Ettore Modigliani

Ettore Modigliani KBE (Rome, 20 December 1873 – Milan, 22 June 1947) was an Italian government bureaucrat.

Career

He was the director of the Pinacoteca di Brera from 1908 to 1934. During this period, he focused on the Venetian school. He purchased paintings by these artists for the gallery of Canaletto.

In 1910, he was appointed as the Superintendent of the Galleries, Museums, and Medieval and Modern works of art in Milan. In 1925, he was appointed as the Superintendent of Monuments of Lombardy. In 1926, he was appointed Superintendent of the Certosa di Pavia. In 1930, Modigliani was appointed Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for his role in producing the exhibition of Italian art at Burlington House in London.

He never joined the Italian Fascist Party. He was of Jewish origin and in 1939, following the adoption of racial laws, was expelled by the state. By partnering with Fernanda Wittgens, who lent her name for publication, he wrote "The Mentor" during these years.

During wartime, he escaped by hiding in the countryside of central Italy with his family to avoid concentration camps. In 1946 he was reinstated at the Brera gallery and dealt with the reconstruction of buildings destroyed by bombings. He contacted the architect Piero Portaluppi, with whom he had worked in the '20s, for the relocation of the gallery, which opened in September 1946 at Little Brera. A small portion of the original gallery escaped the bombs, along with some exhibits of the collection Braidense.

Works

• The Pinacoteca di Brera, number of Christmas and the Enlightenment Capod'anno Italian, Treves, 1913 Milan
• Mentor. Study Guide of Italian art, Hoepli, Milan 1946
• Catalogue of the Italian Pinacoteca di Brera, Rizzoli, Milan 1935

References