Art historian Andrea Emiliani dies at 88 in Bologna

Andrea Emiliani, the art historian who founded the Istituto dei Beni Culturali della Regione Emilia Romagna in 1974, has died at age 88 in Bologna's Sant'Orsola Hospital after a long illness. Emiliani was director of the Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, which he reorganized starting in 1955, and served as Superintendent for Artistic and Historical Heritage for Bologna, Ferrara, Forlì, and Ravenna. Born in Predappio in 1931, he taught museography and art history at the University of Bologna, and was honorary inspector for museum education at the Ministry of Cultural Heritage. He collaborated with La Sapienza in Rome, the Politecnico di Torino, and the Fondazione Giorgio Cini in Venice, and was a member of the Accademia dei Lincei and the Accademia Raffaello di Urbino. Emiliani also wrote for Il Resto del Carlino. He was a leading expert on Federico Barocci, organizing a major exhibition in Bologna in 1975 and publishing a monograph in 1985. His studies also focused on 17th-century Emilian art, including the Carracci, Guido Reni, and Simone Cantarini. Bologna mayor Virginio Merola praised Emiliani for making art accessible to all, noting he received the Archiginnasio d'Oro. IBC president Roberto Balzani recalled Emiliani as a visionary who created a pioneering institute for cultural heritage at a time when no national ministry existed.