La collezione di dipinti italiani di Robert ed Evelyn Benson
Pina De Angelis
Over four decades, a London merchant banker Robert Henry Benson (1850-1929) and his wife,
Evelyn Holford (1856-1943), built a significant collection of 114 early Italian Renaissance paintings,
focusing on the Sienese, Florentine, Umbrian, Ferrarese, Milanese, and Venetian schools.
The Benson Collection was one of the most significant private collections in early 20th-century Britain
and Joseph Duveen’s acquisition of it in 1927 played a crucial role in the redistribution of these
masterpieces to institutions and collectors worldwide. This essay focuses on the collection, which has not lain untouched since the sale to the present day, examining the events that led to its development and studying the history and provenances of each painting