Thesis: Carità , Pietà , Vergogna: Picturing Poverty in Emilian Art, 1590-1660
Funded by The Courtauld Scholarship (2024 – 2025); AHRC/CHASE (2025 –Ìý)
Supervised by Prof. Guido RebecchiniÌý
Advised by (Universität Wien)Ìý
My research explores the position of the poor in early modern Europe by focussing on the religious and social reforms that took place in the northern Italian region of Emilia from the very end of the cinquecento to the mid-seicento. Marked by a transformation in devotional practices and by an effervescence of visual experimentation, artists of the region created a novel perception of poverty in response to new models for managing its growing presence among the population.
By re-assessing depictions of the poor in a wide range of visual sources, from prominent pictorial commissions to quick and informal drawings, my research shows that poverty was a pervasive and powerful presence at all levels of visual culture. I also investigate the extant collections of artworks and everyday objects formed by Catholic charities dedicated to alleviating the hardship of the poor.
Education
- PhD Student
91ÖÆƬ³§ (2024 – present)Ìý
- MA, History of Art (Distinction)
91ÖÆƬ³§ (2022 – 2023) — Dissertation: ‘Guercino’s Non-Preparatory Drawings: a questione sociale’
- Laurea Triennale, Conservazione e gestione dei beni e delle attività culturali (110/110 e lode)
Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia (2019 – 2021)Ìý
Teaching
Autumn 2025: Teaching Assistant, BA2 Physical Histories
Professional Experience
- Contributing Editor,ÌýTrois CrayonsÌý(2025 – present)
- Research Assistant and Translation EditorÌýfor , Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa (2024 – 2026)
- Prints and Drawings Room Assistant, The Courtauld Gallery, London (2024 – 2025)
- Junior Research Specialist (Old Masters), Colnaghi, London (2023 – 2024)
- Ayesha Bulchandani Graduate Curatorial Intern, The Frick Collection, New York (2023)
- Intern, Center for Italian Modern Art, New York (2021 – 2022)Ìý
Other Academic Activities
- Member of the Graphic Arts GroupÌý
Research Interests
- Seventeenth-century Bolognese paintingsÌý
- Sixteenth- and seventeenth-century Italian drawingsÌý
- Social art historyÌý
- The Council of Trent (1545-1563)Ìý
- Philology