[2] David Michael Geoffrey Hirst was born on 5 September 1933 and studied at New College, Oxford, and the Courtauld Institute of Art.
[2] Lecturer, Reader and Professor of Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London, and a Fellow of the Academy since 1983, Hirst has been one of the foremost specialists on the drawings of Michelangelo.
He has made a signal contribution to knowledge and understanding of sixteenth-century Italian art, devoting most of his scholarly publications to the life and works of Michelangelo.
Beyond Michelangelo, he published important articles and essays on artists such as Francesco Salviati, Perin del Vaga and Parmigianino.
He was an Accademico d'Onore, or honorary member, of the Accademia delle Arti del Disegno of Florence.