Main Focus
- History of colors in the Middle Ages
- Medieval Stained Glass (V–XIII Century)
- Early medieval aesthetics and visual arts
- Medieval Sardinia in the Mediterranean context
Research Project
Inside the Window: Medieval Stained Glass before the Romanesque Period (c. 850–1130)
Curriculum Vitae
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).
Memberships
- Corpus Vitrearum Medii Aevi Italia (Associate member)