Hans Werner Schmidt (art historian, 1904)

Hans Werner Schmidt (born March 17, 1904 in Bitterfeld , † June 8, 1991 in Munich ) was a German art historian .

life and work

Schmidt studied art history in Halle (Saale) and Munich. In 1928 he was in hall at Paul Frankl with a dissertation on landscape painting by Salvator Rosa doctorate . From October 1, 1928 to July 31, 1930 he worked as an assistant at the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome . On September 1, 1930 he went to the Museum of Fine Arts in Leipzig as a research assistant , and from 1933–1934 to the Kupferstichkabinett Berlin . From 1934 to 1936 he worked at the Bibliotheca Hertziana, Rome and at the Art History Institute in Florence. On February 1, 1936, he became head of the graphic collection of the Herzog Anton Ulrich Museum in Braunschweig. In 1941 he saved its collections from being destroyed in the bombing war by making unauthorized outsourcing decisions contrary to instructions. In 1942 he became a special leader and interpreter between the German and Italian generals. From autumn 1943 onwards, he was in charge of the protection of art in Italy to secure works of art in combat areas and to document the photographic damage.

On May 13, 1945, he handed over the preserved art collections in Sand in Taufers to the American art protection department under Frederick Hartt. After his retirement in 1969, he devoted himself to scientific research in Munich on Italian stucco decorations of the 16th century and on baroque splendid bodies . His academic papers are in the Bibliotheca Hertziana in Rome. In 1968 he left the extensive photographic negative material produced on behalf of the German Art Protection Agency to the German Art History Institute in Florence.

bibliography

Hans Werner Schmidt, Salvator Rosa's landscape painting. Halle (Saale) 1930

literature

• Regine Schallert: "Art Protection" and Photography "Sonderführer (Z)" Hans Werner Schmidt . In: Christian Fuhrmeister u. a. (Ed.): Art historian in the war. German Military Art Protection in Italy 1943–1945 (publications of the Central Institute for Art History; Vol. 29). Böhlau, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-412-20804-2 , pp. 247-262.