Francesca Borgo

Francesca Borgo is Lecturer in Art History at the University of St Andrews, specializing in early modern visual culture with particular expertise in Renaissance art and material studies. She holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University and has held fellowships at leading research institutes including Villa I Tatti and the Getty Research Institute.

Borgo's research examines intersections between art, science, and material culture in fifteenth and sixteenth-century Europe. Her current projects investigate representations of war in Renaissance art and historical perceptions of fragile or decaying artworks. Recent publications analyze zoomorphic armor ornamentation, soundscapes in Leonardo's battle paintings, and waste reuse in artistic workshops.

Her scholarly work demonstrates consistent engagement with Leonardo da Vinci's legacy, Vitruvian principles of scale, and material transformations in artistic production. Recent articles explore sensory dimensions of Renaissance art and theoretical challenges in representing human proportions.

Borgo co-directs research projects on Renaissance embodiment theories and coordinates collaborative initiatives on material reuse in early modern practices. She contributes to digital art history through open-access publications and database development.