Michele Bacci

Michele Bacci is a Full Professor of Medieval Art History at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland. He has held academic positions at the Scuola Normale Superiore (Pisa), the University of Siena, and visiting roles at institutions including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Kunsthistorisches Institut-Max-Planck-Gesellschaft. His research focuses on the materiality of the sacred, cultural interactions in the Mediterranean and Subcaucasian regions, and the dynamics of religious imagery.

• Affiliations: Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences, University of Fribourg
• Research Areas: Medieval art, Byzantine studies, sacred spaces, Mediterranean cultural exchange

His recent publications explore the symbolism of holy sites, the use of Italianate ornaments in Eastern Mediterranean art, and the role of images in premodern societies. Bacci is an honorary member of the Society for Christian Archaeology of Athens and received the Hanno and Ilse Hahn Prize in 2017. He co-edits the journal Iconographica and contributes to the restoration of the Basilica of the Nativity in Bethlehem.