Dr Kenneth Austin is especially interested in the religious cultures of late medieval and early modern Italy (Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism), and also the intellectual culture, including the influence of the Renaissance on the Reformation, and correspondence and friendship networks.

Dr Rhiannon Daniels is a lecturer in Early Modern Italian studies. Her main research focus is Boccaccio and his reception in Italy from the 1330s to 1600, with an emphasis on material culture and the history of reading.

Dr Peter Dent works on the visual culture of Italy from c.1250 through to c.1500. He has a particular interest in attitudes towards sculpture and in descriptions of sculptural works in late medieval and early Renaissance texts.

Dr Lucy Donkin has research interests in the perception and decoration of holy ground in the Middle Ages, with particular reference to Italy. Her work explores the design and function of ecclesiastical floor mosaics, the liturgical shaping of sacred space and the phenomenon of holy footprints.

George Ferzoco has published on aspects of textual and visual propaganda in medieval and renaissance Italy. He is primarily interested in the creation of saintly images, especially through sermons and canonization processes.

Dr Alex Hoare works on early modern Italian art, c. 1500-1700, with a particular interest in the subjects of artistic identity, artists' friendships and social networks, and the genres of self-portraiture and autobiography.

Dr Tristan Kay specializes in Italian literary culture of the Middle Ages, especially Dante and early lyric poetry. His specific interests include theories of love and desire, medieval poetics, and modern appropriations of Dante.

Professor Carolyn Muessig has published on the function and role of sermons and preaching in the Middle Ages, with particular emphasis on France and Italy. She is presently working on the understanding of the stigmata in the Middle Ages and recently coedited A Companion to Catherine of Siena (Brill, 2012) with Beverly Kienzle and George Ferzoco.

Dr Beth Williamson works on visual and material culture in Italy from c.1250 to c.1400. She is particularly interested in the forms and functions of religious objects, altar pieces and devotional images.

Current PhDs

Darrelyn Gunzburg’s research interests lie in the art historical and visual astronomical exploration of frescos and sculpture in medieval Italy, as well as in medieval Italian building alignments, Italian painting of the twelfth to fifteenth centuries, Italian medieval secular buildings, and Italian bells and bell-towers.

Tamzin Simmons is doing a PhD in the Italian department on truth-telling in Dante's 'Commedia', in which she investigates how truth-telling interacts with notions of prophecy, sight/vision, and memory across the poem.