Lucia Simonato

Lucia Simonato is a Professor of Early Modern European Art History at the University of Vienna (since 2025) and was previously an Associate Professor at the Scuola Normale Superiore's School of Humanities and Philosophy (2020-2025). Her academic career spans roles as a postdoctoral fellow at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence (2002-2005, 2007-2009), assistant professor at Scuola Normale (2008-2020), and visiting professor at Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (2012, 2014).

• PhD in Historical and Artistic Disciplines, Scuola Normale Superiore (2005)
• Habilitation in Art History (2018)
• Wallace Fellow, Villa I Tatti (2019)

Her research focuses on the history of sculpture (15th-19th centuries), Baroque papal commissions, European artistic literature (16th-20th centuries), materiality in sculpture, and Baroque museum history. She has led major projects like the PRIN on Galleria Borghese (2023-2025) and Progetto Piazza dei Cavalieri (since 2022).

Her recent publications explore Baroque sculpture, cross-media techniques (e.g., Rubens and Bernini), and material analysis of Renaissance medals. Notable awards include Italy's National Scientific Qualification (2018) and fellowships at CASVA (2013), INHA Paris (2016), and Villa I Tatti (2019).

She has mentored 12 PhD students, including Vittoria Brunetti (2021) on Lorenzo Ottoni and Daniel Lowe (ongoing) on 17th-century Emilia. Her leadership extends to curating exhibitions like Il tocco di Pigmalione at Galleria Borghese (2023-2024) and directing the Medagliere Sala reorganization at Bargello (2023).