Kersti Markus

Kersti Markus is a Professor of Art History and senior research fellow in Medieval Studies at the School of Humanities, leading the History study area. Her expertise spans the intersection of visual culture, political history, and medieval art in Scandinavia and the Baltic Sea region. She holds a PhD from the University of Stockholm, with postgraduate research as a Humboldt fellow in Germany. Her work focuses on interpreting visual sources to reconstruct medieval power dynamics, religious expansion, and cultural identity in regions like Estonia and Gotland.

Education includes studies at Tartu University, Vienna University, and the Swedish Institute in Rome. Her research bridges methodological innovation in art history with interdisciplinary approaches, emphasizing the role of landscape, architecture, and art in political narratives. Notable themes include the impact of crusading on Baltic architecture, the symbolism of medieval churches, and the historical memory embedded in visual artifacts.

Publications since 2013 highlight her exploration of Danish crusader propaganda, Cistercian monasticism, and the interplay between trade networks and religious architecture. She has pioneered studies on the Pirita Convent’s role as a Birgittine symbol and re-evaluated traditional interpretations of medieval Estonian churches through visual evidence.

Her work underscores the transformative potential of visual culture in understanding medieval socio-political structures, particularly in contested border regions. She continues to explore methodological frameworks for interpreting medieval art in post-Soviet academic contexts, as seen in her critique of Estonian SSR-era research practices.