Biography
While working toward degrees in art history at La Sapienza – University of Rome (BA cum laude 2013 and MA cum laude 2015), I spent one semester as a visiting student at the EPHE and at the École du Louvre in Paris and worked as a student research assistant at the KHI in Florenz – Max-Planck-Institut. My research focused on the role of art in the promotion of saints' cults in late medieval and Renaissance Italy. The dissertation for my MPhil degree (Cantab 2016) concerned the patronage of Franciscan Observants, a topic which I continued to research this past year as a recipient of the Sapienza Perfezionamento all’Estero scholarship. My interest in the interrelations between aesthetic ideals and functional necessities in the production of religious art and architecture led me to the study of the aftermath of a moment of upheaval in the history of Florence, the Siege of 1530 – an event which brought about substantial changes in the urban fabric and the displacement of many works of art.
My doctoral project seeks to map the relocation of altarpieces from destroyed churches outside the city walls to other places of worship, and to investigate the consequences of these displacements for the visual identities of neighbourhoods, patrons and religious communities.
Other academic interests
- Artistic heritage in the aftermath of catastrophe
- Digital humanities
- Popular religion in Italy
