Roberto Longhi

Born Dec. 28, 1890, in Alba, Piedmont; died June 3, 1970, in Florence. Italian art historian and art critic.

Longhi attended the literary faculty of the University of Rome where he studied with P. Toeschi. From the late 1920’s he was editor of the art periodicals Vita artistica and Pinacoteca. In 1934, Longhi became a professor at the University of Bologna and, after 1945, of the University of Florence. His studies covered a wide range (the art of the Renaissance, the 17th and 18th century, and modern art), and he was a master of attribution. Longhi sought to relate art with its historical environment, and the creative process with the social and cultural movements of its historical epoch.