Michael William Lely Kitson (30 January 1926 – 7 August 1998) was a British art historian who became an international authority on the work of the painter Claude Lorrain.
[2] The novelist Anthony Trollope and the painter Sir Peter Lely were among his ancestors.
He was educated at Gresham's School and King's College, Cambridge, where he read English (1944–45 and 1948–50), and at the Courtauld Institute of Art (1950–1952).
[3] His three years at King's College, Cambridge, were interrupted in 1945 when he was commissioned into the Royal Engineers and attached to security intelligence Middle East, based in Egypt.
After his death in Islington, London, on 7 August 1998,[7] a memorial service was held at St Clement Danes on 23 October 1998, with an address by Neil MacGregor, Director of the National Gallery.