Katharina Bedenbender

Katharina Bedenbender, MA, is a Research Associate at the Institute for Art and Visual History at Humboldt University Berlin, where she serves as Coordinator of the Census of Antique Works of Art and Architecture Known in the Renaissance project. She works under Prof. Kathleen Christian with a habilitation project titled "Before Ecology: Non-human Animals and Plants in Early Modern Italy". Her office is located in Room 2.08 at the Institute (Georgenstraße 47, Berlin).

Dr. Bedenbender's research focuses on innovative approaches to early modern Italian art through plant and animal studies, ecological perspectives, and spatial analysis. Her work bridges traditional art historical methods with contemporary theoretical frameworks that examine non-human agency in art history. She has developed particular expertise in Venetian ceremonial spaces, architectural history, and the representation of natural elements in Renaissance art.

Her recent publications and conference presentations reveal a clear trajectory toward ecological art history, with increasing emphasis on plant studies, animal studies, and non-anthropocentric perspectives in early modern Italian art. This represents a significant methodological shift in art historical scholarship that positions her at the forefront of emerging interdisciplinary approaches.

As an educator, Dr. Bedenbender has taught numerous seminars at HU Berlin on topics including Venetian painting cycles, architectural history of Venice, and ecological perspectives on early modern art. She has also co-organized innovative lecture series such as "One Object Lesson" and "Reconstructivisms" that explore interdisciplinary approaches to art history.

• Active member of the Renaissance Society of America
• Participant in the Italian Studies Network
• Regular presenter at international conferences on Italian art history

Dr. Bedenbender is currently organizing the October 2025 Network Meeting "Narratives of Italian Studies. On the relationship between canon and method in the arts" and will present at the December 2025 conference "The Future of The Antique - Interpreting the Sculptural Canon" at the Warburg Institute in London, demonstrating her active engagement with contemporary methodological debates in art history.