Ridolfi, Enrico

Date born:   1829

Place Born:   Lucca, Italy

Date died:   1910

Place died:   Florence, Italy

Museum director and historian of artistic monuments in Lucca. Ridolfi was the son of Michele Ridolfi, a painter and historian of the art of Lucca. Enrico Ridolfi was also trained as a painter, joining the Accademia di Lucca in 1863. Ridolfi focused on the archives, monuments, and artistic partimony in Lucca. He served as secretary of the Commissione di Conservazione dei Monumenti from 1860-71. In 1877, Ridolfi organized the city of Lucca's first exhibition of historic works. He relocated to Florence, becoming the vice-director, and later the director of the city's art galleries. His goal was to reorganize the Galleria degli Uffizi. Under Ridolfi's supervision, the Uffizi's exhibition halls were expanded and redecorated, and paintings studied by well-known art historians such as Giovanni Morelli (q.v.), Adolfo Venturi (q.v.), and Bernard Berenson (q.v.) were prominently displayed. He also alleviated the overcrowding of the 17th century paintings in the Tribuna, and highlighted the gallery's recent purchases of 15th-century Flemish and Tuscan paintings such as the Portinari Alterpiece (c. 1473-9) by Hugo van der Goes. LMW

Home Country:  Italy

Sources:  The Dictionary of Art

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