It is with the deepest sadness that we report the death today (14 December 2017) of Professor Michael Hirst (David Michael Geoffrey Hirst).
Michael Hirst FBA was Professor Emeritus of Â鶹ÊÓƵ, where he taught from 1962 until retirement in 1997, initially as Lecturer and subsequently as Reader and Professor.Ìý He was made a Fellow of the British Academy in 1983 and anÌýAccademico d’OnoreÌýof ³Ù³ó±ðÌýAccademia delle Arti del DisegnoÌýin 1991.ÌýÌý He will be remembered as one of the leading authorities on the work of Michelangelo and his followers, a reputation that was secured by seminal publications that have remained standard reference works. In 1981, he publishedÌýSebastiano del PiomboÌýwith Oxford University Press, followed by Michelangelo and his Drawings in 1988 andÌýMichelangelo: The Achievement of Fame, 1475-1534Ìýin 2011, both with Yale University Press. He also published together with other authors, including, more recently, an important edition of Condivi’sÌýVita di Michelagnolo BuonarrotiÌý(1998) that was edited by Giovanni Nencioni and Caroline Elam, and an exhibition at the National Gallery onÌýMaking and Meaning: The Young Michelangelo, together with Jill Dunkerton (1994). Such was his international standing in the world of Michelangelo studies that he was made a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Restoration of the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling in 1987.Ìý
Michael’s death is a great loss to Michelangelo scholarship and is a huge sadness to his family, friends and colleagues. We extend our deepest sympathies to his wife Diane Zervas Hirst.
Professor Hirst’s funeral will take place on 5 January 2018 at 10 a.m. at St. John the Baptist’s church on Holland Road, London ÌýW14 8AH