Robert Branner
Encyclopedia
Robert Branner was an art historian
specializing in Gothic architecture
and manuscript illumination. He was born in New York, the son of cartoonist Martin Branner
and Edith Fabbrini.
Branner was a student of Sumner McKnight Crosby
and Jurgis Baltrušaitis
at Yale
and was closely associated with Jean Bony and Louis Grodecki, all students of Henri Focillon
. Active as an excavator, he made important discoveries in the chronology and style of French cathedrals
, incorporating cultural historical tools into the method of design analysis that had more traditionally dominated architectural history. Late in his life, he worked on the stylistic identification of different ateliers of manuscript painting during the era of Saint Louis
.
Branner is remembered through the Robert Branner Forum, a student-run symposium at Columbia University
, sponsoring lectures several times a year that are open to the public. The Forum originated as a series of visiting lectures organized by Branner’s graduate students immediately after his death during the academic year, as a way of continuing his courses. It has been supported by his family since that time.
Art history
Art history has historically been understood as the academic study of objects of art in their historical development and stylistic contexts, i.e. genre, design, format, and style...
specializing in Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
and manuscript illumination. He was born in New York, the son of cartoonist Martin Branner
Martin Branner
Martin Michael Branner , known to his friends as Mike Branner, was a cartoonist who created the popular comic strip Winnie Winkle...
and Edith Fabbrini.
Branner was a student of Sumner McKnight Crosby
Sumner McKnight Crosby
Sumner McKnight Crosby spent a lifetime excavating and analyzing the early-Gothic style Abbey of Saint-Denis, in Saint-Denis, France, north of Paris...
and Jurgis Baltrušaitis
Jurgis Baltrušaitis (son)
Jurgis Baltrušaitis was a Lithuanian art historian, art critic and a founder of comparative art research. He was the son of the poet and diplomat Jurgis Baltrušaitis. Most of his works were written in French, although he always stressed his Lithuanian origin...
at Yale
Yale University
Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...
and was closely associated with Jean Bony and Louis Grodecki, all students of Henri Focillon
Henri Focillon
Henri Focillon was a French art historian.Director of the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Lyon. Professor of Art History at the University of Lyon, at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Lyon, at the Sorbonne, at the Collège de France and then in the United States, where he went into exile and taught at Yale...
. Active as an excavator, he made important discoveries in the chronology and style of French cathedrals
Cathedral
A cathedral is a Christian church that contains the seat of a bishop...
, incorporating cultural historical tools into the method of design analysis that had more traditionally dominated architectural history. Late in his life, he worked on the stylistic identification of different ateliers of manuscript painting during the era of Saint Louis
Louis IX of France
Louis IX , commonly Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death. He was also styled Louis II, Count of Artois from 1226 to 1237. Born at Poissy, near Paris, he was an eighth-generation descendant of Hugh Capet, and thus a member of the House of Capet, and the son of Louis VIII and...
.
Branner is remembered through the Robert Branner Forum, a student-run symposium at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
, sponsoring lectures several times a year that are open to the public. The Forum originated as a series of visiting lectures organized by Branner’s graduate students immediately after his death during the academic year, as a way of continuing his courses. It has been supported by his family since that time.