Directory of Research and Expertise

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Research Summary and Profile

Research interests:

Early Modern, History of art, Medieval History, Modern History , Political Institutions

Regions:

Europe

Summary of research interests and expertise:

Research
My research interests over the last years have been varied but all are firmly grounded in a common theme: the way in which spiritual beliefs not only shaped contemporary world views but were also fundamental to cultural expression and political activities. My work to date has been in the following areas:

The notion of the earthly paradise: I investigated this topic whilst writing my doctoral dissertation on
The notion of the earthly paradise from the Patristic era to the fifteenth century (Warburg Institute, 1999) and have since studied in more depth and over a wider chronological span whilst preparing my book Mapping Paradise: A History of Heaven on Earth (London: British Library; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2006; Winner: 2006 Awards for Excellence, Association of American Publishers; Italian transl. Milan: Bruno Mondadori, 2007). I now intend to complete a nuanced exploration of the ways in which between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance Christian theologians have imagined the perfect condition of Adam and Eve before the Fall.

History of Cartography and Sacred Geography: I have a strong interest in the ways in which religion and geography intersect and interact, particularly in the context of medieval and early modern sacred geography. I maintained my interests in a number of related aspects of medieval and Renaissance cartography, including the shift from medieval to Renaissance mapping; musical iconography on medieval and Renaissance maps; the representation of non-Christian religious traditions; allegorical cartography in the early modern period. I have worked on the Hereford, Ebstorf and Psalter maps, the Fra Mauro World Map, the Kunstmann II Map.

Literature on journeys to the otherworld: I devoted particular attention to a little known text by Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini, the Dialogus de somnio quodam, which I translated from Latin into Italian and for which I wrote a detailed commentary (Turin: Aragno, 2004). I have also a strong interest in Dante. I have been working in connection with the Centro Dantesco in Ravenna, participating in many of their initiatives and supervising theses on Dante at their library.

Medieval and Renaissance views of the temporal and spiritual powers and their history: I have researched a number of inter-related subjects including papal art patronage in Church Jubilee years and medieval Christian ideas about pilgrimage and death. I have received a grant (with Dr Avril Maddrell, University of the West of England, Dr Heather Walton, University of Glasgow and Dr Veronica Della Dora, University of Bristol) from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (within the Religion and Society Scheme) for a research project on pilgrimage practices in different Christian traditions. I have focussed on pilgrimage through mental landscapes in the Roman Catholic tradition (at the monastery of Subiaco, Italy, in particular).

History of utopian thought and cultural interchange in the early modern age: I have worked on Filarete’s ideal city (Sforzinda) and on the relationships between Italy and Hungary in the Renaissance.

Aby Warburg: Warburg’s interest in musical iconography (a topic so far ignored by Warburg scholars) and Warburg’s involvement in World War I.

Languages:

	Spoken	Written
German	Intermediate	Intermediate
Italian	Fluent	Fluent
Latin	Fluent	Fluent
French	Fluent	Intermediate

Publication Details

Related publications/articles:

Date	Details
15-Jul-2020	‘Cosmographical Map’ Articles in The History of Cartography, IV, Cartography in the European Enlightenment, eds Matthew H. Edney and Mary Sponberg Pedley. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019
15-Jul-2020	‘Cultural and Social Significance of Globes’ Articles in The History of Cartography, IV, Cartography in the European Enlightenment, eds Matthew H. Edney and Mary Sponberg Pedley. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019
31-Dec-2019	‘Double Standards? Medieval Marriage Symbolism and Christian Views on the Muslim Paradise’ Chapters in The Symbolism of Marriage in Early Christianity and the Latin Middle Ages: Images, Impact, Cognition, ed. Line C. Engh (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press, 2019), pp. 179-202.
01-Dec-2019	‘Maps | Christianity | Modern Europe and America’ Research aids Encyclopedia of the Bible and Its Reception (EBR), vol. 17, eds Christine Helmer, Steven L. McKenzie, Thomas Römer, Jens Schröter, Barry Dov Walfish, Eric J. Ziolkowski. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2019, pp. 858-860. December
06-Jun-2019	‘Giacomo Filippo Foresti, Supplemento de le Chroniche’ Articles in La Biblioteca di Leonardo, ed. Carlo Vecce, (Florence: Museo Galileo, 2019), on line publication.
06-Jun-2019	‘Isidorus Hispalensis, Comenza la Cronica de Sancto Isidero Menore: con alchune additione cavate del texto et istorie de la Bibia e del libro de Paulo Orosio ...’ Articles in La Biblioteca di Leonardo, ed. Carlo Vecce, (Florence: Museo Galileo, 2019), on line publication.
06-Jun-2019	‘John Mandeville, Tractato de le piu maravegliose cose e piu notabile che si trovino in le parte del mondo reducte e colte sotto brevita in lo presente compendio' Articles in La Biblioteca di Leonardo, ed. Carlo Vecce, (Florence: Museo Galileo, 2019), on line publication.
01-Apr-2019	‘Natura perfetta nell’Eden: un’utopia medievale’ Chapters in Rappresentazioni della natura nel medioevo, eds Giovanni Catapano and Onorato Grassi, Micrologus Library Series 94 (Florence: SISMEL - Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2019), pp. 3-25. April
28-Oct-2018	‘L’enigma della lunetta’ Journal articles in L’Osservatore Romano (28 October 2018), p. 5.
31-Aug-2018	‘Wedded Bliss? Early Medieval Views on the Place of Marriage in Eden’ Conference papers in Sacramentum Magnum: Die Ehe in der mittelaterlichen Theologie / Le Mariage dans la théologie médiévale / Marriage in Medieval Theology, ed. Pavel Blazek (Münster: Aschendorff, 2018), pp. 69-94.
01-May-2018	‘Giving Birth in the Garden of Eden’ Chapters in Pregnancy and Childbirth: History, Medicine, and Anthropology, ed. Costanza Gilson Dopfel. Moraga, CA: Saint Mary's College of California, 2018, pp. 45-55. May
06-Dec-2017	‘Acquiring Wings: Augustine’s Recurrent Tensions on Creation and the Body’ Chapters in Et Amicorum: Essays on Renaissance Humanism and Philosophy in Honour of Jill Kraye, eds Margaret Meserve and Anthony Ossa-Richardson (Leiden: Brill, 2018), pp. 245-261.
15-Nov-2017	'Orbis disciplinae: Hommages en l’honneur de Patrick Gautier Dalché, eds Nathalie Bouloux, Anca Dan and Georges Tolias (Turnhout: Brepols, 2017)' Review in Imago Mundi, The International Journal for the History of Cartography - Volume 70, 2018 - Issue 1, pp. 140–141.
01-Oct-2017	‘La sopravvivenza della tradizione classica nella geografia medievale’ Articles in La Rivista di Engramma (online), 150 (October 2017).
12-Jul-2017	‘Luther’s Paradise Flooded’ Chapters in Luther, Kolumbus und die Folgen: Welt im Wandel, 1500-1600, eds Thomas Eser and Stephanie Armer. Nürnberg: Germanische Nationalmuseum, 2017, pp. 14-21
03-Jul-2017	Chet Van Duzer and Ilya Dines, Apocalyptic Cartography: Thematic Maps and the End of the World in a Fifteenth-Century Manuscript Review in Imago Mundi, The International Journal for the History of Cartography - Volume 69, 2017 - Issue 1, pp. 119-120.
01-Mar-2017	Warburg and D’Annunzio in Defence of Truth: on Modern Literature and Alleged Jewishness Journal articles with Dorothea McEwan, Schifanoia, 53-53 (2017), eds Stefano Caroti, Angela Ghinato, Manuela Incerti, a cura dell’Istituto di Studi Rinascimentali di Ferrara. Pisa-Rome-Ferrara: Fabrizio Serra, 2015, pp. 257-277.
01-Jul-2016	Luciano Gargan, Dante, la sua biblioteca e lo Studio di Bologna Chapters European Society for Textual Scholarship
12-Jun-2016	‘Borrowing Human Sex to Speak of Divine Love’ Chapters in The Art of Borrowing, ed. Paul Williamson (Cambridge-Stockholm: Festival O/Modernt, 2016), pp. 109-119.
06-Jun-2016	The Cosmography of Paradise: The Other World from Ancient Mesopotamia to Medieval Europe Edited Book The Warburg Institute Colloquia, 27. London: The Warburg Institute
01-May-2016	‘L’uovo di Dante’ Chapters in Carlo Alberto Redi, Manuela Monti, Storia di una cellula fantastica: Scienza, cultura e natura dell’uovo (Milan: Sironi, 2016), pp. 197-201.
07-Jan-2016	'Maps' Articles with Catherine Delano-Smith, in The Oxford Encvclopedia of the Bible and the Arts, ed. Timothy Beal (New York: Oxford University Press, USA, 2015), pp. 10-20.
01-Jan-2016	‘Le stelle di Dante nella biblioteca di Aby Warburg’ Conference papers in Lo sguardo sugli astri: Scienza, Cultura e Arte, Atti dei Convegni Lincei, 288, (Rome: Bardi, 2016), pp. 125-145.
01-Dec-2015	'Maps' Research aids - with Catherine Delano-Smith, in The Oxford Encyclopedia of the Bible and Arts, ed. Timothy Beal. Vol. 2.Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015, pp. 10-20.
01-Oct-2015	‘Pico e il paradiso: un’idea rinascimentale della perfezione umana’ Conference papers in Giovanni Pico della Mirandola e la “Dignità” dell’uomo: Storia e fortuna di un discorso mai pronunciato, Schifanoia 46/47 (2014), a cura dell’Istituto di Studi Rinascimentali di Ferrara (Pisa-Rome-Ferrara: Fabrizio Serra, 2015), pp. 93-112.
01-Jul-2015	Die Vermessung des Paradieses: Eine Kartographie des Himmels auf Erden Monographs German transl. of Maps of Paradise by Gina Beitscher. Darmstatd: Philipp von Zabern, WBG, Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft.
02-Jun-2015	‘Coping with Muslim Jerusalem between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance: Islam and the Holy City on Christian World Maps’ Chapters in Between Jerusalem and Europe: Essays in Honour of Bianca Kühnel, eds Renana Bartal and Hanna Vorholt (Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2015), pp. 257-279.
12-Dec-2014	Christian Pilgrimage, Landscape and Heritage: Journeying to the Sacred Monographs with Veronica della Dora, Avril Maddrell and Heather Walton. New York and London: Routledge.
15-May-2014	‘La sopravvivenza dell’apoteosi classica nella tradizione geografica medievale: le Colonne d’Ercole, segno cartografico della divinizzazione cristiana’ Conference papers in Apotheosis: Becoming God, eds Tommaso Gnoli and Federicomaria Muccioli (Bononia University Press: 2014), pp. 427-440.
01-Jan-2014	‘From Biblical to Non-Biblical Holy Places: The Holy Shrine of Subiaco as a Construct of Jerusalem’ Conference papers in Visual Constructs of Jerusalem, eds Bianca Kühnel, Galit Noga-Banai and Hanna Vorholt (Turnhout: Brepols, 2014), pp. 45-55.
01-Oct-2013	‘“Kulturwissenschaftliches Kuriosum aus dem Gebiete der Musikgeschichte”: Aby Warburg tra scienza della cultura e storia della musica’ Chapters Schifanoia, 42-43 (2013), ed. Simona Spinelli, a cura dell’Istituto di Studi Rinascimentali di Ferrara. Pisa-Rome-Ferrara: Fabrizio Serra, 2013, pp. 115-132.
19-Sep-2013	Maps of Paradise Monographs London: British Library; Chicago: University of Chicago Press
28-Feb-2013	‘La firma di Filarete sulla porta bronzea di San Pietro: la gioia della creazione artistica’ Chapters in La Basilica di San Pietro: Fortuna e immagine, ed. Giovanni Morello. Rome: Gangemi, 2012, pp. 137-151.
03-Feb-2013	“Sacred crossroads: landscape and aesthetics in contemporary Christian pilgrimage (Photo essay)” Articles with Veronica della Dora, Avril Maddrell, in The Changing World Religion Map, ed. Stanley D. Brunn, New York-Berlin: Springer, 2013
20-Nov-2012	‘Mapping the End: The Apocalypse in Medieval Cartography’ Journal articles Literature and Theology, 26/4 (December 2012), special issue: Apocalypse Now and Then: Prophecy and Imagination from the Anglo-Saxons to the Post-Moderns, pp. 400-416.
15-Oct-2012	‘La barba del santo e la forma del mondo nel chiostro di Imola’ Chapters in Barbara Donati, L’immagine del Santo: Iconografia francescana nel chiostro dell’Osservanza di Imola. Imola: Fondazione Cassa di Risparmio di Imola (BO): La Mandragora, 2012), pp. 11-27.
01-Oct-2012	‘L’Atlante della Memoria: sinfonia di immagini per un teatro di frammenti’ Articles in La Rivista di Engramma (online), 100 (September/October 2012).
30-May-2012	‘Le premier homme comme microcosme et préfiguration du Christ: la Mappemonde d’Ebstorf et le nom d’Adam’ Chapters in Micrologus. Adam. Le premier homme. ed. Agostino Paravicini Bagliani. Florence: Sismel, 2012, pp. 183-197.
20-Dec-2011	‘Filarete’s ideal city of Sforzinda: Architecture between Nature and Society’ Articles in Die Stadt- Achse und Zentrum der Welt – The City: Axis and Centre of the World, eds Matthias Riedl and Tilo Schabert, Eranos, Neue Folge, Band 16, Würzburg: Königshausen & Neumann, pp. 15-33.
01-May-2011	‘After Ptolemy: The Mapping of Eden’ Articles in Ptolemy’s Geography: The Renaissance, eds Zur Shalev and Charles Burnett, London-Turin: The Warburg Institute-Nino Aragno, pp. 187-206
21-Apr-2011	Alla scoperta del paradiso: Un Atlante del cielo sulla terra Monographs Palermo: Sellerio, 2011.
31-Mar-2011	‘La Vergine Protettrice' Chapters in Tommaso Castaldi, La Madonna della Misericordia. L'iconografia e la sua diffusione nell'arte di Bologna e della Romagna nel Tre e nel Quattrocento, Imola (BO), 2011 in Tommaso Castaldi, La Madonna della Misericordia. L’iconografia della Madonna della Misericordia e della Madonna delle Frecce nell’arte di Bologna e della Romagna nel Tre e Quattrocento. Imola (BO): La Mandragora, 2011, pp. 9-19.
01-Jan-2011	Finishing the Unfinished: Paradise in Fausto da Longiano's Vernacular Translation of Piccolomini's Cosmographia (1544)’ Articles in Mantova e il Rinascimento italiano: Studi in onore di David S. Chambers, eds Philippa Jackson and Guido Rebecchini. Mantua: Editoriale Sometti, pp. 259-270.
12-Jul-2010	Epilogue: A Heaven on Earth Epilogue of Paradise in Antiquity: Jewish and Christian views, eds Markus Bockmuehl and Guy G. Stroumsa. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
01-Jan-2010	L’abbraccio al mondo dell’urbe: Roma e la Chiesa di Roma in Enciclopedia della Cultura Italiana, eds Luigi Luca Cavalli Sforza, Alberto Piazza, Vittorio Bo, vol. X, L’arte e il visuale, ed. Marina Wallace. Turin: Utet, pp. 176-195.
01-Jan-2010	Il rosso purpureo di Roma: cardinali e mecenatismo in Enciclopedia della Cultura Italiana, eds Luigi Luca Cavalli Sforza, Alberto Piazza, Vittorio Bo, vol. X, L’arte e il visuale, ed. Marina Wallace. Turin: Utet, pp. 196-217
01-Jan-2010	-‘Teorie italiane sull’arte: la bellezza dei fiori e il Rinascimento’ Articles Enciclopedia della Cultura Italiana, eds Luigi Luca Cavalli Sforza, Alberto Piazza, Vittorio Bo, vol. X, L’arte e il visuale, ed. Marina Wallace, Turin: Utet, 2010, pp. 394-415.
01-Jan-2010	‘Atlantis’ Articles in The Classical Tradition, eds Anthony Grafton and Salvatore Settis, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, pp. 100-102
24-Jul-2009	Nel mondo dei sogni: Enea Silvio Piccolomini e l’uso letterario delle teorie oniriche tardo-medievali’ Articles in Pio II Piccolomini: Il papa del Rinascimento a Siena, ed. Fabrizio Nevola, Siena: Protagon and Comune di Siena, pp. 227-244.
01-Jan-2009	Warburg and Böcklin: Myths in Word and Image’ Articles in Towards a Science of Art History: J.J. Tikkanen and Art Historical Scholarship in Europe, [Taidehistoriallisia tutkimuksia (Studies in Art History), 38 (2009)], Helsinki: Taidehistorian Seura, pp. 137-147
01-Jan-2008	‘Where has utopia gone?’ Journal articles Obshaya Tetrad, The Journal of Moscow School of Political Studies, 3-4/46 (2008), pp. 137-147 (in Russian).
01-Jan-2008	Soggetti a carattere musicale nella cartografia europea tra Medioevo e Rinascimento’ Articles in Itineraria: Letteratura di viaggio e conoscenza del mondo dall’Antichità al Rinascimento, 6, Florence: Sismel, Edizioni del Galluzzo, pp. 121-144.
01-Jan-2008	The African paradise of Cardinal Carvajal : new light on the 'Kunstmann II Map,' 1502-1506 Articles Offprint from: Renaissance and Reformation = Renaissance et Réforme. 31.2
01-Jan-2007	Il paradiso in terra: Mappe del giardino dell’Eden Monographs Milan: Bruno Mondadori
01-Jan-2007	. ‘Pio II e la cartografia: Un papa e un mappamondo tra Medioevo e Rinascimento’ Articles in Enea Silvio Piccolomini: Poeta laureatus, Pontifex Maximus, eds Manlio Sodi and Arianna Antoniutti, Rome-Vatican City: Shakespeare and Company2; Libreria Editrice Vaticana, pp. 239-264.
01-Jan-2007	Onesto riso e dolce gioco: Dante, l’Eden e la cartografia medievale’ Journal articles in Letture Classensi: Dante e l’arte, ed. Claudia Giuliani (Ravenna: Longo, 2007), pp. 59-82, 129-136
01-Jan-2007	‘Europe and the Mediterranean: Medieval West Geography and World View’ Articles in The Oxford Companion to World Exploration, ed. David Buisseret, 2 vols, New York: Oxford University Press, I, pp. 271-273
01-Jan-2007	‘Medieval West Mapmaking’ Articles in The Oxford Companion to World Exploration, ed. David Buisseret, 2 vols, New York: Oxford University Press, I, pp. 273-274.
01-Jan-2007	‘L’enigma di un musico: Aby Warburg e l’iconografia musicale’ Journal articles Musica e Storia, 2007, XV/1, pp. 163-204.
01-Jan-2006	Mapping Paradise: A History of Heaven on Earth Monographs London: British Library; Chicago: University of Chicago Press
01-Jan-2006	'Defining Mappae Mundi’ Articles in The Hereford World Map: Medieval World Maps and their Context, ed. Paul D. A. Harvey, London: British Library, pp. 345-354.
01-Jan-2006	‘Un Senese in Paradiso: Il viaggio letterario di Enea Silvio Piccolomini nell’aldilà di Dante e Virgilio’ Articles in Conferenze su Pio II di Luca D’Ascia, Arnod Esch, Alessandro Scafi, Francesco Ricci nel sesto centenario della nascita di Enea Silvio Piccolomini (1405-2005), ed. Enzo Mecacci, Siena: Accademia degli Intronati, pp. 67-108.
01-Jan-2005	Sacred geography Articles [with Catherine Delano Smith], in Sacred Places on Maps, ed. Zsolt Török, Pannonhalma: Pannonhalmi F?apátság, pp. 33-54, 121-140.
01-Jan-2004	Enea Silvio Piccolomini, Dialogo su un sogno Edited Book Turin: Nino Aragno
10-Oct-2002	À la recherche du paradis perdu : les mappemondes du XIIIe siècle Chapters in Ruptures: De la discontinuité dans la vie artistique, ed. Jean Galard. Paris: Musée du Louvre—École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, 2002, pp. 17-57.

Publications available on SAS-space:

Date	Details
Dec-2011	Mapping the Religious Mind: India and the Medieval Geography of Religion NonPeerReviewed Religion and geography intersect and interact, particularly in the context of medieval cartography. India was represented on medieval world maps as a country of wisdom and a land of opulence but its depiction has to be seen within the wider context of the Christian vision of history.
	Finishing the Unfinished: Paradise in Fausto da Longiano's Vernacular Translation of Piccolomini's Cosmographia (1544) PeerReviewed
	Epilogue: a heaven on earth PeerReviewed
	The Image of Persia in Western Medieval Cartography PeerReviewed
	The African Paradise of Cardinal Carvajal: New Light on the “Kunstmann II Map,” 1502–1506. PeerReviewed

Research Projects & Supervisions

Research projects:

Details
Landscape Aesthetics, Meaning and Experience in Christian Pilgrimage with Dr Avril Maddrell, University of the West of England, Heather Walton, University of Glasgow, and Dr Veronica Della Dora, University of Bristol Arts and Humanities Research Council 2010-2011

Current PhD topics supervised:

Dates	Details
From: 01-Oct-2013 Until:	Pierfrancesco Riccio: The Rise of a Bureaucrat in the Service of the Medici Family (1524-44) Désirée Cappa, with Peter Mack.

Consultancy & Media

Media experience:

Yes

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