I. B. (Igino Benvenuto) Supino

Born in Pisa on September 29, 1858, Igino Benvenuto Supino became known as an Italian painter, art critic, and art historian. He studied in Florence, worked as a largely self-taught painter, and gradually turned toward scholarship and museum work, building a reputation for his knowledge of Italian art.

He played an important role in cultural life in both Pisa and Bologna. Sources describe him as an inspector of monuments, a founder of Pisa’s first civic museum in San Francesco in 1893, and later a professor of art history at the University of Bologna, where he taught for many years. He also served as director of the Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence.

Supino wrote widely on Italian art and artists, including studies of figures such as Fra Angelico and the Carracci. Remembered as both a careful scholar and a man close to the world of museums, he left behind work that helped preserve and explain Italy’s artistic heritage for new generations of readers.