Shira Brisman

Shira Brisman is an Assistant Professor in the Department of History of Art at the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts & Sciences. Her research focuses on early modern art, particularly the relationship between art and communication, law, and material culture during the Protestant Reformation. She holds a B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. from Yale University.

• Education:
  • B.A. in History of Art (2001)
  • M.A. in History of Art (2008)
  • Ph.D. in History of Art (2012)

Her first book, Albrecht Dürer and the Epistolary Mode of Address (2016), explores how letter-writing influenced Dürer’s artistic practice. Her current project, The Goldsmith’s Debt, examines Christoph Jamnitzer’s role in linking artistic ideas to land inheritance. She teaches courses on print culture, authorship, and art and science intersections.

Research Interests:

• Printed images and Reformation dynamics
• Art and legal frameworks
• Material and intellectual property
• Visual culture’s role in public shaming and violence

Key Awards:

• Andrew W. Mellon Lecturer and Postdoctoral Fellowship
• American Council of Learned Societies Fellowship
• Samuel H. Kress Foundation Fellowship

Grants and Fellowships:

• 2020–21 Penn Faculty Fellow at the Wolf Humanities Center (topic: “Choice”)

Labs/Teams: Engages with interdisciplinary research on material culture, early modern print networks, and art’s role in social dynamics.