A. Victor Coonin

A. Victor Coonin is the James F. Ruffin Professor of Art History at Rhodes College, where he has taught since 1995. A distinguished Art Historian, Professor Coonin has published widely on Italian Renaissance Art as historian, critic and reviewer. He has degrees from Oberlin College, Syracuse University and Rutgers University.

Coonin's monograph on Michelangelo's David appeared in 2014 through the Florentine Press. Entitled From Marble to Flesh: The Biography of Michelangelo's David, the book is an unusual hybrid that is both scholarly and written for the general public. It has become a standard book on the world's most famous statue.

He has edited two additional books of scholarly articles: Old Masters in Context: Romanino's Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine; and A Scarlet Renaissance: Essays in Honor of Sarah McHam. In addition, Coonin has written dozens of influential articles, encyclopedia essays, and catalogue entries for leading European and American venues, including the Metropolitan Museum Journal, The Burlington Magazine, Artibus et Historiae, and The Sculpture Journal.

Coonin has appeared on radio and television as an expert Art Historian. He is a former Fulbright Fellow and an active member of the College Art Association, Italian Art Society, Renaissance Society of America, and the Archaeological Institute of America. He has served for the Fulbright National Screening Committee for Italy and the selection committee for the National Endowment for the Humanities. His work has been supported by grants from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and Samuel H. Kress Foundation, among others.

Professor Coonin lives in Memphis with his wife, two children, a dog, two cats, and an ever changing number of fish.