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14. PONTEFICE DELLE ARTI<br />
Sir John Pope-Hennessey, studioso di chiara<br />
fama, era anche un abile amministratore,<br />
essendo stato direttore del Victoria and Albert<br />
Museum, del British Museum e del dip<strong>art</strong>imento<br />
di pittura europea del Metropolitan<br />
Museum of Art di New York. In breve, un pilastro<br />
del mondo dell’<strong>art</strong>e serio. I suoi libri sui<br />
grandi periodi della scultura italiana sono<br />
monumenti della storia dell’<strong>art</strong>e.<br />
In conversazione, i suoi commenti taglienti su<br />
qualsiasi tema dell’<strong>art</strong>e alta e della alta vita<br />
sociale venivano comunicati in nitriti di chiara<br />
razza oxfordiana.<br />
È morto come uno dei grandi vecchi della tradizione<br />
anglo-fiorentina, avendo scelto di<br />
ritirarsi in un’accogliente casa foderata di<br />
libri, con vista sull’Arno.<br />
Per i romani è ricordato anche come membro<br />
del comitato scientifico del Museo Storico dell’Isola<br />
Tiberina<br />
New York, 1983<br />
40<br />
PONTIFF OF THE ARTS<br />
Sir John Pope-Hennessy (1913-1994), the eminent<br />
scholar, was also a notable administrator,<br />
having headed the Victoria and Albert Museum,<br />
the British Museum and the European painting<br />
dep<strong>art</strong>ment of the Metropolitan Museum of Art in<br />
New York. In short, a pillar of the serious <strong>art</strong><br />
world. His books on the great periods of Italian<br />
sculpture are landmarks in <strong>art</strong> history.<br />
In conversation his trenchant comments on all<br />
subjects in high <strong>art</strong> and high life were conveyed in<br />
a high-bred Oxbridge whinny.<br />
He died as one of the grand old men in the Anglo-<br />
Florentine tradition, having chosen to retire to a<br />
book-lined snuggery overlooking the Arno.<br />
For Romans he is remembered also as a member<br />
of the International Scholars Committee of the<br />
Tiber Island History Museum.<br />
New York, 1983