Janet Eileen Robson (25 Jul 1959 - 14 Sep 2018)

FUNERAL AND MEMORIAL SERVICE UPDATE:
Firstly, thank you to all the family and close friends who came to Janet's beautiful woodland funeral service and burial on Wednesday 26 September 2018. On Saturday 17 November 2018 we held a memorial service for her in her local church of St Barnabas, in Dulwich Village: over 75 of her family, friends and colleagues attended, including some from her long-ago time as a City analyst, stockbroker and financial journalist. Also present were representatives of the London Bridge Hospital at Guy's Cancer Centre, where she was so well looked after in her last two months; many neighbours; the architect, builder and gardener who had recently renovated her house; members of the Hoddesdon Players, the theatre group with whom she played some 25 roles over many years; and of course many of her students and colleagues from the Art History community. Several people spoke and offered reminiscences, and almost everyone came away having learnt something new about her.

A buffet reception followed, held in the Linbury Room of the Dulwich Picture Gallery, and again many stories were shared. There was much laughter, especially when a short video was shown of Janet preparing for her contribution to a TV programme on one of her areas of expertise in Art History, Judas. The whole day was one of celebration of an extraordinary life lived to the full, and seeing her so full of life and hearing her voice again was very moving.

This page will remain live. If you would like to do something in her memory, please use the link to Just Giving and donate an amount, however small, to Cancer Research UK. So far nearly £5000 has been raised, and our hope is that this will go a little way towards finding a cure for the cruel disease that took her from us.

An independent art historian with a BA in History from UCL (1980), an MA in Early Sienese Painting and a PhD in History of Art from the Courtauld Institute of Art (1997 & 2001), Janet had over fifteen years' lecturing and teaching experience, including summer schools and public programmes, for the Courtauld, Birkbeck (University of London) and Christie's Education, as well as private study groups. She published extensively on thirteenth and fourteenth-century Italian art. "The Making of Assisi: the Pope, the Franciscans and the Painting of the Basilica", her book on the frescoes of the Upper Church of San Francesco in Assisi (co-written with Donal Cooper), was published in August 2013 by Yale University Press and was awarded the Art Book Prize for 2014. She also published numerous book chapters, essays and articles in journals including the Burlington Magazine, Apollo and Art Bulletin. She travelled and studied extensively in Italy, having held research fellowships at the British School at Rome and at Villa I Tatti (Harvard University) in Florence, and divided her time between her homes in Assisi and London.