My work has centred on an investigation of material culture, domestic interior and clothing in the Renaissance and early modern period, particularly in Italy. I have been especially interested in the question of how ordinary Italians, such as barbers, bakers, tailors and shoemakers experienced the material and cultural Renaissance. I have spent months in the stsate archives of Siena, Florence and Lucca to investigate how the local, ordinary artisans lived and worked, how they furnished their home, how they dressed, how much money they spent on their household goods and clothes and where such goods were bought, and what dressing and furnishing their homes in the fashionable manner may have meant to them.
I have developed my reserach in several universities, including Sussex University (UK), Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, European University in Florence, and University of Copenhagen. My work has been part of two major UK-based international research programmes, ‘The Material Renaissance: Costs and Consumption in Italy 1300-1600’ and ‘Fashioning the Early Modern: Creativity and Innovation in Italy, 1500-1800’.
My research has been financially supported by the generous funding of:
AHRB, Getty Foundation, Academy of Finland, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Emil Aaltonen Foundation, Helsinki Collegium for Advanced Studies, University of Helsinki, Centre for Textile Research, Danish National Research Foundation, University of Copenhagenm, HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area), FP7 Marie Curie Actions.
PUBLICATIONS
Global Encounters 