We are deeply saddened to announce the death on Tuesday 10 November of our dear friend and colleague John Osborne, Professor Emeritus of Medieval Art History and specialist in the art of Rome in the Middle Ages. John was a Rome Scholar at the British School at Rome in 1978-79, working on a project on Roman wall painting in the early Middle Ages. During that productive year, he made substantial progress on new publications while also submitting and successfully defending his doctoral thesis at the Courtauld Institute. His time as a Rome Scholar marked the beginning of a lifelong devotion to Rome and to the BSR, to which he returned annually and which he supported with great generosity throughout his life. In 2006, John was appointed an Honorary Fellow in recognition of his scholarly contribution to the School and returned as the Balsdon Fellow in 2018.

John established and generously funded the Rushforth Lecture in medieval Rome at the BSR, attending every year, including this October, when he chaired a lecture given, very fittingly, by his own doctoral supervisor, Julian Gardner. The lecture series will continue in his memory, a lasting tribute to his scholarship and his many contributions to the intellectual life of Rome.

John was a warm and unassuming presence who wore his learning lightly. He loved to work in the BSR library, his ‘home away from home’, and was much loved by the staff, whom he treated with unfailing respect and old-school courtesy. His generosity, warmth and devotion to scholarship will remain an enduring part of the BSR community. We will miss him greatly and remember him with deep affection.