Alberto Virdis, Ph.D.

Alberto Virdis was trained between Italy and the United States (University of Cagliari, University of Parma, Johns Hopkins University). His doctoral dissertation (2019) examined the role of color in medieval culture through aesthetic theories, theological writings, treatises on optics, encyclopedic works, and artists’ manuals, against the backdrop of the development of stained glass in Europe between 1100 and 1250.
From 2020 to 2025 he was a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Early Medieval Studies (Masaryk University, Brno, now RE: CENT). Between 2020 and 2022, he pursued further research on color in medieval visual culture within a Marie Curie – CZ project (seal of excellence), which culminated in the monograph Colors in Medieval Art. Theories, Matter and Light from Suger to Grosseteste (Viella, 2023).
From 2023 to 2025 he directed, as Principal Investigator, a research project funded by the Czech Science Foundation, entitled Fragmented Images. Exploring the Origins of Stained Glass Art. The project focused on the origins of stained glass in Europe and the mapping of archaeological finds of window glass (5th–9th centuries). It also explored connections with other contemporary techniques and media, particularly cloisonné jewelry, as well as aesthetic questions linked to the concept of “fragmentation.” These studies laid the groundwork for his current research at the Bibliotheca Hertziana, where he is postdoctoral fellow (Department Michalsky), dedicated to early medieval stained glass (c. 850–1130).

Mitgliedschaften

• Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi Italia (Assoziiertes Mitglied)