Linda Murray

Peter and Linda Murray were both trained as painters, but turned to the history of art and went to the Courtauld Institute as students immediately after the war. They were married in 1947, in the middle of their Final examinations. They published their first work, a translation of Heinrich Wölfflin's Classic Art, in 1952 and collaborated on several translations, as well as a book on the Art of the Renaissance, first published in 1963. Their Dictionary of Art and Artists, however, was their first truly joint book: after they had criticised and rewritten each other's entries, they were no longer able to tell who had originally written which entry and took joint responsibility for everything.

For many years Linda Murray was a lecturer in the Extra-Mural Department of the University of London. She has written books on the High Renaissance and Mannerism, a short book on Michelangelo and a second, longer work entitled Michelangelo: His Life, Work and Times (1984), as well as a novel based on the life of Caravaggio, The Dark Fire. Peter Murray was Professor of the History of Art at Birkbeck College, University of London, from 1963 and Emeritus Professor from 1980 until his death in 1992. He wrote extensively on art and architecture, including a book on Italian Renaissance architecture, published in Italian in 1971 and in English in 1972, a section of A History of English Architecture (Penguin, 1965) and an edition of Jacob Burckhardt's The Architecture of the Renaissance (1985; Penguin, 1987). He wrote several gallery catalogues, including those of Kenwood (1953, 1960) and Dulwich Picture Gallery (1980). Their last joint work was the Companion to Christian Art and Architecture (1996), which Linda Murray completed after her husband's death. Their books have been translated into five European languages, and also into Japanese.