Bianca de Divitiis

Bianca de Divitiis has a solid academic track record as an internationally recognised expert in the history of art and architecture between late medieval and modern period.

Her notable independence of research and maturity were evident from the beginning when, just after graduating, she published a ground-breaking article in The Burlington Magazine (2003) on her important discovery of an album of drawings from the office of the British architect Sir John Soane, which was also acknowledged on The Times.

Her Doctoral Thesis on Renaissance architecture and antiquarianism in Naples uncovered a neglected area of research. After completing a series of prestigious international fellowships (The Warburg Institute, Villa I Tatti-Harvard, The Paul Mellon Foundation-Yale), she was awarded an ERC Starting Grant (2011-2016). As PI of the ERC HistAntArtSI project, she has carried out pioneering interdisciplinary research on the Renaissance in southern Italy, opening up a new field that is still expanding and producing results. As PI of another research project largely funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research (PRIN 2020-2024), she was able to reinforce her skills as leader of a research team and broaden her research perspectives to trans-Mediterranean connections, especially with Sicily and Sardinia. Her participation in international projects such as The Quest for an Appropriate Past in European Architecture (Royal Netherlands Academy of Art and Sciences, 2014-16) and Spanish Italy and the Iberian Americas (Columbia University – Getty Institute, 2016-22) has enhanced her ability to work in large transnational research groups on European and Global Renaissance. 

While supervising students, docs, postdocs, and researchers as Professor at the University of Naples Federico II, her research profile is increasingly attracting international researchers and students (Spain, USA, China) to Naples. Thanks to her work as Deputy Director of the Department of Humanities (280 members) and as member of several university boards, since 2020, she has further developed her management skills and ability to work with colleagues from LS and PE on actions relating open access, gender equality, and ethical regulations. As SH delegate for the association of ERC awardees ERC in Italy she is active in promoting fundamental and frontier research in Italy.

Despite home-schooling during COVID, she has constantly maintained her research track and has produced throughout her career a considerable number of publications, including a monograph, eighteen articles in peer-reviewed journals and thirty-six essays in volumes. She has edited or co-edited five volumes, an online database (www.histantartsi.eu) and a recently released webapp ANTONELLO, which has already won two prizes. A Companion to the Renaissance in Southern Italy (Brill, 2023; OA 2024), which she also edited, has been defined as: “a stunning scholarly achievement that will become the standard work for years to come” and has been nominated for the 2024 Bainton Prize (due next Nov). Her leading role in the field has been recognised by her appointment to the scientific advisory boards of major research institutes (MPG Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz, Centro Palladio) and of museums (Palazzo Reale, Pio Monte in Naples), and as a member of the Academia Europæa.