Martina Bagnoli (born 1964) is an Italian art historian and curator. She is the director of the Gallerie Estensi and chair of the Europeana Foundation. Previously, from 2002 to 2015, Bagnoli was curator of medieval art for the Walters Art Museum in Maryland, United States.

Martina Bagnoli
Born1964 (age 59–60)
Bolzano, Italy
EducationUniversity of Cambridge (BA, MA)
Johns Hopkins University (PhD)
Occupation(s)Art historian, curator, museum director
EmployerGallerie Estensi

Biography edit

Bagnoli was born in Bolzano, Italy.[1] She was educated at Downing College, Cambridge, where she earned a BA in art history (1987) and an MA (1991). She completed her PhD at the Johns Hopkins University in 1999.[1][2] Bagnoli joined the Walters Art Museum in Baltimore, Maryland as assistant curator in 2002. She organised exhibitions such as Treasures of Heaven (2011)[3] and A Feast for the Senses (2017)[4] and ended her tenure as the Andrew W. Mellon Curator and head of the museum's collection of medieval art and manuscripts.[1] Around this time she also worked for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.[5]

In 2015, Bagnoli was named director of the Galleria Estense in Modena, Italy, itself a part of the Gallerie Estensi.[1] Her appointment was part of an international search by the Italian Ministry of Culture to appoint directors for twenty Italian institutions and heritage sites, also including the Uffizi, the Galleria Borghese, and the Gallerie dell'Accademia (Venice).[6][7][8] In May 2017, her appointment through the initiative, and that of four other directors, was voided following a ruling by the Lazio regional administrative tribunal.[7][8] Bagnoli returned to her position a month later after the Council of State, the country's highest administrative court, temporarily suspended the ruling until a public hearing later that year.[9][10] As director, she oversaw the launch of the Estense Digital Library in 2020.[11]

In 2021, Bagnoli was elected chair of the board of the Europeana Foundation.[12]

References edit

  1. ^ a b c d Smith, Tim (19 August 2015). "Walters Art Museum curator named director of major museum in Italy". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  2. ^ "Martina Bagnoli" (PDF) (in Italian). Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 May 2021. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  3. ^ Gopnik, Blake (27 February 2011). "Art From a Time When Seeing Was Believing". Newsweek. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  4. ^ Dobrzynski, Judith H. (14 March 2017). "Drinking In the Art: Museums Offer a Growing Banquet for the Senses". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  5. ^ "Musei, il Tar annulla la nomina anche della direttrice della Galleria Estense di Modena". il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 25 May 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2021. Vanta esperienza in musei statunitensi, come la National Gallery of Art di Washington. [She has experience at US museums, like the National Gallery of Art in Washington.]
  6. ^ Povoledo, Elisabetta; Donadio, Rachel (20 January 2015). "Italy Goes Global in Search for Museum Directors". The New York Times. Rome. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  7. ^ a b McGivern, Hannah (26 May 2017). "Controversial Italian court ruling ousts five top museum directors". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  8. ^ a b Squires, Nick (25 May 2017). "Campaign to inject fresh blood into Italy's museum sector torpedoed by controversial court ruling". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  9. ^ McGivern, Hannah (19 June 2017). "Italy's five suspended museum directors return to work". The Art Newspaper. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  10. ^ "Galleria Estense di Modena, il direttore Martina Bagnoli torna al lavoro". il Resto del Carlino (in Italian). 15 June 2017. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  11. ^ Luppi, Stefano (29 June 2020). "Le Gallerie Estensi si sono espanse" [The Gallerie Estensi have expanded]. il Giornale dell'Arte (in Italian). Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  12. ^ "Martina Bagnoli elected to be Chair of the Europeana Foundation". Europeana Pro. Retrieved 16 December 2021.