Robert Brennan

Robert Brennan is a Lecturer in Italian Art 1300–1500 at The Courtauld Institute of Art. He holds a PhD in Art History from New York University’s Institute of Fine Arts and has held postdoctoral fellowships at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence and the Power Institute at the University of Sydney. Prior to joining The Courtauld, he taught at the University of Queensland.

His research focuses on late medieval and Renaissance art in Italy, emphasizing interdisciplinary intersections between painting, intellectual life, and material culture. Key areas include the migration of artists from Africa and the Middle East into Renaissance Italy, and the conceptual evolution of terms like 'arabesque'. His current book project, *Thresholds of Art in Renaissance Italy*, explores the influence of artists from diverse cultural backgrounds on Italian art theory. Earlier work includes the monograph *Painting as a Modern Art in Early Renaissance Italy* (2019), which examines the emergence of 'modern art' concepts through cross-disciplinary dialogue.

Brennan’s articles analyze topics such as the role of market forces in early modern art, the intersection of Reformation theology and visual culture, and the cognitive semantics of Renaissance body representation. Collaborative research includes studies of Persian and Ottoman artifacts in Venetian contexts, highlighting cross-cultural exchanges.

His work bridges art history with anthropology, linguistics, and material culture studies, offering innovative frameworks for understanding artistic innovation and cultural hybridity in the Renaissance.