Numismatist and gem scholar. Agostini worked during the reign of Pope Urban VIII as the antiquarian to the Barberini family. His letters, written to the family while in exile (1646-50) today form a trove of information on the archaeological activity of the time. After the return of the Barberini, Agostini continued to collect for them, arranging their collection into one of the most comprehensible schemas of the time. He was appointed commissioner of collections under Pope Alexander VII, directing the excavations of the Roman Forum and baths near San Lorenzo in Panisperna.

Marxist art historian, professor at University of Rome 1959-1976; specialist in Italian art. Argan's father, Valerio Argan, was an administrator of a women's mental hospital and his mother, Libera Roncaroli, a primary school teacher. An uncle's subscription to the journal La Critica, founded by Benedetto Croce, introduced the ideas of that art philosopher to Argan at a young age. He attended the Liceo Classico Cavour in Turin where the classes of the young Giusta Nicco Fasola instilled a passion for art.

Painter and first historian of the Roman Baroque through two early art histories, a biography of artists, Vite de' pittori, scultori, architetti (1642), and a survey of Roman churches, Le nove chiese di Roma (1639). Baglione described himself as having descended a noble family from Perugia. In his autobiography appended to his Lives of the Artists, Le vite, 1642, Baglione claimed as well that he studied art under the painter Francesco Morelli in Rome. He worked as a painter, employing a Caravaggesque style, and received numerous commissions.

Art historian of classical art. Educated at the University of Rome under Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli, Becatti was appointed to the Superintendency of Ostia in 1938 at a time when Mussolini sped up excavations in order to showcase them at the (unrealized) International Exposition in Rome. Becatti altered his publishing interests from Etruscan subjects to Roman Ostia as a result.

Antiquarian, art theorist and biographer in the tradition of Vasari; Librarian to Queen Christina of Sweden, and curator for Pope Clement X. Bellori was raised by his uncle, the antiquarian Francesco Angeloni (1559-1652). He studied from Angeloni's private archaeological collection and drawings by Annibale Carracci, and painting (perhaps with Domenichino) though few artworks by Bellori are known. Bellori became Angeloni's heir at Angeloni's death in 1652. He assembled his own collection of paintings, including those by Titian, Tintoretto, [Annibale] Carracci, as well as coins and medals.

Marxist art historian of Roman art. Bianchi Bandinelli was descended from ancient aristocracy in Siena. His father, Mario Bianchi Bandinelli (1859-1930), was a one-time mayor of Siena and land baron whose forebears included Pope Alexander III (served 1159-1181). His mother, Margherita Ottilie "Lily" von Korn (Bianchi Bandinelli) (1878-1905) was German from minor noble lineage. He attended the liceo Guicciardini in Siena before entering the University in Rome in 1918, studying archaeology. His early research focused on the Etruscan centers close to his family lands.

1549 book, narrative history of painting.

Etruscan scholar; co-authored original Pelican History of Art volume on Etruscan architecture. Boëthius was born to a family with a long tradition in ecclesiastical traditions. He attended the university of Uppsala (with periods also at the university in Berlin), initially in Greek studies before changing to ancient Italy. He received his Ph.D. from Uppsala in 1918. He was a lecturer there (1919-25) and also at the British School in Athens. He assisted in the excavations of Mycenae, 1921-24.

Archaeologist; wrote works on Column of Trajan and decorative art. Boni was orphaned early and attended a commercial school in Venice. At nineteen, he assisted in the Doge's Palace restoration, but quarreled with the superintendent of the project, Forcinelli, over the restoration. This led to a crusade against over-zealous restoration. In the course of these activities, he corresponded with John Ruskin and William Morris (1834-1896). He entered the Venice Academy, studying architecture.

Wrote a new edition of Il riposo di Raffaele Borghini in cui della pittura e della scultura si favella (1730) of Raffaele Borghini and wrote the Dialoghi sopra le tre arti del disegno, published 1754.

First secretary of the Archaeological Institute of Rome (1840-1856). First to publish the François Vase after its finding and assembly.

Curator and Director of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna di Roma, (National Gallery of Modern Art, Rome) 1942-1975; first woman art museum director in Italy. Bucarelli studied art history at the University of Rome under Adolfo Venturi and Pietro Toesca. After graduation, she joined the department of Antiquities and Fine Arts, part of the Ministry of Education. She remained at the department as fascism overtook Italy. At the height of World War II, she assumed the directorship of the Galleria Nazionale d'Arte Moderna, Rome, in 1942.

Artist and art historian; collaborator with Joseph Archer Crowe on the first modern history of art to be written in English. Cavalcaselle studied studio painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice. When his interests changed to art history, he moved to Milan and Florence to study renaissance art. In 1847 he met Joseph Archer Crowe, a British art historian in Italy. The following year, Cavalcaselle joined in the 1848 revolutions sweeping Europe. For his part in the Italian revolt, he was condemned to death and force to flee.

Museum director; Metropolitan Museum of art curator and specialist in Roman baroque painting. He was raised in a Quaker household. Clark's boyhood fascination with birds led him to consider a career in ornithology. However, he graduated from Harvard in 1945 with a degree in fine arts. The following ten years he spent as a working artist. After World War II, Clark painted in New York, joining the American Abstract Artists' Association. Beginning in 1948, he toured Europe.

Archaeologist, Director of the DAI 1928-1938; built reputation on researching the development of sculpture portraiture and painting of the classical era. Born to a wealthy physician's family, Curtius studied in Munich under Enrico Brunn and Adolf Furtwängler, under whom he wrote his dissertation in 1902 (published 1903). His topic was the herm format in sculpture. He taught as a private lecturer beginning in 1905 at Erlangen University.

Italian archaeologist, monuments conservator, and authority on Etruscan vase painting. Fèa received a degree in law from the University of Rome (the Sapienza). He took priestly orders, and after a successful, brief career as a lawyer, he edited an edition of Geschichte der Kunst des Altertums of Johann Joachim Winckelmann, Storia della Arti (1783) adding a personal essay "Dissertation on the Ruins of Rome" (Sulle rovine di Roma). He worked as the librarian of the Biblioteca Chigiana.

Professor of Italian Renaissance art. The son of a Jewish craftsman, Fehl grew up in Vienna. After the annexation of Austria, Fehl fled first to England and then, in July 1940, to the United States. He studied painting at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, but volunteered for war service. Fehl was an interrogator for the United States Army at the Nuremberg Trials 1946-47. He returned to study art history with Ulrich Middeldorf at the University of Chicago.

Documentary architectural historian, architect, and urban planner. After graduating in civil engineering from the University of Rome in 1895, Giovannoni took a degree in public health before studying art and architectural history in Rome under Adolfo Venturi. In 1899 he was appointed assistant under Guglielmo Calderini (1837-1916) in the Engineering School and in 1905 professor of general architecture. A strong technical as well as art-historical interest took him into the conservation field and projects for urban redevelopment.

Classical art historian. Guattàni initially studied law. His acquaintance with Giovanni Piranesi (1720-1778) and Ennio Guirino Visconti led him to the study of ancient art. As he accompanied his wife, the famous singer Marianna Bianchi (c1735-after 1790), throughout Europe, Guattàni visited museums and art collections. He collaborated with Visconti and later Visconti's sons on their Museo Pio-Clementino.

Romanist art historian, noted authority on portraiture. She was born in Bielitz, Silesia, Austria which is present-day Bielsko-Biala, Poland. Von Heintze was born Helga Hoinkes, the daughter of Carl Hoinkes (1882-1960), a cloth manufacturer and writer. She studied in Vienna beginning in 1940. She married the book publisher Wolf Freiherr von Heintze during World War II in 1944, becoming Freifrau (Baroness) von Heintze. As the War began to turn in favor of the Allies, she fled with her mother and young son to the west in 1945.

Second to the Secretary of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome 1865-1887, afterwards a private art dealer implicated in forgies and researcher in Rome. Helbig was the son of a Gymnasium (humanities high school) teacher in Dresden. He studied at Göttingen and then at Bonn where he was a student of classicist Friedrich Ritschl (1806-1876) and Otto Jahn. In 1862 he was awarded a scholarship to the DAI (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut or German Archaeological Institute) in Rome; he remained in that city the rest of his life.

Specialist in Etruscan and classical Greek and Roman art, particularly architectural history, and large mosaics and paintings. Herbig was the son of Etruscan scholar Gustav Herbig (1868-1925). He was wounded while fighting in World War I. After the war he studied at the universities of Rostock, Breslau and finally Heidelberg, where he was awarded his degree. His dissertation was on windows in ancient architecture, Das Fenster in der Architektur des Altertums, granted in 1925 (published in 1929). He further studied during travels to Italy and Greece.

Scholar of Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, particularly interested in artist biographies. Hess came to art history late in life, studying the discipline beginning only in 1919 at age 34. He studied under Heinrich Wölfflin in Munich and in Vienna under literary historian Karl Vossler (1872-1949) and Vienna School art historians Max Dvořák and Julius Alwin von Schlosser.

Collector and early art historian. Kestner was the son of a Hannoverian government official, Johann Christian Kestner and Charlotte Buff (Kestner). Kestner studied law in Göttingen between 1796 and 1769. As a student, he also attended the classes of the classicist Christian Gottlob Heyne and Johann Dominico Fiorillo. He served as an examining judge in Hannover immediately after graduation.