Jacob Hess (art historian)

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Jacob Hess (born July 16, 1885 in Munich ; died August 8, 1969 in Rome ) was a German art historian .

Life

Jacob Hess studied art history, classical archeology and German studies in Munich from 1919 to 1926 and received his doctorate from Heinrich Wölfflin with a dissertation on the artist biographies ("vite") of Giovanni Battista Passeri . With a grant from the Notgemeinschaft der deutschen Wissenschaft he continued to work on the preparation of an edition of the Vite des Passeri. After the transfer of power to the National Socialists in 1933, he moved from Munich to Rome as a private scholar in 1934. For a small fee he edited the manuscript of Giovanni Baglione's "Vite" on behalf of the Bibliotheca Vaticana and published some articles in scientific journals until the Italian government expelled him in 1939 on the basis of the anti-Semitic Leggi razziali .

Hess fled to London and received help from the Warburg Institute and the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning (SPSL). The art historian Ellis K. Waterhouse , who had met him in Rome, granted him an apartment and, without his knowledge, a financial support. The émigré Richard Krautheimer also supported him financially, while after the outbreak of the Second World War the Bibliotheca Vaticana did not pay its fee. In 1940 Hess was interned as an enemy alien for a time on the Isle of Man .

Hess was able to return to Rome in 1948, and his work was again paid for by the Vatican. When Hess received a restitution pension from the Federal Republic of Germany from 1950 , he insisted on paying his debts to the SPSL. From 1953 his editorial work was funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). In 1965 he was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit, 1st Class.

Fonts (selection)

  • (Ed.): Giovanni Battista Passeri. The artist biographies. According to the Hs. D. Author. ed. u. with note vers. by Jacob Hess (Il libro delle vite de pittori, scultori et architetti) (= Roman research of the Bibliotheca Hertziana vol. 11). Leipzig: Keller - Vienna: Schroll, 1934
  • Agostino Tassi , the teacher of Claude Lorrain. A contribution to the history of baroque painting in Rome . Munich: self-published, 1935
  • Art history studies on the Renaissance and Baroque . Collection of articles. 2 volumes. Rome: Ed. di storia e letteratura, 1967
  • posthumously: Herwarth Röttgen (Ed.): Giovanni Baglione. Le vite de'pittori, et scvltori et architetti: dal pontificato di Gregorio XIII del 1572 in fino a'tempi di Papa Urbano Ottavo nel 1642 . Text and comment. 3 volumes. Rome: Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, 1995 ISBN 88-210-0661-1

literature

  • Ulrike Wendland: Biographical handbook of German-speaking art historians in exile. Life and work of the scientists persecuted and expelled under National Socialism . KG Saur, Munich 1999, pp. 296-298.
  • Herwarth Röttgen: Jacob Hess (1885–1969). Remembrance and appreciation . In: 100 Years of the Bibliotheca Hertziana . Volume 1 The history of the institute 1913–2013 . Hirmer, Munich 2013, pp. 164–167.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Hess, Jacob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German art historian
DATE OF BIRTH July 16, 1885
PLACE OF BIRTH Munich
DATE OF DEATH August 8, 1969
Place of death Rome