Wolfgang Lotz (art historian)

Wolfgang Lotz (born April 19, 1912 in Heilbronn; died October 24, 1981 in Rome) was a German art historian specialized in Italian Renaissance architecture.

Lotz first studied Law in Freiburg im Breisgau and then art history at the Universities of Munich and Hamburg, where he was a student of Ludwig Heinrich Heydenreich. In 1937, he completed his Ph.D. dissertation on Giacomo Barozzi da Vignola's architecture. He first worked at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, and after his return from military service he was assigned to the International Commission for Monuments in Munich. Then he worked (under Heydenreich as director) as deputy director at the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich. In 1952, he was appointed professor of art at Vassar, replacing Richard Krautheimer. In 1959, he again replaced Krautheimer, this time at the Institute of Fine Arts, New York University. From 1962 on, he was director of the Bibliotheca Hertziana – Max Planck Institute of Art History in Rome.

In 1974, he published, with Heydenreich, his most popular book, the 38th volume of the Pelican History of Art, entitled The Architecture in Italy: 1400-1600. It presents a survey of Italian Renaissance architecture in the Cinquecento, discussing the work of Donato Bramante, Giulio Romano, Michelangelo, and Andrea Palladio, among others, as well as the various centers of architectural activity throughout Italy. Three years later, Lotz published a selection of essays entitled, Studies in Italian Renaissance Architecture.

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