Conoscente

I passed two Mornings in looking at the pictures of Sasso Ferrato and Andrea Mantegna, Names which I used to know only in Books: the Works of Guido Reni as the Italians always call him however, give one the real, & true, & unaffected Delight which that Art can afford—and as Goldsmith used to say the way to set up for a Conoscente was to talk a great deal about Pietro Perugino, I assure you that in that Merit I have already made many advances.

Source: wiktionary

Upon asking how he had been taught the art of a conoscente so very suddenly, he assured me that nothing was more easy.

Source: wiktionary

The conoscenti of the island have been greatly perplexed respecting a ruin recently discovered a few feet under ground: […]

Source: wiktionary

The first representation of the long-expected ballet of M. Blache, “Les Filets de Vulcain,” has been again put off. It seems to be looked forward to with as much anxiety by the conoscenti of Paris, as the splendid ballet of “La Naissance de Venus” was by those of London.

Source: wiktionary