Main Focus
- History, theory, and historiography of neo-medieval architecture
- Medievalism
- Modern Italy
- Political culture
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Ephemeral architecture and lost architecture
Research Project
The Bourbon Middle Ages: Neo-Medieval Architecture and the Politics of the Risorgimento
Publication (Selection)
- "'Neo-Medievalism Studies', Italy, and the Four Ghosts: Architectural History and the Study of Medievalism", Journal of Art Historiography, 26 (2022), pp. 1–25. https://arthistoriography.files.wordpress.com/2022/05/zerbi.pdf
- "Pelagio Palagi’s Floating Castles: 'Risorgimental Neo-Medievalism', Architectural Ephemera, and Politics at the Court of Savoy", Architectural Histories, 9, 1 (2021), pp. 1–17. https://doi.org/10.5334/ah.462
- "'Immensa, misteriosa, leggera, fantastica, degna del Dio vivente': Luigi Cibrario e la rinascita risorgimentale dell’architettura medievale", Studi Piemontesi, 50, 2 (2021), pp. 523–528.
Curriculum Vitae
Tommaso Zerbi is an architectural historian who specialises in the history, theory, and historiography of neo-medieval architecture and medievalism, with an emphasis on modern Italy. Between completing his doctorate in Architectural History at the University of Edinburgh (2021) and joining the Bibliotheca Hertziana (2022), he held the 2021/2022 Paul Mellon Centre Rome Fellowship at the British School at Rome. Prior to these, Tommaso Graduated (MArch, BArch) summa cum laude from the Politecnico di Milano. His doctorate, which was awarded the Barrie Wilson Award by the Edinburgh School of Architecture and Landscape Architecture, constitutes the first study of the reworking of the Middle Ages as a tool for the legitimation of the House of Savoy, the first on its architectural manifestation, and the first on the role of mythic views of the medieval past in the political revision of the identities of crown and nation during the Risorgimento. An Early Career Member of the Royal Historical Society, Tommaso has conducted research on the neo-medieval architecture and medievalism of northern, central, and southern Italy. He has widely presented in academic settings, including at the École du Louvre, the University of Cambridge, the Deutsches Historisches Institut in Rome, and the biennial conference of the European Architectural History Network.