Francesca DELL'ACQUA | Curriculum
Francesca DELL'ACQUA Curriculum
Francesca Dell’Acqua is Associate Professor in History of Medieval and Byzantine Arts at the Università di Salerno.
She is the Delegate to the Internationalisation at the Dipartimento di Scienze del Patrimonio Culturale (Sciences of Cultural Heritage).
She holds the Habilitation (ASN 2018–20) as Full Professor in History of Art.
In the most recent Italian ‘REF’ (VQR 2015–19) she has been selected as coordinator for the evaluation of the research outputs in the field of History of Medieval Art on the Board of Experts for Humanities, Italian Ministry of University and Research (GEV Area 10 Scienze dell’antichità, filologico-letterarie e storico-artistiche).
A PhD graduate of the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (2001), and fellow of prestigious research centres – including Dumbarton Oaks-Harvard University, the Bibliotheca Hertziana/Max-Planck Institut für Kunstgeschichte, the Kunsthistorisches Institut Florenz/Max-Planck-Institut, the American Academy in Rome – she studies the visual and material cultures, religious beliefs and practices of the late antique and medieval Mediterranean. Through a careful exegesis of words, images, ideas, and beliefs, she pursues an interdisciplinary, cultural–historical approach.
Her first monograph “Illuminando colorat. La vetrata tra la tarda Antichità e l’alto Medioevo attraverso le fonti e l’archeologia” (Spoleto, Centro Italiano di Studi per l’Altomedioevo, 2003), won the Hahn Prize of the Bibliotheca Hertziana/Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte.
Her latest monograph “Iconophilia: Politics, Religion, Preaching, and the Use of Images in Rome c.680–880”. Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies 27 (London and New York, 2020), the result of a research leave funded by a Marie S. Curie Fellowship of the European Commission (2015–17), won the Accademia dei Lincei “M. di Nola 2023” prize.
She is currently (2024) editing a volume in the Dumbarton Oaks Symposia and Colloquia Series–Harvard University: “Hypapante: Celebrating the Presentation of the Infant Christ in the Temple, East and West” on the feast of Candlemas between East and West, its theological understanding, celebration, and related mental imaging, visual depictions, and overall impact on the social and religious life of various communities.
A community project she has initiated and co-directs, “Crossroads of Empires: The Longobard Church of S. Ambrogio, Montecorvino Rovella, Italy”, a collaboration between the Università di Salerno, the University of Birmingham, and the Comune di Montecorvino, supported by the British Academy and the Gerda Henkel Stiftung, received a “Special mention–Category Research” at the European Heritage Awards–Europa Nostra (2020).
Her appointment to Chair of the “New Initiatives Working Group” (2023–26) of the ICMA–The Cloisters, NYC, aimed at devising initiatives to make art history and the humanities relevant today and facilitate inclusive practices in teaching/dissemination, enables her to stay alert to the cultural needs of evolving communities of students/scholars but also of the wider society.
Orcid: 0000-0001-5562-6033
email: dellacquaf@gmail.com; fdellacqua@unisa.it
web: https://docenti.unisa.it/005817/home; https://unisa.academia.edu/FrancescaDellAcqua;
Employment history
2020– Associate Professor, History of Medieval and Byzantine Art, Cultural Heritage Dept. (DISPAC), Università di Salerno.
2020–22 The only expert in Medieval Art, Board of Experts for Humanities, Italian REF 2015–19, Italian Ministry of University and Research (“unico componente per L-ART 01, GEV Area 10 Scienze dell’antichità, filologico-letterarie e storico-artistiche, VQR 2015–19”; equivalent to “REF” in the UK)
2017–18 On research leave from Cultural Heritage Dept. (DISPAC), Università di Salerno, Italy; affiliated scholar at School of History and Cultures, College of Arts and Law, University of Birmingham.
2015–17 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Research Fellow (n° 657240, ‘ICONOPHILIA’), Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, School of History and Cultures, College of Arts and Law, University of Birmingham.
2005–20 Assistant Professor in History of Medieval Art (L-ART 01), Cultural Heritage Dept., Università di Salerno, Italy (two maternity leaves: 11/6/07–12/12/07, and 8/3/09–5/10/09)
2003–05 Research Assistant to prof. Dr. G. Wolf, Director, Kunsthistorisches Institut/Max-Planck-Institut, Florence.
2002–03 Post-Doc Stipendiatin, Bibliotheca Hertziana/Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Rome.
2001–02 Professor of History of Italian Art, Rutgers-New Jersey State University in Florence.
1999–02 Museum Assistant, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence.
Education
2020 Italian national qualification as Full Professor in History of Art (ASN 2018–20), valid until Dec 2031.
2020 Italian national qualification as Associate Professor in History of Art (ASN 2018–20), valid until Jan 2029.
2014 Italian national qualification as Associate Professor in History of Art (ASN 2012), valid until Feb 2023.
2001 Ph.D. degree in History of Medieval Art, Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, supervisors: E. Castelnuovo, A. Peroni (Univ. Firenze), B. Brenk (Univ. Basel), 70/70 summa cum laude.
1996 BA+MA degree in Arts and Humanities, thesis in History of Medieval Art and Archaeology, Università di Firenze, supervisors: A. Peroni, G. Vannini, J. Mitchell (UEA, Norwich), 110/110 summa cum laude.
Language Proficiency: Italian: native; English, read, written, and fluently spoken; German: read and spoken; Turkish: basic; Latin and Ancient Greek: studied at High School; Medieval Latin: studied at University.
Publications
Monographs
2020 F. Dell’Acqua, Iconophilia: Politics, Religion, Preaching, and the Use of Images in Rome c.680–880. Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies 27, London and New York, Routledge, 416 pp.
2003 F. Dell’Acqua, ‘Illuminando colorat’. La vetrata tra la tarda Antichità e l’alto Medioevo attraverso le fonti e l’archeologia. Studi e Ricerche di Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte 4, Spoleto, Centro Italiano di Studi per l’Altomedioevo, 2003, 246 pp.
Edited Books
forthcoming M.B. Cunningham, F. Dell’Acqua, Fr. D. Olkinuora, Hypapante: Celebrating the Presentation of the Infant Christ in the Temple, East and West. Dumbarton Oaks Symposia and Colloquia, Washington DC, Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection (under contract).
2020 F. Dell’Acqua, E. S. Mainoldi (eds.), Pseudo-Dionysius and Christian Visual Culture, c.500–900. New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture 9, London, Palgrave Macmillan.
2016 F. Dell’Acqua, A. Cutler, H. L. Kessler, A. Shalem, G. Wolf (eds.), The Salerno Ivories. Objects, Histories, Contexts, Berlin, Dietrich Reimer Verlag GmbH | Gebr. Mann Verlag | Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 2016.
2016 F. Dell'Acqua, A. Cupolo, P. Pirrone (eds.), Gli avori medievali di Amalfi e Salerno. Vademecum, Opere e Territorio: Vademecum 1, Amalfi, Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana, 2016.
2011 F. Dell’Acqua (ed.), The ‘Amalfi’ and the ‘Salerno’ Ivories and the Arts in the Medieval Mediterranean. A Notebook from the Workshop Convened in Amalfi (December 10–13, 2009), Quaderni del Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana 5, Amalfi, Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana, 2011.
2001 F. Dell’Acqua, R. Silva (eds.), La vetrata in Occidente dal IV all’XI secolo. Atti delle giornate di studi, Lucca, Villa Bottini, 23–25 Settembre 1999, Il colore nel Medioevo. Arte Simbolo Tecnica. Collana di studi sul colore 3, Lucca, Istituto Storico Lucchese–Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa–Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi Italia, 2001.
Articles in peer-reviewed journals
2023 Invoking, Seeing, and Touching God during Byzantine Iconoclasm, in ‘Word&Image’, 39.1 (2023): 74–87.
2021 F. Dell’Acqua, M. Cerno, The Earliest Homilies on Mary’s Assumption: Ambrose Autpert and the Byzantine Tradition, in ‘Viator’, 51.2 (2021), 1–56.
2021 An Image of Authority. The Ivory Plaque with the Enthroned Virgin from Aachen, c. 800–810, in (In)sights Regarding Medieval Art. A Tribute to Herbert Kessler, special issue of ‘Codex Aqvilarensis. Revista de Arte Medieval’, 37 (2021), 179–96.
2021 Beyond Human Grasp. The Funeral of the Virgin on the ‘Wirksworth Stone’ (Derbyshire), in Objects Beyond the Senses. Studies in Honor of Herbert L. Kessler, special issue of ‘Convivium’, 8/1 (2021), 72–101.
2019 F. Dell’Acqua, C. Gantner, Resenting Iconoclasm. Its Early Reception in Italy through an Inscription from Corteolona, in ‘Medieval Worlds’, 9/1 (2019), 160–86.
2018 Iconophilia in Italy, c.680–880. A European project and its method, in ‘IKON’, 11 (2018), 31–46.
2018 F. Dell’Acqua, C.M. Lambert, V. Gheroldi, S. Marazzani, M. Torino, F. Perciante, La chiesa altomedievale di Sant’Ambrogio a Montecorvino Rovella (SA). Prima campagna di studi archeologici e storico-artistici, in ‘Hortus Artium Medievalium’ 24 (2018), 417–42.
2017 F. Dell’Acqua, I. Foletti, V. Gheroldi, B. Leal, S. Marazzani & J. Mitchell, Echoes of Milan in Ninth-Century Langobardia Minor? Preliminary Findings on the Painted Programme of Sant'Ambrogio alla Rienna, Montecorvino Rovella (Salerno), in ‘Convivium’, 4/2 (2017), 202–7.
2017 The Carbunculus (Red Garnet) and the Double Nature of Christ in the Early Medieval West, in ‘Konsthistorisk tidskrift / Journal of Art History’ 86/3 (2017), 158–72.
2015 Porta coeli: the Annunciation as Threshold of Salvation, in Many Romes. Studies in Honor of Hans Belting, special issue of ‘Convivium’, 2/1 (2015), 102–25.
2014 L’auctoritas dello pseudo-Dionigi e Sugerio di Saint-Denis, in ‘Studi Medievali’, 55/1 (2014), 189–213.
2012 Les cinq sens et la connaissance de Dieu. Marie-Madeleine et Thomas dans les Ivoires de Salerne, in ‘Cahiers de civilisation médiévale’, 55 (2012), 571–98.
2008 Between Nature and Art: ‘Transparent Streams of a New Liquid, in ‘RES-Anthropology and Aesthetics’, 53–54 (2008), 93–103.
2008 ‘Il grande foglio del mare’: gli avori di Salerno e il Mediterraneo medievale, in ‘Rassegna Storica Salernitana’, 50 (2008), 103–24.
2005 Enhancing Luxury Through Stained Glass, from Asia Minor to Italy, in ‘Dumbarton Oaks Papers’, 59 (2005), 193–211.
2005 Una epigrafe di Eboli del 1156 e alcune considerazioni sulla figura dell’architetto, in ‘Rassegna Storica Salernitana’, 43 (2005), 9–38.
2004 La figure de l'architecte: à propos d'une inscription salernitaine de 1156, in D. Sandron (ed.) Des sources à l’œuvre: études d’histoire de l’art médiéval, in ‘Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes: Revue d'Erudition’, 162/1 (2004), 35–50.
2003 Parvenus eclettici e il canone estetico della varietas. Riflessioni su alcuni dettagli di arredo architettonico nell’Italia meridionale normanna, in ‘Römisches Jahrbuch der Bibliotheca Hertziana’, 35 (2003–04), 49–80.
2002 Tra Arechi II e Giorgio d’Antiochia: il gusto dei principi e il vetro nell’architettura italiana meridionale (VIII-XII sec.), in ‘Rassegna Storica Salernitana’, 37 (2002), 9–35.
2002 Una vetrata ‘all’antica’ di età carolingia, in ‘Journal of Glass Studies’, 44 (2002), 196–9.
2001 U. Lobbedey, F. Dell’Acqua, K. H. Wedepohl, Coloured Glass Wall-Tiles from Corvey (North-West Germany): Carolingian or Romanesque? in ‘Journal of Glass Studies’, 43 (2001), 89–105.
1999 La riscoperta di frammenti di decorazione parietale a Castel Terracena, residenza dei principi normanni di Salerno, in ‘Rassegna Storica Salernitana’, 31 (1999), 7–30.
1997 Ninth-century Window Glass from the Monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno, (Molise, Italy), in ‘Journal of Glass Studies’, 39 (1997), 33–41.
1997 Nota sui reperti vitrei del monastero di San Vincenzo al Volturno e della Cappella Palatina di Arechi II a Salerno, in ‘Rassegna Storica Salernitana’, 27 (1997), 243–57.
1992 Santa Maria Maggiore a Lanciano e i cantieri cistercensi in Abruzzo, in ‘Rivista Cistercense’, 9/2 (1992), 147–87.
Book chapters
2024 The Virgin with the Book at Breedon-on-the-Hill (Leicestershire), in Early Medieval Sculpture in its International Context, Anglo-Saxon Studies series, J. Hawkes, S. Semple, eds., Woodbridge, Boydell & Brewer, forthcoming.
2022 Byzantium beyond Byzantium: What about Greek(s) in Eighth-Century Italy?, in Global Byzantium. Papers from the Fiftieth Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, Birmingham March 2017, Society for the Promotion of Byzantine Studies Publications, L. Brubaker, R. Darley, D.K. Reynolds (eds.), Abingdon-on-Thames and New York, Routledge, 2022, 39–58. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429291012
2021 Narratives of Fluency. Miracles of Mary and Mariology between Byzantium and the West, in
After the Text: Byzantine Enquiries in Honour of Margaret Mullett, eds. L. James, O. Nicholson, R. Scott, Birmingham Byzantine and Ottoman Studies 32, Abingdon-on-Thames and New York, Routledge, 2021, 72–84.
2020 Un nuovo paesaggio sacro? Milano e suoi santi in Langobardia Minor nel IX secolo, in Lo sguardo di Orione. Studi di storia dell’arte per Mario Alberto Pavone, A. Amendola, L. Lorizzo, D. Salvatore (eds.), Rome, De Luca, 27–32.
2020 Pseudo-Dionysius and the Dormition of the Virgin Platytéra (‘Wider Than the Heavens’), in F. Dell’Acqua, E. S. Mainoldi (eds.), Pseudo-Dionysius and Christian Visual Culture, c.500–900. New Approaches to Byzantine History and Culture 9, London and New York, Palgrave Macmillan, 239–82.
2019 Una pieve della Langobardia minor e il trionfo dell’Iconofilia? La Vergine come gnomon, in ‘Erat hoc sane mirabile in regno Langobardorum’…. Insediamenti montani e rurali nell’Italia longobarda, alla luce degli ultimi studi, C. M. Lambert, F. Pastore (eds.), Bari, Edipuglia, 411–22.
2019 The ‘Cintola’ (Girdle) of Pisa Cathedral and Mary as Ecclesia, in Le rideau, le voile et le dévoilement du Proche-Orient ancien à l’Occident mèdièval, é. Palazzo, L.-J. Bord, V. Debiais (eds.), Paris, Geuthner, 283–311.
2019 Mary as ‘scala caelestis’ in Eighth and Ninth Century Italy, in The Reception of the Mother of God in Byzantium: Marian Narratives in Texts and Images, M. B. Cunningham, T. Arentzen (eds.), Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2019, 235–56.
2019 Magnificat. L’impatto degli orientali sull’immagine di Maria Assunta al tempo dell’Iconoclasmo, in Le migrazioni nell'alto Medioevo, LXVI Settimana di Studio (Spoleto, 5–11 April 2018), Spoleto, Centro di Studi sull’Altomedioevo, 2019, 1025–57.
2019 Early History of Stained Glass, in Investigations in Medieval Stained Glass. Materials, Methods, and Expressions, Reading Medieval Sources 3, E. Carson Pastan, B. Kurmann-Schwarz (eds.), Leiden, Boston, Brill, 2019, 23–35.
2016 Trame mariane. Le cintole di Maria nella Toscana medievale – prodromi, in Il pane di segale. Diciannove esercizi di Storia dell’Arte presentati ad Adriano Peroni, S. Lomartire (ed.), Varzi, Edizioni Guardamagna, 2016, 67–84.
2016 ‘Nihil mihi Plato … contulit’. Ambrogio Autperto, il rifiuto di Platone e l’eco dell’Iconoclasmo bizantino, in Il secolo di Carlo Magno. Istituzioni, letterature e cultura del tempo carolingio, MediEVI 11, I. Pagani, F. Santi (eds.), Florence, SISMEL Edizioni del Galluzzo, 2016, 247–72.
2016 The Hidden Sides of the Salerno Ivories. Hypotheses about the Original Object, Program, and Cultural Milieu, in F. Dell’Acqua, A. Cutler, H. L. Kessler, A. Shalem, G. Wolf (eds.), The Salerno Ivories. Objects, Histories, Contexts, Berlin, Dietrich Reimer Verlag GmbH | Gebr. Mann Verlag | Deutscher Verlag für Kunstwissenschaft, 2016, 211–39.
2016 The Five Senses and the Knowledge of God. The ‘Magdalene and Thomas’ Plaque in the Salerno Ivories, in E. Palazzo (ed.), Les Cinq Sens au Moyen Âge, Paris, Les Editions du Cerf, 2016, 235–83.
2016 Plaster Transennae and the Shaping of Light in Byzantium, in S. Balcon-Berry, B. Boissavit-Camus, P. Chevalier (eds.), La mémoire des pierres. Mélanges d'archéologie, d'art et d'histoire en l'honneur de Christian Sapin, Bibliothèque de l'Antiquité Tardive-BAT 29, Turnhout, Brepols, 2016, 337–47.
2015 La vetratina con Cristo, in F. Marazzi, A. Luciano (eds.), Iuxta flumen Vulturnum. Gli scavi lungo il fronte fluviale di San Vincenzo al Volturno, Collana di Studi Vulturnensi 7, Cerro al Volturno, Volturnia, 2015, 135–44.
2014 Il mito dell’eroe classico, la ‘rinascenza’ macedone e la cassetta a rosette di Cava, in M. Galante, G. Vitolo, G. Zanichelli (eds.), Riforma della Chiesa, esperienze monastiche e poteri locali. La Badia di Cava e le sue dipendenze nel Mezzogiorno dei secoli XI-XII, Millennio Medievale 99, Florence, SISMEL, 2014, 339–53.
2013 Ambrogio Autperto e la Cripta di Epifanio nella storia dell’arte medievale, in F. Marazzi (ed.), La cripta dell'abate Epifanio a San Vincenzo al Volturno. Cento anni di studi e ricerche, Studi Vulturnensi 3, Cerro a Volturno, Volturnia Edizioni, 2013, 27–47.
2013 Il fuoco, le vetrate delle origini e la mistica medievale. In Il fuoco nell’alto medioevo. LX Settimana di Studio (Spoleto, 12-18 Aprile 2012), Spoleto, Centro di Studi sull’Altomedioevo, 2013, 557–97.
2013 Constantinople 1453: The Patriarch Gennadios, Mehmet the II and the Serpent Column in the Hippodrome, in M. De Giorgi, A. Hoffmann, N. Suthor (eds.), Synergies in Visual Culture / Bildkulturen im Dialog, Munich, Wilhelm Fink, 2013, 325–38.
2013 The Fall of the Idol on the Frame of the Genoa Mandylion: a Narrative on/of the Borders, in B. Crostini Lappin, S. La Porta (eds.), Negotiating Co-Existence: Communities, Culture and Convivencia in Byzantine Society, Bochumer Altertumswissenschaftliches Colloquium 96, Trier, WVT Wissenschaftlicher Verlag, Trier, 2013, 143–73.
2013 Borders of Experimentalism: Glass in the Frame of the Genoa Mandylion, in C. Entwistle, L. James (eds.), New Light on Old Glass: Recent Research on Byzantine Glass and Mosaics, British Museum Research Publication, London, British Museum Press, 2013, 234–41.
2013 L’acqua nella memoria sacra di Edessa attraverso la cornice del Mandylion di Genova, in R. Morosini, C. A. Lee (eds.), Sindbad mediterraneo. Per una topografia della memoria da Oriente a Occidente, Filigrane 24, Lecce, Pensa Multimedia Editore, 2013, 65–98.
2012 Il volto di Cristo e il dilemma dell'artista: un esempio di IX s., in M. M. Donato, M. Ferretti (eds.), ‘Conosco un ottimo storico dell’arte…’. Per Enrico Castelnuovo. Scritti di allievi e amici pisani, Pisa, Edizioni della Normale, 2012, 21–27.
2012 Glasfliesen, in S. Gai, K. H. Krüger, B. Thier (Hrsg.), Die Klosterkirche Corvey Band 1.1 Geschichte und Archäologie, Denkmalpflege und Forschung in Westfalen Band 43.1.1, Darmstadt, Philipp von Zabern, 2012, 415–35.
2012 Carlomagno, la conversione dei Sassoni e il Westwerk di Corvey, in R. Fiorillo, C. M. Lambert (eds.), Medioevo letto, scavato, rivalutato. Studi in onore di Paolo Peduto. Medioevo scavato VII – Schola Salernitana, Florence, All’Insegna del Giglio, 2012, 157–72.
2011 The ‘Salerno’ Ivories. A ‘Pocket’ Encyclopedia, in F. Dell’Acqua (ed.), The ‘Amalfi’ and the ‘Salerno’ Ivories and the Arts in the Medieval Mediterranean. A Notebook from the Workshop Convened in Amalfi (December 10-13, 2009) by Francesca Dell’Acqua, Herbert L. Kessler, Avinoam Shalem and Gerhard Wolf, Quaderni del Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana 5, Amalfi, Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana, 2011, 7–25.
2011 Craft Production in Early Western Monasticism: Rules, Spaces, Products, in H. Dey, E. Fentress (eds.), Western Monasticism Ante Litteram: The Spaces of Monastic Observance in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. Disciplina Monastica 7, Turnhout, Brepols, 2011, 297–322.
2010 The Christ from San Vincenzo al Volturno (9th c.): Another Instance of ‘Christ’s Dazzling Face’, in S. Trümpler (ed.), The Single Stained-Glass Panel. XXIV. International Colloquium of the Corpus Vitrearum (Zurich, 30th of June -4th of July 2008), Bern, Peter Lang AG, 2010, 11–22.
2009 Entre fantaisie et archéologie: la connaissance des vitraux médiévaux au cours des deux derniers siècles, in S. Balcon, F. Perrot, C. Sapin (eds.), Vitrail, verre et archéologie entre le ve et le xiie siècle, Archéologie et histoire de l’art 31, Paris, CTHS, 2010, 15–20.
2009 Arechi II: la promozione artistica come tratto ‘eroico’?, in G. D’Henry, C. M. Lambert (eds.), Il popolo dei Longobardi meridionali (570-1076). Testimonianze storiche e monumentali. Atti del convegno (Salerno 28 Giugno 2008), Salerno, Gruppo Archeologico Salernitano, 2009, 75–92.
2008 Il Medioevo in USA e ‘The Year 1200’ (New York, 1970), in E. Castelnuovo, A. Monciatti (eds.), Medioevo/Medioevi. Un secolo di mostre d’arte medievale, Seminari e convegni 13, Pisa, Edizioni della Normale, 2008, 331–63.
2008 ‘…nisi ipse Daedalus…nisi Beseleel secundus’. L’attività artistica presso il monastero di San Vincenzo al Volturno in età carolingia, in F. De Rubeis, F. Marazzi (eds.), I monasteri nell’alto medioevo. Topografia e strutture degli insediamenti monastici fra l’età carolingia e l’età della Riforma (secoli VIII-XII). Il caso di San Vincenzo al Volturno a confronto con le esperienze italiane ed europee, Rome, Viella, 2008, 289–308.
2006 F. Dell’Acqua, I. C. Freestone, Early Medieval Glass from Brescia, Cividale and Salerno, Italy: Composition and Affinities, in D. Ferrari (ed.), Il vetro nell’alto Medioevo. Atti dell’VIII Giornata di Studi del Comitato Nazionale Italiano dell’A.I.V.H.-C.I.S.A.M., Spoleto, 20-21 Aprile 2002, Imola, Editrice La Mandragora, 2006, 65–75.
2006 Glass and Natural Light in the Shaping of Sacred Space in the Latin West and in the Byzantine East, in A. M. Lidov (ed.), Hierotopy. The Creation of Sacred Spaces in Byzantium and Medieval Russia = Ierotopija: issledovanie sakral'nych prostranstv; materialy meždunarodnogo simpoziuma, Moscow, Indrik, 2006, 299–324.
2005 Les vitraux du monastère de San Vincenzo al Volturno (région du Molise, Italie centrale), in D. Foy (ed.), De transparentes spéculations. Vitre de l’Antiquité et du Moyen Age (Occident-Orient). Exposition temporaire en liason avec les 20èmes rencontres de l’AFAV sur le thème du verre plat (Musée/Site d’Archeologie, Bavay-Bagacum), Bavay, Conseil Général –Département du Nord, 2005, 81–82, 183–84.
2005 …Mundus habet noctem, detinet aula diem. Il vetro nelle architetture di Brescia, Cividale, Salerno, San Vincenzo al Volturno, Farfa. Riflessioni sui dati scientifici, in D. Ferrari (ed.), Il vetro nell’alto Medioevo. Atti dell’VIII Giornata di Studi del Comitato Nazionale Italiano dell’A.I.V.H.-C.I.S.A.M., Spoleto, 20-21 Aprile 2002, Imola, Editrice La Mandragora, 2005, 49–63.
2004 Glassmakers in the West between Antiquity and Middle Ages, and Lux et vitrum: The Evolution of Stained Glass from the Late Roman Empire to the Gothic Age, in M. Beretta (ed.), When Glass Matters. Sciences and Crafts facing Glass from Graeco-Roman Antiquity to Early Modern Era, Biblioteca di Nuncius: studi e testi 53, Florence, Olschki Editore, 2004, 135–50, 221–48.
2004 Le finestre invetriate nell’antichità romana, in M. Beretta (ed.), Vitrum. Il vetro fra arte e scienza nel mondo romano, (exh. cat., Florence, Museo degli Argenti-Palazzo Pitti, 27 March–31 Oct 2004), Florence, Giunti Editore, 2004, 109–119.
2004 Le quattro lamine di rivestimento in filigrana, and La legatura del Cod. Gr. I,53 della Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana. Confronti tecnico-stilistici con la cornice paleologa del Mandylion e altri oggetti affini, in G. Wolf, C. Dufour Bozzo, A.R. Calderoni Masetti (eds.), Mandylion. Intorno al Sacro Volto da Bisanzio a Genova (exh. cat. Genoa, Museo Diocesano, 2004), Milan, SKIRA, 2004, 157–160,175–89.
2004 The Stained-Glass Windows from the Chora and the Pantocrator: A ‘Byzantine’ Mystery?, in H. Klein (ed.), in collaboration with R. Ousterhout, Restoring Byzantium: The Kariye Camii in Istanbul and the Byzantine Institute Restoration (exh. cat., New York City, Miriam and Ira Wallach Art Gallery, 2004), New York, Columbia University, 2004, 68–77.
2004 Di fronte alle vetrate, in E. Castelnuovo, P. Fossati, G. Sergi (eds.), Arti e Storia nel Medioevo III, Del vedere: pubblici, forme e funzioni, Turin, Giulio Einaudi Editore, 2004, 369–403.
2004 San Vincenzo al Volturno: aggiornamento sulle ricerche, in E. De Sena, H. Dessales (eds.) Archaeological Methods and Approaches: Ancient Industry and Commerce in Italy (Roma, American Academy in Rome / École Française de Rome, 18 – 20 aprile 2002), British Archaeological Reports-IS 1262, Oxford, British Archaeological Press, 2004, 214–18.
2004 Ursus ‘magester’: uno scultore di età longobarda, e Gerlachus: l'arte della vetrata, in E. Castelnuovo (ed.), Artifex bonus. Il mondo dell'artista medievale, Grandi Opere, Rome, Laterza, 2004, 20–25, 56–63.
2003 Tra Arechi II e Giorgio d’Antiochia: il gusto dei principi e il vetro nell’architettura italiana meridionale (VIII-XII sec.), in F. Sogliani, C. Piccioli (eds.), Atti del II Convegno multidisciplinare sul vetro in Italia meridionale ed insulare, Settima Giornata Nazionale di Studio-Comitato italiano Comitato Association Internationale pour l’Historie du Verre, Napoli 5-7 Dicembre 2001, Naples, A.I.E.S. Beni Culturali-Crysos s.r.l.-Interservice s.a.s, 2003, 273–86.
2003 …Mundus habet noctem, detinet aula diem. Il vetro nelle architetture di Brescia, Cividale, Salerno, San Vincenzo al Volturno, Farfa. Riflessioni sui dati scientifici, in I Longobardi dei Ducati di Spoleto e Benevento. Atti del XVI Congresso internazionale di studi sull’alto medioevo, Spoleto, 20-23 Ottobre 2002, Benevento 24-27 ottobre 2002, Spoleto, Fondazione Centro Italiano di Studi sull’Alto Medioevo, 2003, II, 1351–76.
2001 La presenza/assenza dei vetrai nelle fonti scritte (secoli IV-XI), in F. Dell'Acqua, R. Silva (eds.), La vetrata in Occidente dal IV all’XI secolo. Atti delle giornate di studi, Lucca, Villa Bottini, 23–25 Settembre 1999. Il colore nel Medioevo. Arte Simbolo Tecnica, Collana di studi sul colore 3, Lucca, Istituto Storico Lucchese–Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa–Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi Italia, 2001, 195–211.
2001 F. Dell'Acqua, Deborah James, Chapter 6: The Window-Glass, in J. Mitchell, I.L. Hansen (eds.) San Vincenzo al Volturno 3. Studi e Ricerche di Archeologia e Storia dell’Arte 3. Collana diretta da L. Pani Ermini e A. Peroni, Spoleto, Centro Italiano di Studi per l'Altomedioevo, 2001, t. I, 171–201.
2001 Maestri vetrai, vetrate e illustri prelati tra Inghilterra sassone e dominio franco (secoli VII-IX), in Vetri di ogni tempo. Scoperte, produzione, commercio, iconografia. Atti della V giornata nazionale di studio sul vetro. A.I.H.V.-Comitato Italiano. Massa Martana (PG) 30 Ottobre 1999, Milan, B.T.Z. di Bernareggi & C., 2001, 79–85.
2001 Il rivestimento parietale in vetro della chiesa carolingia di Corvey sul Weser, in A. Paribeni (ed.), Atti del VII° Colloquio dell'Associazione Italiana per lo Studio e la Conservazione del Mosaico (A.I.S.C.O.M.), Pompei, 22-25 Marzo 2000, Rome, A.I.S.C.O.M., 2001, 417–26.
2000 Sulle attestazioni di artefici nella scultura altomedievale in Italia, in M. M. Donato (ed.), Le opere e i nomi. Prospettive sulla ‘firma’ medievale. In margine ai lavori per il Corpus delle opere firmate del Medioevo Italiano, Pisa, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa-Centro di Ricerche Informatiche per i Beni Culturali, 2000, 15–19.
1999 Glasherstellung im Kloster San Vincenzo al Volturno, in 799-Kunst und Kultur der Karolingerzeit. Karl der Grosse und Papst Leo III. in Paderborn, Austellung 23. Juli bis 1. November 1999, Paderborn, Mainz-am-Rhein, P. von Zabern, 1999, I, 174–76, 180–83.
1999 Shades of Desiderius. An early example of Italian stained-glass from the Romanesque abbey of San Vincenzo al Volturno (Molise, Italy), in L. Kalinowski, H. Małkiewicz, P. Karaszkiewicz (eds.), Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi. XIXth International Colloquium, Kraków 1998, 14-16 May, Stained glass as monumental painting, Proceedings, Kracow, Academy of Fine Arts, 1999, 81–95.
1998 La produzione del vetro da finestra nel IX sec. presso il monastero di San Vincenzo al Volturno (Molise), in Atti delle 2e giornate nazionali di studio. A.I.H.V.-Comitato Italiano. Milano 14-15 Dicembre 1996, Milan, Comune di Milano, Settore Cultura e Musei-Civiche Raccolte Archeologiche, 1998, 201–06.
Entries in encyclopedias and exhibition catalogues
2010 Glass, in The Classical Tradition, A. T. Grafton, G. W. Most, S. Settis (eds.), Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 2010, 399–400.
2008 Catalogue Entries: 14 (Capitello), 66 (Turibolo), 67 (Grifo), 68 (Olifante), in A. Calzona (a cura di), Matilde e il tesoro di Canossa tra castelli, monasteri e città (exhib. cat., Reggio Emilia, Palazzo Magnani 31 August 2008-11 January 2009), Milan, Silvana Editoriale, 2008, 420–421 and 492–495.
2007 Le origini delle vetrate; scheda Gherlacus; scheda Teofilo; Fonti-Theophilus [Presbyter], De diversis artibus, in E. Castelnuovo (ed.), Medioevo. Cattedrali di luce, Rome, Treccani, 2007, 19–30; 81; 87–88; 91–95.
2006 Vetrate, in F. Crivello (ed.), Arti e tecniche del Medioevo, Turin, Einaudi, 2006, 312–26.
2003 Le vetrate. In E. Castelnuovo, P. Fossati – G. Sergi (eds.), Arti e Storia nel Medioevo, 2° vol. Del costruire: tecniche, artisti, artigiani, committenti, Turin, Einaudi, 2003, 685–90.
1995 Entries on the Cistercian abbeys of Fossanova, Chiaravalle della Colomba, Tre Fontane, Chiaravalle di Fiastra, Casamari, Fontevivo, Falleri, San Giusto di Tuscania, Chiaravalle d'Ancona, San Martino al Cimino, Sambucina, in G. Viti (ed.), Architettura Cistercense, Edizioni Casamari-Certosa di Firenze, 1995.
Videos / Documentaries
2022 Narrator in video promoting the area of the Picentini Mountains (Salerno), including the early medieval church of Sant’Ambrogio alla Rienna, https://www.picitineraricomuni.it/montecorvino-rovella/
2021 Presentation video of the project CROCEVIA DI IMPERI. La chiesa longobarda di Sant’Ambrogio di Montecorvino Rovella, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KD3DLHFdanU
2016 Narrator in episode ‘San Vincenzo al Volturno’ of TV documentary series ‘Viaggio nella Bellezza’ on Italian cultural heritage, channel RAI STORIA (national, public broadcasting company)
Research funding – Major grants
2015–17 European Commission, Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship n° 657240 (‘ICONOPHILIA’) – Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2014-20) (c. E 198.000).
2013 Direktion Wolf, Kunsthistorisches Institut/Max-Planck-Institut Florenz, funded the publication and the photographic campaign of the book I co-edited: The Salerno Ivories: Objects, Histories, Contexts, eds. A. Cutler, F. Dell’Acqua, H. L. Kessler, A. Shalem, G. Wolf, Berlin, 2016 (c. E 40.000).
2012 Kunsthistorisches Institut/Max-Planck-Institut Florenz funded the symposium ‘The Tusk and the Book’, I co-convened at the Kunsthistorisches Institut/Max-Planck-Institut, Florence (c. E 20.000).
2011 Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies-Harvard University funded the workshop entitled ‘Ivory Analysis Combined: Art History and Natural Science’ I conceived and co-convened with Gudrun Buehl (c. $ 15.000). The Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana sponsored with travel grants two young Italian scholars to attend the workshop (E 2.000).
2009 Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana funded the workshop entitled ‘Gli avori ‘amalfitani/salernitani e l'arte nel Mediterraneo medievale’, I conceived. International speakers as well as 30 young scholars recipient of travel grants attended the workshop (c. E 30.000).
2002–03 Bibliotheca Hertziana/Max-Planck Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Rome, Post-Doc Stipendium (c. E 20.000).
1999 Istituto Storico Lucchese, sponsored the symposium I conceived and organised La vetrata in Occidente dal IV all’XI secolo, Lucca (ITL 20.000.000).
1996–99 Fully funded PhD scholarship, Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa (ITL 54.000.000).
Research funding – Other grants
2023 “Touch this! accessibilità e inclusività per il patrimonio culturale della Campania”, a post-doctoral research project, Cultural Heritage Dept. and ICT, Università di Salerno (E 12.000)
2022 Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies-Harvard University funded the workshop entitled “The Hypapante between East and West. Liturgical themes and iconography of the Gospel event and feast of the Presentation of Christ Child in the Temple” I co-organised with M.B. Cunningham and Fr. D. Olkinuora.
2021 ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art selected my proposal for two sessions on ‘The Virgin as Auctoritas. The Authority of the Virgin Mary and Female Moral–Doctrinal Authority in the Middle Ages’ at the British Association for Art History Annual Conference, University of Birmingham, April 2021.
2019 Gerda Henkel Stiftung, ‘Travel Grant’ for the project ‘At the Crossroads of Empires: the Longobard Church of Saint’Ambrogio at Montecorvino, Italy’ (E 13.318).
2016–18 British Academy/Leverhulme Trust, ‘Small Research Grants’ for the project ‘At the Crossroads of Empires: the Longobard Church of Saint’Ambrogio at Montecorvino, Italy’ (£ 9.936).
2016–18 Bibliotheca Hertziana/Max-Planck Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Rome, Secondment within the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship n° 657240 (‘ICONOPHILIA’) (E 4.000).
2015 ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art/Kress Foundation funded two sessions on Ps.-Dionysius and the arts I organised at the International Medieval Congress, Leeds, 2015 (c. $ 3.000).
2014 Ministero per i Beni e le Attività Culturali, awarded E 5.000 for the publication of the book of F. Dell'Acqua, A. Cupolo, P. Pirrone (eds.), Gli avori medievali di Amalfi e Salerno. Vademecum, Quaderni del Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana 8 - Opere e Territorio: Vademecum 1, Amalfi, Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana, 2015. I prepared the application with the Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana.
2014 SISMEL (Società Internazionale per lo Studio del Medioevo Latino, Florence) funded the workshop ‘The Knowledge of Ps.-Dionysius in the West until the Carolingian Translations’ I conceived and organised.
2013 Bibliotheca Hertziana/Max-Planck Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Rome, Summer stipend (E 3.200).
2013 Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies-Harvard University, One-month stipend ($ 3.000).
2010 J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board (FSB), Fulbright Research Scholarship ($ 6.000).
2010 ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art/Kress Research Awards, travel grant as speaker, International Congress on Medieval Studies a Kalamazoo (USA) ($ 1.000).
2002 Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies-Harvard University, Summer Fellowship ($ 1.200).
2001 École du Louvre of Paris and the Istituto Veneto di Scienze, Lettere ed Arti of Venice, travel grant to partecipate at the seminar ‘Venise et Byzance’ held by Hans Belting and others.
2000 Corning Museum of Glass (Corning, NY), Rakow Grant for Glass Studies ($ 5000).
1999–00 American Academy in Rome, Fulbright Grant for Post-Classical Studies ($ 9000).
1999 École Française de Rome, residential grant (ITL 800.000).
1998 Scuola Normale Superiore of Pisa, travel grants to study in Germany (ITL 1.400.000), and at the Warburg Institute and the Institute of Archaeology in London (ITL 700.000).
1994 Free-Mover Erasmus Grant, European Commission, in order to spend a semester at the University of East Anglia, Norwich.
Research Leadership
2023 “Touch this! accessibilità e inclusività per il patrimonio culturale della Campania”, a collaborative project: Cultural Heritage Dept. and ICT at the Università di Salerno and the Comune di Montecorvino Rovella.
2022 Convenor, with Fr Damaskinos Olkinuora and prof. Mary Cunningham, workshop “The Hypapante between East and West. Liturgical themes and iconography of the Gospel event and feast of the Presentation of Christ Child in the Temple”, at the Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies-Harvard University, 28 October 2022.
2021 Convenor, ICMA-Sponsored Sessions at the British Association for Art History Annual Conference, University of Birmingham, April 2021: ‘The Virgin as Auctoritas. The Authority of the Virgin Mary and Female Moral–Doctrinal Authority in the Middle Ages’; the eighth-paper session will lead to the constitution of a research group under my direction.
2016– Initiator, research project ‘At the Crossroads of Empires: the Longobard Church of Saint'Ambrogio at Montecorvino Rovella, Italy’, a collaborative project: Università di Salerno, University of Birmingham, Comune di Montecorvino Rovella.
2014–19 Initiator, research group on the knowledge of Ps.-Dionysius in the West until the Carolingian translations and on the influence of Ps.-Dionysius on the developments of the Christian visual culture. I convened it at the SISMEL (Società Internazionale per lo Studio del Medioevo Latino) in Florence (2014), and at the International Medieval Congress in Leeds (2015) sponsored by the ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art and the Kress Foundation.
2008–16 Initiator, research group on the Salerno ivories (eleventh-twelfth century) in the medieval Mediterranean, involving scholars in humanities as well as in applied sciences. Three conferences were held and hosted by the Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana, Amalfi (2009), the Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies-Harvard University (2011), the Kunsthistorisches Institut/Max-Planck-Institut Florenz (2012). The latter has been the major funding institution.
1999 Initiator and organiser, international symposium ‘La vetrata in Occidente secc. IV-XI’, ‘The stained-glass window in the Medieval West, fourth to the eleventh century’ supported by Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa, Istituto Storico Lucchese, Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi Italiae.
Collaborative work experiences
2017–21 Affiliated scholar, research project of prof. Claudia Rapp, ‘Moving Byzantium: Mobility, Microstructures and Personal Agency’, University of Vienna-Institut for Medieval Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna.
2010–11 Member, research project ‘The Material Life of Things’, Courtauld Institute, London.
2008–10 Member, project ‘The Leverhulme Network of the Composition of Byzantine Glass Mosaic Tesserae’, directed by L. James (University of Sussex).
2002–06 Team member, excavations of the Byzantine city of Amorium (Central Anatolia, Turkey), studies glass finds and window plaster frames.
1997–99 Team member, catalogue finds from the Carolingian abbey-church at Corvey on the Weser, Westfälisches Museum für Archäeologie, Münster.
1997–02 Member, project ‘Corpus inscriptionum medievalium ad artefices pertinentium’, based at the Scuola Normale Superiore.
1993–96 Team member, excavations of the early medieval monastery of San Vincenzo al Volturno, Central Italy, run by the British School, the University of East Anglia at Norwich, and the University of Sheffield.
Professional standing
Awards and honours
2024–27 Member, Board of Directors, ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art.
2023 Accademia dei Lincei, Rome, Premio Mario Di Nola for the monograph Iconophilia.
2021–24 Associate for Italy, Board of Directors, ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art.
2020 ‘Special mention–Category Research’ at the European Heritage Awards–Europa Nostra, European Commission with the project ‘Crossroads of Empires’.
2017–21 Affiliated scholar, project Moving Byzantium: Mobility, Microstructures and Personal Agency, University of Vienna-Institute for Medieval Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna.
2017–19 Affiliated scholar, Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman and Modern Greek Studies, School of History and Cultures, College of Arts and Law, Arts Building, University of Birmingham.
2016–22 Honorary Research Fellow, School of History, University of East Anglia.
2014–17 Associate for Italy, Board of Directors, ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art, NYC.
2006– Associated Scholar, Kunsthistorisches Institut/Max-Planck-Institut Florenz.
2006 Bibliotheca Hertziana/Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte of Rome, Hanno and Ilse Hahn Prize for the ‘outstanding contribution to Art History’ – first woman and youngest scholar (E 2.500).
Lectures as invited speaker
2024 London, Warburg Institute, ‘Work in progress seminar series’
2023 Florence, Kunsthistorisches Institut/Max-Planck-Institut Florenz, evening lecture.
2023 Ravenna, ‘Ravenna in Comparative Perspective’, conference organised by Judith Herrin and Maria Cristina Carile.
2023 Oxford University, Material Religion in Byzantium and Beyond, The 54th SPBS Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies.
2022 Durham University, key-speaker at ‘Worked in Stone–Early Medieval Sculpture in its International Context’, final conference of the Corpus of Anglo-Saxon Sculpture
2022 Universität Tübingen, opening speaker, with Clemens Gantner, at the conference ‘The Road to Rome: Aspects of Religious Conflict and Mobility in the Greater Mediterranean, 700-900’
2022 Oxford University, Ioannou Centre (online), key-speaker at the international conference ‘The Virgin beyond borders’
2021 Aguilar de Campoo (Castile, Spain), International conference ‘Ars Mediaevalis in honour of Herbert L. Kessler’
2020 University of Vienna, Forum Moving Byzantium XX, Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies
2019 Round table discussion ‘Medieval Art Today?’ with Hans Belting, Michele Bacci, Tanja Michalski, Serena Romano, Hans Belting Library, Masaryk University, Brno.
2019 Lecture, Cesma Seminar Series, Centre for the Study of the Middle Ages, University of Birmingham.
2019 International Medieval Congress, Leeds, invited at sessions ‘Rome in the Early Middle Ages’.
2019 Conference Iconographiae, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venice.
2019 Forum Moving Byzantium XVIII, Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, University of Vienna
2018 Public lecture, Hans Belting Library, Masaryk University, Brno.
2018 Medieval History Seminars, Norwich, University of East Anglia.
Sezione 2.01 2018 Conference series Histoires chrétiennes en images, INHA, Paris
2018 International conference ‘Le migrazioni nell’Alto Medioevo’, LXVI Settimana di Studio, Spoleto, Centro di Studi sull’Altomedioevo.
2018 Public lecture, Hans Belting Library, Masaryk University, Brno.
2018 Seminar, Institut für Mittelalterforschung, Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.
2018 Monday Seminars, Department of Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies, University of Vienna
2018 Wednesday Seminars, School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester
2018 Evening public lecture, Bibliotheca Hertziana/Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Rome.
2017 Evening public lecture, Bibliotheca Hertziana/Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Rome.
2017 Conference ‘Iconoclasm and Iconophilia’, Rjieka, Croatia.
2017 Chair, conference ‘The Normans in the South’, Oxford.
2017 Plenary lecture, Conference ‘The Miracles of the Virgin Mary: Medieval Narratives through Time and Space’, National University of Ireland, Maynooth, opening speaker.
2017 50th Annual UK Spring Symposium of Byzantine Studies, University of Birmingham.
2017 Centre for the Study of the Middle Ages Seminars, University of Birmingham.
2017 Centre for Byzantine, Ottoman, Modern Greek Studies Seminars, University of Birmingham.
2016 World Art Research Seminars, Norwich, University of East Anglia.
2016 Oxford Talks, The Cult of Saints in the First Millennium Seminars, Oxford, Oxford University.
2016 International conference ‘Voilé-Dévoilé, le rideau dans la culture chrétienne de l'Antiquité & du Moyen âge’, Univ. de Poiters – Abbey of Ligugé.
2016 Oxford Talks, Late Antique and Byzantine Archaeology and Art Seminar, Oxford, Oxford University.
2016 Medieval Work-in-Progress Seminars, London, Courtauld Institute.
2015 Annual Art History Research Seminar, Oslo University.
2015 Oxford Patristic Conference, Oxford University.
2014 Conference ‘Insediamenti montani e rurali nell'Italia longobarda, alla luce degli ultimi studi’, Monte Sant’Angelo sul Gargano.
2013 Evening public lecture, Bibliotheca Hertziana/Max-Planck-Institut für Kunstgeschichte, Rome.
2013 Bede’s World, Jarrow.
2013 International conference ‘Les cinq sens au Moyen Age (II)’, Université de Poitiers.
2013 Seminar LABOR, Florence, Kunsthistorisches Institut/Max-Planck-Institut Florenz.
2013 Shoptalk, Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies-Harvard University.
2012 International conference ‘Il fuoco nell’alto medioevo – LX Settimana di Studio’, Spoleto, Centro di Studi sull’Altomedioevo.
2011 Symposium ‘Riforma della Chiesa, esperienze monastiche e poteri locali. La Badia di Cava e le sue dipendenze nel Mezzogiorno dei secoli XI-XII’, Cava de’ Tirreni, Badia della SS. Trinità.
2011 22nd International Congress of Byzantine Studies, Sofia.
2011 International workshop ‘Ivory Analysis combined: Art History and Natural Science’, Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies-Harvard University.
2010 Conference ‘Hands on: Seven perspectives on the material transformation of art’, London, Courtauld Institute of Art.
2010 International conference ‘Convivencia in Byzantium? Cultural Exchanges in a Multi-Ethnic and Multi-Lingual Society’, Dublin, Trinity College, sponsor European Science Foundation.
2010 International conference ‘New Light on Old Glass: Byzantine Glass and Mosaics’, London, British Museum.
2010 45th International Congress on Medieval Studies a Kalamazoo (USA).
2008 Network meeting ‘Byzantine mosaic tesserae’, Ravenna, sponsored by the Leverhulme Trust.
2008 International conference ‘Topografia della memoria: in viaggio con Sindibad tra spazio e tempo nel Mediterraneo’, Venice, Casa Artom, Wake Forest University.
2008 24th International Congress of the Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi, Zurich.
2007 Lectures’ series, Verein für Spätantike Archäologie und Byzantinische Kunstgeschichte, Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich.
2007 International symposium ‘Spaces of Early Western Monasticism’, American Academy in Rome.
2006 21st International Congress of Byzantine Studies, London.
2006 ‘Le verre dans l’architecture du Haut Moyen âge au XIIe en France’, Centre d’études médiévales, Auxerre.
2004 International conference ‘Topografia e strutture degli insediamenti monastici dall’età carolingia all’età della riforma (VIII secolo-fine dell’XI secolo)’, Museo Archeologico, Castel San Vincenzo (Isernia).
2004 International conference ‘Hierotopy, the making of sacred space’, Moscow, Tretjakov Gallery.
2002 International conference ‘Art and Form in Norman Sicily’, Rome, Bibliotheca Hertziana and British School at Rome.
2002 International workshop ‘Glass in the Byzantine World’, Dumbarton Oaks Center for Byzantine Studies-Harvard University.
2002 Annual conference, Italian committee, Association Internationale pour l'Histoire du Verre, Spoleto.
2002 International conference ‘Methodes et Approches archeologiques: L’industrie et le commerce dans l’Italie antique’, American Academy in Rome and École française de Rome.
2001 Annual conference, Italian committee, Association Internationale pour l'Histoire du Verre, Naples.
2000 Annual conference, Associazione Italiana per lo Studio e la Conservazione del Mosaico, Pompei.
1999 International conference ‘L’artista Medievale’, Modena.
1999 Annual conference, Italian committee of the Association Internationale pour l'Histoire du Verre, Massa Martana (Perugia).
1998 19th International Congress, Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi, Kracow, Poland.
1996 Annual conference, Italian committee, Association Internationale pour l'Histoire du Verre, Milan.
1995 18th International Congress, Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi, Siena.
Editorial boards/Peer-reviewing/Editing
2023 Member, selecting committee, proposals for scheme Scientific Projects of National Importance (PRIN 2022), Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR).
2023– Member, Advisory Board, Codex Aquilarensis, international peer-reviewed journal, indexed on Scopus and WOS, Fascia A–ANVUR (MUR).
2022 Evaluator, Call FARE 2020 (Framework per l’Attrazione e il Rafforzamento delle Eccellenze per la ricerca in Italia), to attract ERC grantees to Italy, Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR).
2021– Member, scientific board, “Corpus della pittura monumentale bizantina in Italia” within the “Corpus of Byzantine Monumental Paintings” under the patronage of UNESCO.
2021 Member, selecting committee, proposals for scheme Scientific Projects of National Importance (PRIN 2020), Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR).
2020–22 The only expert for Medieval Art (L-ART 01), Board of Experts for Humanities, Italian REF 2015–19, Italian Ministry of University and Research (“unico componente per L-ART 01, GEV Area 10 Scienze dell'antichità, filologico-letterarie e storico-artistiche, VQR 2015–19”).
2019– Member, editorial board, series Archaeology of the Mediterranean World, Brepols.
2017– Evaluator, REPRISE, evaluation of research projects funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research or by individual universities.
2017–18 External consultant, ERC Consolidator Grant, Masaryk University, Brno.
2016 Peer-reviewer, evaluation of the Academic Research Quality (VQR 2011–14; equivalent to REF), Italian Ministry of University and Research.
2016 Member, selecting committee, proposals for scheme Scientific Projects of National Importance (PRIN), Italian Ministry of University and Research (MUR).
2016 Member, selecting committee, panel Culture and Cultural Production (SH5), ERC Starting Grants 2016.
2015 Member, selecting committee, ‘PISCOPIA GRANTS’, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND Programme, University of Padua.
2015–founder and editor of the book series Opere e Territorio: Vademecum, published in hard and digital copy by the Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana, Amalfi; members of the scientific committee: Beat Brenk, Jill Caskey, Ivan Foletti, Tanja Michalsky, Nino Zchomelidse.
2014– Peer-reviewer, Dumbarton Oaks Papers.
2014– Peer-reviewer, Gesta.
2014– Peer-reviewer, Convivium-Seminarium Kondakovianum Series Nova.
2012–13 Peer-reviewer, evaluation of the academic research quality (VQR 2004–10; equivalent to REF), Italian Ministry of University and Research.
Societal and Economic Impact
2018 With the support of the project “At the Crossroads of Empires”, the municipality of Montecorvino Rovella is awarded c. E 70.000 by the Regione Campania (decree no. 277, 10/10/2018, POC 2014-2020) to finance “Longobard Experience Reloaded”, a programme of public engagement with research events.
2017 With the endorsement of the project “At the Crossroads of Empires”, the municipality of Montecorvino Rovella is included in the cultural route “Longobard Ways across Europe”.
2017 The project “At the Crossroads of Empires” endorses the application of the cultural route “Longobard Ways across Europe” to be accredited among the “Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme.
Teaching
Supervision of graduate students
2023 Supervisor, post-doc researcher Dr Flavia Vanni, project: “Touch this! accessibilità e inclusività per il patrimonio culturale della Campania”, Cultural Heritage Dept. and ICT, Università di Salerno.
2022–2023 Doctoral dissertation reader and co-tutor, PhD student Jeffrey Berland, University of Notre Dame Indiana and École Pratique des Hautes Études–Université Paris Sciences & Lettres.
2021–2024 Doctoral dissertation reader and co-tutor, PhD student Maria Constantina Terss, Stanford University.
2021–22 Supervisor, PhD student Nieve Anne Cassidy, Università di Salerno.
2019–21 Supervisor, PhD student Marina D’Anzilio, Università di Salerno.
2016–21 Co-supervisor, PhD student Veronika Pichaničová, Masaryk University, Brno.
2015–17 Mentor, PhD, MA, and BA students, School of History, University of Birmingham, informally and at events organised by the dept. of History.
2015–16 Mentor, Flavia Vanni for her MRes thesis in Byzantine Studies, University of Birmingham.
2013–15 Mentor, PhD student Annalisa Vitolo, as member of the board of professors, PhD in Archaeology and Art History, Università di Salerno (in Italy Assistant professors cannot usually be PhD tutors).
2007–12 Mentor, PhD students Ernesto Sergio Mainoldi, Angelo Tavolaro, Diego Ianiro, as member of the board of professors, PhD in History of Philosophy, Università di Salerno.
2008– Supervisor, 30+ MA theses in Art History, Università di Salerno.
2005–07 Supervisor, 10 theses of graduate students in Archaeology, Scuola di Specializzazione in Archeologia Classica, Medievale e Orientale, Università di Salerno.
2004–05 Co-supervisor, 3 MA theses in Archaeology, the Università Suor Orsola Benincasa, Naples.
2004– Supervisor, 60+ BA theses in Medieval Art History.
Courses and lectures
2023–24 Università di Salerno, modules taught: Introductory course to the study of Cultural Heritage and Medieval Art, BA in Cultural Heritage, BA in Cultural Heritage; Medieval and Byzantine Art (in English), BA in Cultural Heritage; Medieval Art History, MA in Art History; Research funding workshop, and History of Art in Europe and the Mediterranean between the medieval and early modern period, PhD school in Methods of Archaeological and Art-Historical Research.
2022–23 Università di Salerno, modules taught: Introductory course to the study of Cultural Heritage, BA in Cultural Heritage; Medieval Art History, and Byzantium: Material and Visual Culture (in English), MA in Art History; History of the Book Illustration, MA in Art History / MA in Archival Studies; Research funding workshop, PhD school in Methods of Archaeological and Art-Historical Research.
2021–22 Università di Salerno, modules taught: Introductory course to the study of Cultural Heritage, BA in Cultural Heritage; Medieval Art History and Byzantium: Material and Visual Culture (in English), MA in Art History; History of the Book Illustration, MA in Art History / MA in Archival Studies; History of Art in Europe and the Mediterranean between the medieval and early modern period and Research funding workshop, PhD school in Methods of Archaeological and Art-Historical Research.
2020–21 Seminar for MA and PhD students, Stanford University, Art History Department within the course ‘Theories of the Image: Byzantium, Islam and the Latin West’ led by prof. Bissera Pentcheva.
2020–21 Università di Salerno, modules taught (online, on Teams): Introduction to Cultural heritage, BA in Cultural Heritage Studies; Medieval Art History, MA in Art History; History of Manuscript Illumination, MA in Art History / MA in Archival Studies; Laboratory (Digital Humanities, critical reading, strategies for essay writing), MA in Art History; lectures and seminars on methodological questions in historical research for PhD students in Methods of Archaeological and Art-Historical Research.
2019–20 Università di Salerno, modules taught: Medieval Art History, MA in Art History (online on Teams); History of the Book Illustration, MA in Art History / MA in Archival Studies; Laboratory (Digital Humanities, critical reading, strategies for essay writing (online on Teams), MA in Art History; Medieval Material Culture, School of Post-Graduate Studies in Classical, Oriental, and Medieval Archaeology; lectures for PhD students in Methods of Archaeological and Art-Historical Research.
2018–19 Università di Salerno, modules taught: Medieval Art History, BA in Philosophy; Art Historical Practice and Cultural Heritage, BA in Cultural Heritage; Medieval Material Culture, School of Post-Graduate Studies in Classical, Oriental, and Medieval Archaeology; Masaryk University, Brno, ‘block module’ entitled ‘An index of the Norman 'melting pot'? The Salerno Ivories in context’.
2017–18 on research leave.
2016–17 University of Birmingham, School of History and Cultures: team-taught seminars, MA/MRes in Medieval Studies.
2015–16 University of Birmingham, School of History and Cultures: Y1 team-taught module Byzantium and the Transformation of the Roman World c. 330–c. 850, BA in History.
2012–13 Paris IV-Sorbonne, lectures on the Carolingian Westwerk of Corvey on the Weser (Germany), and on the myth of Alexander the Great in the Macedonian Renaissance.
2012–14 Università di Salerno, modules taught: History of Medieval Art, BA in Cultural Heritage; lectures for PhD students in History of Philosophy.
2011–12 Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Faculty of Architecture, lectures on the Serpent Column in the Hippodrome of Constantinople and on the myth of Alexander the Great in tenth c. Byzantium.
2010–11 Paris IV-Sorbonne, lectures on early western monastic workshops, and on Byzantine iconoclasm.
2009–12 Università di Salerno, modules taught: History of artistic techniques and Internet databases for Art History, MA in Art History; lectures for PhD students in History of Philosophy.
2007–08 Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Faculty of Architecture, lectures on Byzantine architecture.
2006–08 Università di Salerno, School of Post-Graduate Studies (Scuola di Specializzazione) in Classical, Oriental, and Medieval Archaeology, module in history of medieval architecture.
2006–07 Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Faculty of Architecture, lectures on the architecture of Norman Sicily.
2006–07 Università di Salerno and Università di Genova, MA Degree in Knowledge and Promotion of Local Cultural Heritage.
2004–07 Istituto Centrale di Restauro, Rome, module on early stained-glass (archaeological evidence, architectural setting, technical features, textual references).
2004–06 Università della Svizzera Italiana, Mendrisio, Faculty of Architecture, lectures on architectural history.
2004–15 Università di Salerno, modules taught: History of Medieval Art, BA in Cultural Heritage; MA in History of Art; PhD in Philosophy and PhD in Methods of Archaeological and Art-Historical Research.
2002–03 Università Suor Orsola Benincasa, Naples, Conservation of Cultural Heritage Dept., MA module on architectural decoration in late Antiquity and the Middle Ages; Università di Roma 2, Faculty of Civil Engineering, lectures on paleochristian and early medieval architecture.
2000–02 Rutgers-New Jersey State University in Florence, module taught: History of Italian Art.
1997–98 Università di Firenze, Facoltà di Lettere, lectures on early monastic rules and work.
Academic service
University of Birmingham
2016–17 internal examiner, MRes degree in Byzantine Studies.
2015–17 faculty member, CAHA (Classics, Ancient History and Archaeology), School of History and Cultures, College of Arts and Law.
Università di Salerno
2022–24 Delegate to Internationalisation, Cultural Heritage Dept.
2021– Academic Tutor for internship c/o “Diateca Brenk”, the slide collection donated by prof. Beat Brenk (Basel)
2013–15 Delegate to Internationalisation, Cultural Heritage Dept.
2012–15 Member of the Faculty Committee for Quality (AVA-SUA), Cultural Heritage Dept.
2012– Member, board of professors, PhD in Methods of Archaeological and Art-Historical Research.
2004–05, 2007–12 Member, board of professors, PhD in History of late-antique, medieval, and humanistic philosophy.
2004– Faculty member, Cultural Heritage Dept., with teaching, research, and administrative duties.
Other Administrative Activities
2024–27 Member, Board of Directors, ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art.
2023–26 Chair, by invitation, ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art, ‘New Initiatives Working Group’.
2021–24 Member, by invitation, ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art, Programs & Lectures Committee.
2021–24 Associate for Italy, Board of Directors, ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art.
2020–26 Member, by invitation, ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art, ‘New Initiatives Working Group’.
2019– Member, by invitation, Advisory Board, Centre for Early Medieval Studies, Masaryk University, Brno.
2015–23 Member, advisory board of the Museo Diocesano di Salerno.
2014–17 Associate for Italy, Board of Directors, ICMA–International Center of Medieval Art, NYC.
2008– Member, scientific committee, Centro di Cultura e Storia Amalfitana, Amalfi.
2005–07 Member, board of professors, PhD in Medieval Archaeology, Università de l’Aquila.
Public engagement activities
2023 “Oltre la norma,” inclusivity and accessibility to cultural heritage for visually impaired or blind people, hands-on experience for general public and presentation of three-D modelling, Montecorvino Rovella, Dec. 2023.
2022 public engagement with research: Montecorvino Rovella, Conservatorio di Santa Sofia, public event: ‘Analisi archeometriche: la scienza affianca l’archeologia’, with F. Dell’Acqua, C.M. Lambert, C. Lubritto, F. Alberghina, F., V. Gheroldi, May 2022.
2020 public engagement with research: “Conversazioni intorno al Sant’Ambrogio di Montecorvino Rovella”, online events, Dec. 2020.
2020 public engagement with research: lecture on the Milanese saints in the paitings of Sant’Ambrogio di Montecorvino Rovella at the celebrations “S. Cipriano e il suo popolo: Cipriano e Ambrogio, due santi a confronto”, Parrocchia di S. Cipriano e Eustachio, S. Cipriano Picentino (SA).
2019 public update on the project ‘At the Crossroads of Empires: the Longobard Church of Sant’Ambrogio at Montecorvino, Italy’, Montecorvino Rovella, Conservatorio di Santa Sofia, within the event “Longobard Experience Reloaded”, funded by the Regione Campania.
2019 open Day on the site of Saint'Ambrogio at Montecorvino Rovella within the “Giornata Nazionale del Paesaggio”, in a joint programme with the Museo Archeologico di Pontecagnano.
2019 public engagement with research: lecture on Sant’Ambrogio di Montecorvino Rovella at the ANISA (Associazione Nazionale Insegnanti di Storia dell’Arte) meeting in held in the church of Santa Maria de Lama, Salerno.
2018 public presentation of the project ‘At the Crossroads of Empires: the Longobard Church of Sant’Ambrogio at Montecorvino, Italy’, Montecorvino Rovella, Chiostro di S. Maria della Pace.
2018 Open Day on the site of Saint'Ambrogio at Montecorvino Rovella to present the project ‘At the crossroads of empires’.
2017 public presentation of the project ‘At the Crossroads of Empires: the Longobard Church of Sant’Ambrogio at Montecorvino, Italy’, Montecorvino Rovella.
2017 organises and leads a field trip to the History of Birmingham Gallery, Birmingham Museum, for Y6 children of Mere Green Primary School, Sutton Coldfield (West Midlands), to raise awareness about local history of crafts, innovation, and early industry.
2017 organises and leads a field trip to the Faith in Birmingham Gallery, Birmingham Museum, for Y3 children of Mere Green Primary School, Sutton Coldfield (West Midlands), to raise awareness about religious diversity and stimulate reflection on values such as respect, friendship, kindness, loyalty.
2017 champions the study of and careers in the humanities on the official day of ‘Women in Science’, 11 Feb: https://womeninscience2017.wordpress.com/2017/02/12/francesca-dellacqua/
2016 champions the study of and careers in the humanities during the Careers and Aspiration Afternoon for Y5 and Y6 children, Mere Green Primary School, Sutton Coldfield (West Midlands).
2015 for the Gruppo culturale Ebolus dulce solum, Eboli (Salerno), delivers a public lecture on the social status and culture of medieval architects analysing a local inscription of the Norman period.
2012 for the Gruppo Archeologico Salernitano, Salerno, a public lecture on the Salerno ivories and the sensorial appreciation of the divine in the Middle Ages.
2011 for the ArcheoClub Montecorvino Rovella delivers a public lecture on early medieval cult of Mary within the annual Longobard festival held at the local early medieval church of Sant’Ambrogio.
2011 for the Associazione Amici Altopiani Maggiori d’Abruzzo, Pescocostanzo (Aquila), delivers a public lecture on the Assumption of Mary.
2010 for the Associazione Amici Altopiani Maggiori d’Abruzzo, Pescocostanzo (Aquila), delivers a public lecture on the Holy Face of Christ between Edessa, Constantinople, Paris, Rome, Manoppello.
2009 for the ArcheoClub Montecorvino Rovella delivers a public lecture on the early medieval cult of saints within the annual Longobard festival held at the local early medieval church of Sant’Ambrogio.
2007–08 conceives and organises the third cycle of free public lectures ‘Medioevo mediterraneo, Medioevo europeo’, in charge of the Dipartimento di Latinità e Medioevo, Università di Salerno, in collaboration with the Gruppo Archeologico Salernitano. Attended by general public and university students. Speakers: Adriano Peroni (Università di Firenze), Fabio Barry (University of St. Andrews), Sible De Blaauw (Radboud University Nijmegen), Aygül Agir (Istanbul Technical University).
2006–07 conceives and organises the second cycle of free public lectures ‘Medioevo mediterraneo, Medioevo europeo’, in charge of the Dipartimento di Latinità e Medioevo, Università di Salerno, in collaboration with the Gruppo Archeologico Salernitano, Salerno. Attended by general public and university students. Speakers: Beat Brenk (Universität Basel/Università ‘La Sapienza’ Roma), Giovanni Vitolo (Università di Napoli ‘Federico II’), Avinoam Shalem (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität, Munich), Massimo Bernabò (Università di Pavia), Mariella Pasca (Soprintendenza ai BAAAS Salerno).
2005–06 conceives and organises the first cycle of free public lectures ‘Medioevo mediterraneo, Medioevo europeo’, in charge of the Dipartimento di Latinità e Medioevo, Università di Salerno, in collaboration with the Gruppo Archeologico Salernitano, Salerno. Attended by general public and university students. Speakers: Gerhard Wolf (Kunsthistorisches Institut/Max-Planck-Institut Florenze), Maria Giulia Aurigemma (Università di Parma), Rebecca Mueller (Goethe Universität, Frankfurt), Chiara Piccinini (Université Bordeaux Montaigne), Fabrizio Crivello (Università di Torino), Eve Borsook (Villa I Tatti-Harvard University, Florence).
2002 for the Gruppo Archeologico Salernitano, Salerno, delivers a public lecture on the social status of medieval sculptors through the analysis of their signatures and inscriptions.
