the eponymous founder of Pythagoreanism. His political and religious teachings were well known in Magna Graecia and influenced the philosophies of P ...
, where it was also noted by Alberti. Wittkower was elected to the
American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
in 1959 and the
American Philosophical Society The American Philosophical Society (APS) is an American scholarly organization and learned society founded in 1743 in Philadelphia that promotes knowledge in the humanities and natural sciences through research, professional meetings, publicat ...
in 1971. He was awarded the Alice Davis Hitchcock Award posthumously in 1975 for his book ''Gothic vs. Classic, Architectural Projects in Seventeenth-Century Italy''. Wittkower died on 11 October 1971.


Selected publications

* ''Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism'' (1949) * ''Bernini: The Sculptor of the Roman Baroque'' (1955) * ''The Arts in Western Europe: Italy'' in '' New Cambridge Modern History'', vol. 1 (1957), pp. 127–53 * ''Art and Architecture in Italy, 1600–1750'' (Penguin/ Yale History of Art, 1958, and revised editions) * ''Born Under Saturn: The Character and Conduct of Artists'' (1963, co-authored with Margot Wittkower) * ''The Divine Michelangelo'' (1964, co-authored with Margot Wittkower) * ''Gothic vs. Classic, Architectural Projects in Seventeenth-Century Italy (1974)'' * ''Sculpture: Processes and Principles'' (1977, co-authored with Margot Wittkower)


Bibliography


Inline references


General references

    1. Preprinted:
  1. David Rosand
    "Making Art History at Columbia: Meyer Schapiro and Rudolf Wittkower".
    ''Columbia Magazine''.
  2. Howard, Deborah
    "Four Centuries of Literature on Palladio"
    '' Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians'', Vol. 39, No. 3 (October 1980), 224–241.


External links

*Henry Millon, “Architectural Principles in the Age of Humanism: Its Influence on the Development and Interpretation of Modern Architecture,” Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians 31, no. 2 (1972): 83–91. * J. S. Ackerman, “Rudolf Wittkower’s Influence on the History of Architecture,” Source 8, no. 4, and 9, no. 1 (Summer/Fall 1989): 87–90. * J. Montagu and J. Connors, “Rudolf Wittkower, 1901–1971,” in Art and Architecture in Italy 1600–1750 by R. Wittkower (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999), 1:ixff. * U. Wendland, “Rudolf Wittkower,” Biographisches Handbuch deutschsprachiger Kunsthistoriker im Exil (Munich: Saur, 1999), 779–90. * G. Romano, Storie dell’arte: Toesca, Longhi, Wittkower, Previtali (Rome: Donzelli, 1998), 65–92. * Alina Payne, Rudolf Wittkower, 1994 and 2008; traduzione di Francesco Peri, Rudolf Wittkower, Torino, Bollati Boringhieri, 2011. * Daniel Sherer, "Panofsky on Architecture: Iconology and the Interpretation of Built Form, 1915-1956," Part I, History of Humanities 5 (2019), 189ff: section 1: "Panofsky vs. Wittkower: Independence and Interdependence of Architecture in the Aesthetic Field."
Finding aid to Rudolf Wittkower papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wittkower, Rudolf 1901 births 1971 deaths Writers from Berlin German art historians German architectural historians German architecture writers Academics of the Warburg Institute Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom Academics of the Slade School of Fine Art Columbia University faculty Academics of the University of Cambridge 20th-century German historians German male non-fiction writers British art historians Members of the American Philosophical Society