Jonathan Keates received yesterday the decoration of Official of the Star of Italy (Ufficiale della Stella d’Italia). The award was presented by Ambassador Pasquale Terracciano on behalf of the President of the Italian Republic.
Keates, an art historian, author and cultural journalist, received the award in recognition of his constant support for and promotion of Italian culture. His published works range from biography to fiction, and they have earned him critical acclaim and prestigious awards, such as the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and the Hawthornden Prize.
Keates is a member of the Royal Society of Literature and chairman of Venice in Peril, an association founded following floods of Florence and Venice in 1966. The association raises funds for the conservation and promotion of the artistic and cultural heritage of Venice. Some of its recent projects include the restoration of the Archaeological Museum, the conservation of manuscripts from St Mark’s Basilica, the renovation of new rooms on the ground floor of the Palladian wing of the Gallerie dell’Accademia in Venice and the adoption, conservation and restoration of the Canova monument. Recently, under the leadership of Keates, Venice in Peril has played a key role in acquiring, on behalf of the Italian state, a missing panel from a Vasari ceiling, bringing it back to Venice after centuries abroad.
