Diane Bodart

Diane Bodart is the David Rosand Associate Professor of Italian Renaissance Art History at Columbia University's Department of Art History and Archaeology, where she has held progressively senior positions since 2013. She previously served as David Rosand Assistant Professor (2016-2019) and Assistant Professor of Southern Renaissance and Baroque Art (2013-2016) before achieving tenure. Prior to Columbia, she was a 'Maître de conférences' (Assistant Professor) at the University of Poitiers (2004-2013) and held teaching positions at several European institutions including the University of Marne-la-Vallée, University of Paris X, and University of Paris I.

Bodart earned her 'Laurea' (B.A.) from Rome's University 'La Sapienza' in 1994, an M.A. from the School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences in Paris in 1996, and completed her Ph.D. at the same institution in 2003. Her doctoral dissertation, 'Pouvoirs du portrait sous les Habsbourg d'Espagne. 1500-1700' (Powers of the Portrait under the Spanish Habsburgs), was published in 2011 and received the 'Prix Eugène Carrière' silver medal from the Académie Française.

Her research focuses on Art and Politics in the Spanish Habsburg Empire, Image Theory and Artistic Practice in Renaissance and Baroque Italy, and Renaissance Venice. Bodart's work explores how visual culture intersects with political power structures, with particular attention to portraiture, the body, optical phenomena, and artistic techniques. She examines how artistic practices convey authority and identity across the Renaissance and Baroque periods, frequently analyzing how visual representation serves political functions within the Spanish Habsburg territories.

Her scholarly output demonstrates a consistent evolution from traditional art historical analysis toward interdisciplinary approaches that incorporate political theory, disability studies, and visual culture studies. Recent work has expanded to include contemporary art connections, as evidenced by her co-curated exhibition on scribbling and doodling from Leonardo da Vinci to Cy Twombly.

• 'Prix Eugène Carrière', silver medal from the Académie Française (2012)
• Multiple Lenfest Faculty Development Grants from Columbia University
• Casa Muraro Research Fellowships in Venice (2021, 2018-2019)
• Provost Grant for Junior Faculty Who Contributes to the Diversity Goals of the University (2017-2018)
• Ahmanson Fellowship at Villa I Tatti (2007-2008)
• Aby-Warburg-Stiftung Award, Hamburg (2003)

Bodart has secured numerous research grants supporting her work on Renaissance art and Spanish Habsburg visual culture. She currently serves as Faculty Chair of Casa Muraro, Columbia University Research Center for Venetian Studies. Her collaborative projects include the joint research project 'Scribbles and Scribbling in the Early Modern Period' with Francesca Alberti and Philippe Morel. She has co-curated the exhibition 'Gribouillage/Scarabocchio. De Léonard de Vinci à Cy Twombly' (2021-2023) and organized numerous academic conferences including 'Rire en images à la Renaissance' (2012) and 'The anthropology and aesthetics of arms and armor' (2018).

Her international collaborations reflect her work across European and American academic institutions, with frequent presentations at major museums and research centers including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Yale University, Harvard University, and the Museo Nacional del Prado in Madrid.