David Chambers (1934 - 2025)

It is with great sadness that we must report the death, on 1 May following a short illness, of our much-loved colleague, David Chambers. David joined the Warburg in 1969 as a Renaissance historian. He not only taught at the Institute and elsewhere in the University, but also served as Editor of the Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes from 1972 till his retirement in 1998, when he was awarded an Honorary Fellowship. He was also Chair of the Journal's Editorial Board from 2004 until 2017.

A man of great human warmth, David saw it as important to understand the motivations of people of the past as far as could be discovered from the evidence of their own words, recorded in documents. Much of his published work involved archival research, particularly in Mantua, and he had a special interest in the lifestyles of Renaissance cardinals and the ways they dealt (or failed to deal) with the contradictions of worldly ambition and their clerical situation.

A fuller memoir will be published online shortly.

David's funeral will be held at St Mary's Church, The Boltons, London, SW10 9TB at 11 am on Tuesday 3 June 2025.