- Benedict Nicolson
(Lionel) Benedict Nicolson, MVO (
6 August 1914 –1978) was a Britishart historian and author.Nicolson was the elder son of authors
Harold Nicolson andVita Sackville-West and the brother of writer and politician Nigel. His parents were famously devoted to each other and the boys grew up atSissinghurst Castle , in the rural depths ofKent , surrounded by the renowned gardens that are now run by the National Trust. Nicolson was educated atEton College andBalliol College, Oxford . In 1939, he was appointed DeputySurveyor of the King's Pictures and was a Captain in theIntelligence Corps duringWorld War II .After the war, Nicolson told his mother of having a
homosexual relationship. Vita (herself alesbian with anopen marriage ) thought the relationship would jeopardise his position at court and urged him to marry instead. After being appointed a MVO, Nicolson resigned from theRoyal Household in 1947 and went on to edit "Burlington Magazine ". He was married on8 August 1955 to Luisa Felicita Vertova, the elder daughter of Professor Giacomo Vertova ofFlorence , and they had a daughter, Vanessa Pepita Giovanna (b. 1956), before divorcing in 1962.Nicolson died in 1978 and was buried in Trinity Church Cemetery in
Sissinghurst ,Kent , adjacent to his father.Works
*"The Painters of
Ferrara " (1950)
*"Hendrick Terbrugghen " (1958)
*"Wright of Derby : Painter of Light" (1968)
*"The Treasures of theFoundling Hospital " (1972)
*"Courbet : The Studio of the Painter" (1973)
*"Georges de la Tour " (1974)ources
* [http://partners.nytimes.com/books/97/08/17/reviews/970817.17frasert.html "Playing by the Rules" - Kennedy Fraser]
* [http://www.burkes-peerage.net/ Burke's Peerage & Gentry, 107th edition]
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