Born 8 April 1950 (Godalming, England). British citizen.
Married to Jane Lott; three children.
Education:
Winchester College; the Mercersburg Academy, USA (English Speaking Union exchange scholar); Corpus Christi College, Oxford (First class, Classical Moderations 1969; First class, BA English Language and Literature 1973); Warburg Institute, University of London (M. Phil., Combined Historical Studies, the Renaissance, 1976); Department of Museum Studies, University of Leicester 1976-7.
Professional career:
Research Assistant, Dept of Weapons & Antiquities, National Maritime Museum, 1977-79.
Assistant Keeper (Renaissance collections), Dept of Medieval & Later Antiquities, British Museum, 1979-90
Keeper of Western Art, Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, 1990-2013; Barrie and Deedee Wigmore Research Keeper 2013-17; Honorary Curator, Department of Western Art, Ashmolean Museum, 2017-
Professor of the Arts of the Renaissance, University of Oxford 2010-18; now Emeritus Professor.
Fellow of Villa I Tatti, Florence (Harvard University), 1984.
Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London, 1989 – 2017.
Senior Fellow, Frick Center for the History of Collecting, New York, 2012
Professorial Fellow of Balliol College, 1990-2017; now Emeritus Fellow.
Honorary Fellow of the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, 1991-.
Academician of the Accademia Raffaello, Urbino, Italy, 2003-
Honorary Academician of the Accademia di Belle Arti Pietro Vannucci, Perugia, Italy, 2009-
Member of the Editorial Committee of the journal Faenza (Museo Internazionale delle Ceramiche, Faenza), Italy, 2005-
Menber of the Editorial Committee of the Rassegna di Studi e di Notizie (Castello Sforzesco, Milan. Italy)
Trustee of the Ruskin Foundation, 1994-2000.
Member of the Art Advisory Committee, Aberystwyth University, 1999-2015.
Member of the Public Arts Advisory Committee, University of Lancaster, 2007-9.
Trustee of the Oxford Preservation Trust, 2006-15
Trustee of the Cartoon Art Trust, 2010-15
Honorary member of the Gruppo Archeologico Montelupino
Trustee of the Radcliffe Trust, 2011-
Trustee of the Friends of Herefordshire Museums and Arts, 2017-
Trustee of the Oxford Civic Society, 2017-9
Corresponding Member, Accademia Properziana del Subasio di Assisi, 2018-
Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Fishmongers of London, 2017-
Freeman of the City of London, 2017-
President of the Oxford Ceramics Group, 2019-