Sydney Joseph Freedberg

Who was Sydney Joseph Freedberg?

Sydney Joseph Freedberg was an art historian, mainly of Italian Renaissance art.

Freedberg was born in Boston and attended the Boston Latin School. He graduated from Harvard College in 1939, and acquired a doctoral degree a year later. One of his mentors was Bernard Berenson. He taught Fine Arts at Harvard from 1954–83. At the time of his retirement in 1983 he was the Arthur Kingsley Porter Professor of Fine Arts at Harvard. He became chief curator from 1983–88 of the National Gallery of Art in Washington, DC in 1983 upon retiring from Harvard.

During the Second World War, Freedberg risked disciplinary action by refusing as a matter of conscience to work on intelligence about Rome. Later he would say that "I was worried that the information I might gather might be used in a military operation against that city," and thus lead to irreparable damage to works of art there. Despite his decision, he was made an Honorary Member of the Order of the British Empire for his contributions to the war effort.

In November 1966, after disastrous floods in Italy, Freedberg served as National Vice Chairman of the Committee to Rescue Italian Art. In 1970, Freedberg began service on the board of directors of Save Venice, of which he was a founding member.