Joanne Anderson

Joanne Anderson is Reader in Art History and Honorary Curatorial Fellow at the University of Aberdeen, affiliated with the School of Divinity, History, Philosophy & Art History. She is Head of the Art History Department and Director of the MLitt in Christianity and the Visual Arts. She is accepting PhD students and actively contributes to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching in art history, curation, and interdisciplinary courses.

Education:

• PhD in History of Art, University of Warwick, 2010
• MA in History of Art, Courtauld Institute of Art, 2003
• MA (Hons) in English and History of Art, University of Aberdeen, 2001

Her research focuses on Mary Magdalene, late medieval art in the Alps, mobility and experience of art, artistic patronage, and 20th-century exhibition history. She has published a monograph, Moving with the Magdalen (2019), and numerous peer-reviewed chapters and articles. Her recent publications explore themes such as medieval prostitution in art, Alpine devotional practices, and the cultural politics of wartime London.

Her scholarly work shows a strong trend in religious iconography, particularly the visual representation of female saints, the interplay between art and poverty in mountainous regions, and the historiography of British art through institutions like the Warburg Institute. She has contributed to major exhibitions and publications on Mary Magdalene and co-curated exhibitions on the Warburg Institute’s archival legacy.

Joanne has secured research funding, including a British Academy/Leverhulme Small Grant (2025–26) and an AHRC Research Network Grant (2019–20). She supervises PhD students on topics including Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Reformed visual art. She has also served as External Examiner for Art History at The Open University (2020–2024) and is a member of the Renaissance Society of America.

She is actively involved in public engagement, having appeared on BBC4's Britain's Lost Masterpieces and BBC R4's In Our Time, and contributed to exhibitions and scholarly advisory committees, such as for Mary Magdalene: the Exhibition in Utrecht (2021–22).