Oral History | Michael Rinehart

Michael Rinehart – Art historian and first Librarian of the Biblioteca Berenson

Michael first went to I Tatti to study in the Library following his graduation from Harvard in 1956. With a letter of introduction from Sydney Freedberg, he met Berenson and Nicky Mariano and was invited to teas at the Villa. When Michael returned to Florence in the summer of 1959 Nicky asked him to help edit the ‘lists.’ After Berenson’s death, Michael stayed on at the Villa and became the first Librarian at the newly established Center. Following this period at I Tatti, Michael went on to become the Witt Librarian at the Courtauld in London and established the library at the Clarke Institute in Williamstown MA. He was editor-in-chief of The Bibliography of the History of Art till his retirement in 2000.