Full Name: Mélida y Alinari, José Ramon
Gender: male
Date Born: 1856
Date Died: 1933
Place Born: Madrid, Spain
Place Died: Madrid, Spain
Home Country/ies: Spain
Subject Area(s): ancient, Ancient European, archaeology, Classical, Early Western World, and Spanish (culture or style)
Overview
Archaeologist and historian of classical and ancient Spanish art. Alinari came from a prominent Spanish family, receiving most of his education in Madrid. He was hired as an assistant in the archives department of Madrid’s Museo Arqueologico. After being appointed head of the department in 1884, Alinari began cataloguing objects in preparation for the construction of a room in the museum dedicated to the display of ancient Spanish art. As an expert in antiquities, his knowledge and scholarship were in high demand. He led archaeological digs in Soria, and was appointed Director of the Museo Arqueologico, and Chairman of the Department of the Archaeology Department at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. His volume on the Escorial was published in 1915 by the Hispanic Society of America in English. In 1931, the Spanish government named Alinari President of the Council, where he was given the responsibility of overseeing the administration of all museums in Spain. Alinari was also a novelist, publishing El Sortilegio de Karnak in 1880.
Selected Bibliography
Corpus vasorum antiquorum. Espagne. Madrid, Musée Archéologique National. Madrid: Ruiz Hermanos, Librería Gutenberg, 1930-1935; Provincia de Badajoz (1907-1910). Madrid: Ministerio de Instrucción pública y bellas artes, 1925-26; Escorial. Art in Spain, [published] under the Patronage of the Hispanic Society of America. Barcelona: Hijos de J. Thomas, 1923.
Sources
The Dictionary of Art
Contributors: LaNitra Michele Walker