author
Robert H. Hobart (Robert Henry Hobart) Cust
1861–1940
An early British art historian with a deep interest in the Italian Renaissance, he wrote closely observed studies of artists and monuments in Siena and beyond. His work helped bring figures like Sodoma and Botticelli to a wider English-speaking readership.
1 Audiobook
The Pavement Masters of Siena (1369-1562)
by Robert H. Hobart (Robert Henry Hobart) Cust
About the author
Born in Hythe, Kent, in 1861, Robert Henry Hobart Cust was a British art historian and writer whose research centered on Italian art. Records from the National Gallery describe him as educated at Eton, Trinity College, Cambridge, and Magdalen College, Oxford, and note that he traveled widely in Europe while carrying out research for his publications.
Cust became known for books on Renaissance subjects, including studies of Botticelli, Giovanni Antonio Bazzi (better known as Sodoma), and the pavement art of Siena Cathedral. Reference sources consistently describe him as an early scholar of Siena and of Sodoma in particular, showing the focused, specialist character of his work.
He later lived in Hampstead, London, where he remained until his death in 1940. Archival records of his papers at the National Gallery suggest a long career of research, correspondence, and writing devoted to the history of art.