My research examines the legacy of early renaissance culture in Europe at the end of the nineteenth century. Following the rediscovery of Quattrocento art, interest in the period exploded on an unprecedented scale. My work investigates its reimagination in art historiography, fiction, travel writing and performance, focusing particularly on its reinvention by queer and female subjects. I am especially interested in moments in which boundaries between artwork and human are blurred, as when an artwork appears to wake up, or a human comes to resemble an artwork. Figures I look at include Michael Field, Vernon Lee, Aby Warburg, Natalie Clifford Barney, Isadora Duncan and Alexander Sacharoff. More generally I am interested in the uses and limitations of new materialism, the emergence of art history as a discipline, decadence, and body memory.
Previously, my MPhil at Trinity Hall, Cambridge, under the supervision of Dr Donal Cooper (funded by the Newton Trust) explored post-Savonarolan female spirituality, fictive marbling in late medieval murals, and the postmodern legacy of Aby Warburg.
My current work is funded by the AHRC-Lander Studentship at Pembroke College. I will be a visiting scholar at Universität Hamburg 2020-2021, under the supervision of Professor Petra Lange-Berndt, where I will further investigate the uses of Quattrocento works by early modern dancers such as Ida Rubinstein, Vaslav Nijisnky and Rita Sacchetto.
