Biography
Francesca Borgo received her Ph.D. and M.A. in Art History with a minor field in Italian Studies fromHarvard University in 2017. She previously studied in Italy andSpainand holds a B.A. and an M.A. from Ca’ Foscari University of Venice.Prior to coming to StAndrews,Francesca was a Fellow at theGetty Research Institute in Los Angeles (2017-18), theKunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz (2013-17), Villa I Tatti - The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies (2015), and the University of Hamburg (2016). Her work has been supported by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation, the Max-Planck Gesellschaft, theAlexander von Humboldt Foundation, theRenaissance Society of America,the Italian Art Society,andthe National Endowment for the Humanities, among others.
Research areas
Francesca Borgo specializes in early modern art, with a focus on fifteenth- and sixteenth-century southern Europe. Much of her research investigates the intersections between visual, literary, and scientific culture in Renaissance Italy.Her current book projectexplores the emergence of an art critical discourse surrounding the representation of war during the Cinquecento. A second project,TheFragile Image in the Renaissance,looks at the early modern perception of vulnerable, decaying and lost artworks. Other research interests include the work of Leonardo da Vinci and the history of the field of Leonardo studies; the relationship betweennatural philosophy and artistic theory;theshield as an emblem of artistic excellence;premodernnotions of imagination and invention;the physiology of perception andtheories of sensory differentiation; antagonistic dynamics in Renaissance culture (among artists, artworks, and media).
PhD supervision
- AlfieRobinson
Selected publications
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Borgo, F. & Titmarsh, J.-A. (Translator), 6 Mar 2026, Gallerie dell’Accademia di Venezia. Nicolaci, M. & Pietrabissa, C. (eds.). Venice: Wetlands, p. 64-71 (Ecocritical guides).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Borgo, F., 6 Mar 2026, Gallerie dell' Accademia di Venezia. Nicolaci, M. & Pietrabissa, C. (eds.). Venice: Wetlands, p. 64-71 (Guide ecocritiche).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Beltramini, G. (Editor), Borgo, F. (Editor) & Manieri Elia, G. (Editor), 1 Apr 2025, Venice: Marsilio Arte. 319 p.
Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Open access
Borgo, F., 2025, Corpi moderni: La costruzione del corpo nella Venezia del Rinascimento.. Venice: Marsilio Arte, p. 54-63 9 p.
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Borgo, F. & Ezra, R., 1 Apr 2025, Wastework: early modern stories from the cutting room floor. Borgo, F. & Ezra, R. (eds.). Rome: Officina Libraria, p. 7-39 (Dis/appearance; vol. 1).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Borgo, F. (Editor) & Ezra, R. (Editor), 1 Apr 2025, Rome: Officina Libraria. 246 p. (Dis/appearance; vol. 1)
Research output: Book/Report › Book
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Borgo, F. & Ezra, R., 1 Mar 2024, In: West 86th: A Journal of Decorative Arts, Design History, and Material Culture. 31, 1, p. 5-25 21 p.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Open access
Borgo, F., 1 Jan 2023, Leonardo da Vinci: l'architettura. Di Teodoro, F. P., Ferretti, E., Frommel, S. & Schlimme, H. (eds.). Rome: Campisano Editore, p. 211-224 14 p. (Itinéraires; vol. 6).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Open access
Borgo, F., 1 Jan 2023, La cittá di Vitruvio per Leonardo: le mostre del cinquecentenario. Di Teodoro, F. P. & Perissa Torrini, A. (eds.). Venice: Marsilio Arte, p. 156-169 14 p. (Collana del Centro studi vitruviani; vol. 7).
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter
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Borgo, F., 1 Jan 2023, Giardino di conversazioni: scritti in onore di Augusto Gentili. Barbieri, C., Di Monte, M., Economopoulos, H., Paul, B., Pavanello, L., Sapienza, V. & Sarti, M. G. (eds.). Roma: Bardi Edizioni, p. 37-47 11 p.
Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Chapter