Full Name: Orlandi, Pellegrino Antonio
Gender: male
Date Born: 1660
Date Died: 1727
Place Born: Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Place Died: Bologna, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
Home Country/ies: Italy
Subject Area(s): biographies (literary works), Italian (culture or style), and painting (visual works)
Career(s): art historians and biographers
Overview
Writer and historian of Italian artists and painting. Orlandi was a member of the Carmelite order and lived at the Bolognese convent of San Martino, where he collected paintings and prints. Orlandi’s art historical research earned him membership in the Bolognese Accademia Clementina. In 1704, he published the Abecedario pittorico, the first collection of artists biographies organized alphabetically in Italian. The book’s second edition was published in 1719. Orlandi corresponded with artists and collectors in Rome and Florence to obtain updated information for the new edition, which elevated the Abecedario’s status from a collection of biographies to a handbook about art and artistic practices. The book included bibliographies on books about artists as well as information about history, mythology, and poetry. In this sense, it constitutes one of the earliest art bibliographies every written. During the 19th century, the Abecedario was criticized for its inaccuracy by Giuseppe B. Campori
, however, it was the most complete resource for information on artists during the 18th century.
Selected Bibliography
Notizie degli scrittori bolognesi e dell’ opere loro stampate e manoscritte. Bologna: Costantino Pisarri, 1714; Abecedario pittorico nel quale compendiosamente sono descritte le patrie, i maestri, ed i tempi, ne’ quali fiorino, circa quattro mila professori di pittura, di scultura e d’architettura. Bologna: Const. Pisari, 1704.
Sources
Sorensen, Lee. “Art Bibliographies: A Survey of their Development, 1595-1821.” Library Quarterly 56 (January 1986) pp. 31-55; The Dictionary of Art
Contributors: LaNitra Michele Walker