Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli
Encyclopedia
Ranuccio Bianchi Bandinelli (February 19, 1900 – January 17, 1975) was an Italian archaeologist
and art historian
.
. His early research focused on the Etruscan
centers close to his family lands, Clusium
(1925) and Suana
(1929). Disgusted with Italian
fascism
, despite being the man who showed Hitler around Rome under Mussolini, he converted to extreme communism
after World War II
. As an anti-fascist, he was appointed to a number of important art-historical positions immediately after the war. He was director of the new government's fine arts and antiquities ministry (Antichità e Belle Arti, 1945-48). From his chairs at the universities of Florence
and Rome
, he directed the new breed of Italian
archaeologists sensitive to classical
history based upon dialectical materialism
. He also taught at the University of Groningen
in the Netherlands
. In the 1950s and 1960s he undertook the writing of comprehensive texts on classical
art intended to reach a wide and literate audience. He founded the Enciclopedia dell'arte antica in 1958. In the mid 1960s, Bianchi Bandinelli was commissioned to write the two volumes on Roman art for the French Arts of Mankind
series. These works brought his writing to a larger audience and helped usher in social criteria for art into a larger and English-speaking audience. In 1967 he founded the Dialoghi di archeologia with his students, one of the most innovative, if controversial, periodicals on classical archaeology
.
His interpretation of art was frequently maverick and, if not always compelling, forcefully grounded. One such case is his interpretation of the famous Belvedere Apollo, a Roman
copy of a Greek
work now thought to date to the fourth century B.C. Although hailed by most art historians as a copy of the original Leochares
, Bianchi Bandinelli characterized the piece as a frigid copy of a Hellenistic work without relation to Leochares
.
One of his interests was the interrelation between Hellenistic, Etruscan
and Roman
art. His students included Giovanni Becatti
, Antonio Giuliano, Mario Torelli
, Andrea Carandini
and Filippo Coarelli
. His memoir of fascism
in Italy
was published in 1995 (Hitler e Mussolini, 1938: il viaggio del Führer in Italia)
Archaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
and art historian
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
.
Biography
A Marxist, Bianchi Bandinelli was descended from ancient aristocracy in SienaSiena
Siena is a city in Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the province of Siena.The historic centre of Siena has been declared by UNESCO a World Heritage Site. It is one of the nation's most visited tourist attractions, with over 163,000 international arrivals in 2008...
. His early research focused on the Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
centers close to his family lands, Clusium
Clusium
Clusium was an ancient city in Italy, one of several found at the site. The current municipality of Chiusi partly overlaps this Roman walled city. The Roman city remodeled an earlier Etruscan city, Clevsin, found in the territory of a prehistoric culture, possibly also Etruscan or proto-Etruscan...
(1925) and Suana
Sovana
250px|thumb|A view of a street in Sovana.Sovana is a small town in southern Tuscany, Italy, a frazione of Sorano, a comune in the province of Grosseto.-History:...
(1929). Disgusted with Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
, despite being the man who showed Hitler around Rome under Mussolini, he converted to extreme communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. As an anti-fascist, he was appointed to a number of important art-historical positions immediately after the war. He was director of the new government's fine arts and antiquities ministry (Antichità e Belle Arti, 1945-48). From his chairs at the universities of Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....
and Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, he directed the new breed of Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
archaeologists sensitive to classical
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
history based upon dialectical materialism
Dialectical materialism
Dialectical materialism is a strand of Marxism synthesizing Hegel's dialectics. The idea was originally invented by Moses Hess and it was later developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels...
. He also taught at the University of Groningen
University of Groningen
The University of Groningen , located in the city of Groningen, was founded in 1614. It is one of the oldest universities in the Netherlands as well as one of its largest. Since its inception more than 100,000 students have graduated...
in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
. In the 1950s and 1960s he undertook the writing of comprehensive texts on classical
Classical antiquity
Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ancient Greece and ancient Rome, collectively known as the Greco-Roman world...
art intended to reach a wide and literate audience. He founded the Enciclopedia dell'arte antica in 1958. In the mid 1960s, Bianchi Bandinelli was commissioned to write the two volumes on Roman art for the French Arts of Mankind
Arts of Mankind
The Arts of Mankind , an ambitious series of art history survey books founded in 1960 for the French publisher Gallimard by André Malraux, who edited many of the volumes...
series. These works brought his writing to a larger audience and helped usher in social criteria for art into a larger and English-speaking audience. In 1967 he founded the Dialoghi di archeologia with his students, one of the most innovative, if controversial, periodicals on classical archaeology
Classical archaeology
Classical archaeology is the archaeological investigation of the great Mediterranean civilizations of Ancient Greece and Ancient Rome. Nineteenth century archaeologists such as Heinrich Schliemann were drawn to study the societies they had read about in Latin and Greek texts...
.
His interpretation of art was frequently maverick and, if not always compelling, forcefully grounded. One such case is his interpretation of the famous Belvedere Apollo, a Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
copy of a Greek
Ancient Greece
Ancient Greece is a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history that lasted from the Archaic period of the 8th to 6th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Included in Ancient Greece is the...
work now thought to date to the fourth century B.C. Although hailed by most art historians as a copy of the original Leochares
Leochares
Leochares was a Greek sculptor from Athens, who lived in the 4th century BC.-Works:Leochares worked at the construction of the Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". The Diana of Versailles is a Roman copy of his original...
, Bianchi Bandinelli characterized the piece as a frigid copy of a Hellenistic work without relation to Leochares
Leochares
Leochares was a Greek sculptor from Athens, who lived in the 4th century BC.-Works:Leochares worked at the construction of the Mausoleum of Maussollos at Halicarnassus, one of the "Seven Wonders of the Ancient World". The Diana of Versailles is a Roman copy of his original...
.
One of his interests was the interrelation between Hellenistic, Etruscan
Etruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
and Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
art. His students included Giovanni Becatti
Giovanni Becatti
Giovanni Becatti was an Italian Classical art historian and archaeologist.Born at Siena, Becatti was educated at the University of Rome under Giulio Quirino Giglioli. Becatti was appointed to the Superintendency of Ostia in 1938...
, Antonio Giuliano, Mario Torelli
Mario Torelli
Mario Torelli is a contemporary scholar of Italic archaeology and the culture of the Etruscans. He teaches at the University of Perugia...
, Andrea Carandini
Andrea Carandini
Count Andrea Carandini is an Italian archaeologist specialising in ancient Rome. Among his many excavations is the villa of Settefinestre....
and Filippo Coarelli
Filippo Coarelli
Filippo Coarelli is an Italian archaeologist, Professor of Greek and Roman Antiquities at the University of Perugia.Born in Rome, he is one of the foremost experts on Roman antiquities, a connoisseur of the history of early Rome, and a leading expert on the topography of ancient Rome...
. His memoir of fascism
Fascism
Fascism is a radical authoritarian nationalist political ideology. Fascists seek to rejuvenate their nation based on commitment to the national community as an organic entity, in which individuals are bound together in national identity by suprapersonal connections of ancestry, culture, and blood...
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
was published in 1995 (Hitler e Mussolini, 1938: il viaggio del Führer in Italia)
Publications
- La critica d'arte (journal publisher from 1935, editor and co-founder)
- Roma: La fine dell'arte antica (Rome: The Late Empire, Roman Art A.D. 200-400, 1970)
- Roma: L'arte romana nel centro del potere (Rome: The Center of Power, 500 B.C. to A.D. 200., 1969)
- Arte etrusca e arte italica (1963, editor)
- Storicità dell'arte classica (1950)
- Dialoghi di archeologia (serial, editor)
- Enciclopedia dell'arte antica, classica e orientale (1958-1966, editor)
- The Buried City: Excavations at Leptis Magna (1966, editor)
- Hitler e Mussolini, 1938: il viaggio del Führer in Italia (1995)
- Clusium: Ricerche archeologich e topografiche su Chiusi il suo territorio in età etrusca (1925)
- Apollo di Belvedere (1935)
- Nozioni di storia dell'archeologia e di storiografia dell'arte antica: lezioni introduttive del corso di archeologia (1952)
- L'Arte dell'antichità classica (1976, directed).
External links
- "Bianchi Bandinelli, Rannuccio". Dictionary of Art Historians.