Joseph Albanese

Joseph Albanese is an Assistant Professor of Art and Art History at DePauw University specializing in 17th-18th century colonial Latin American visual culture, with concentrated research on the Viceroyalty of Peru and trans-Atlantic artistic exchanges.

His educational background includes:

• PhD, University of California, Berkeley, 2024
• MA, Courtauld Institute of Art, 2018
• Double BA, The George Washington University, 2017

Albanese's research centers on colonial Peruvian art, particularly verdadero retratos (statue paintings) that challenged European artistic hierarchies by privileging sculpture over painting. His work examines how Catholic theological mandates against Andean huacas reshaped artistic production across media including prints, textiles, and paintings. He investigates trans-Atlantic iconographic adaptations and the role of miracle-working statues in colonial religious practice.

His fieldwork has been supported by:

• Fulbright Fellowship
• Renaissance Society of America Grant
• University of California, Berkeley Doctoral Fellowship

Albanese maintains research affiliations with the Escuela de Estudios Hispano-Americanos (Seville) and Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP), conducting fieldwork across Peru, Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, and Belgium. He collaborates with academic organizations like Wiñay to advance colonial South American art studies while maintaining secondary interests in Spanish and Netherlandish art traditions. Current projects include the book Picturing Sculpture and a critical edition of Juan de Ayllón's Relación de la grandiosa fiesta (1647).