Markus Rath

Prof. Dr. Markus Rath is a Junior Professor for Art and Knowledge in the Cultural Change of the Early Modern Period at the University of Trier, where he has served since 2022. Previously, he was a Senior Assistant at the University of Basel (2014–2022) and completed his doctorate in 2017 at Humboldt University Berlin. His research spans the intersections of art, knowledge, and material culture in the early modern period, with a focus on abstraction, synagonism, and the epistemic role of artistic media.

• University Affiliation: University of Trier (current), University of Basel (past)
• Research Projects: Expressive Renaissance, TRANSMARE (maritime knowledge transfer), Im Zeichen des Chamäleons (image-knowledge history)

Key research areas include:

• Materiality and Mediality in Early Modern Art and Science
• Expressivity and Abstraction in Premodernity
• Emblematics and Metaphorology
• Theory and Practice of Art Education
• Cultural Networks and Maritime Knowledge Spaces

His article trends reveal a focus on comparative artistic practices (synagonism), sensory studies (haptics, olfactory art), and material epistemology across multiple disciplines. He has pioneered analysis of articulated dolls as conceptual art and examined maritime knowledge systems as cultural networks.

Scientific awards and recognition:

• Shortlisted for the University of Basel's Teaching Excellence Award (2021)
• DFG network leadership (2017–2021)
• Warburg House Hamburg fellowship (2010)
• Evangelisches Studienwerk scholarship (2001–2008)

Professional activities include:

• Managing Director of the Department of Art History (since 2024)
• Organizational Director of the France Forum for Art History (2023)
• Co-organizer of the Basel Renaissance Colloquium (2014–2022)
• Review work for Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and Swiss National Science Foundation

He contributes to the TRANSMARE Institute, investigating human, goods, and idea transfers from antiquity to the present, and leads the Expressive Renaissance project analyzing non-representational painting techniques and their epistemic content in premodern art.