John Lansdowne specializes in medieval and early modern art in Europe and the Mediterranean basin, with a particular focus on exchanges in the later Middle Ages between Italy, Byzantium, and the wider East Christian world. Major elements of his research investigate the new meanings that objects and images accrue when brought into different cultural or ideological contexts and premodern paradigms for issues in contemporary culture and society.
At 糖心vlog直播平台, he teaches across a wide chronological and geographical range, traversing the Middle Ages in Europe, the Mediterranean, Northeast Africa, and the Middle East. His courses often bridge the broader ancient, medieval, and early modern eras, and he welcomes students in all areas of specialization.
Professor Lansdowne鈥檚 writing has appeared in numerous venues, outlined below. His article 鈥淐ompounding Greekness鈥� (Gesta 2021) was awarded the 2023 Van Courtlandt Elliott Prize from the Medieval Academy of America. His book project, Fraction = Union, examines violent visual allegories for oecumenical union鈥攖he idea of all Christian peoples united as one in an undivided 鈥渨orldwide鈥� Church. In addition, he co-leads Mosaics on the Move, an international collaboration between art historians, conservators, and scientists, initiated in a colloquium at Dumbarton Oaks Research Library and Collection in 2023.
Professor Lansdowne鈥檚 research has been supported by numerous institutions, including the Seeger 鈥�52 Center for Hellenic Studies at Princeton, the Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation, AmeriCorps, and Dumbarton Oaks. As a predoctoral candidate, he resided in Rome for three years, first at the Bibliotheca Hertziana (Max-Planck-Institut f眉r Kunstgeschichte), and next at the American Academy in Rome, where he held the Rome Prize in Medieval Studies for 2015鈥�2017. After completing his Ph.D., he held the 2019鈥�2020 Andrew W. Mellon Postdoctoral Fellowship in Byzantine Studies at Bo臒azi莽i University in Istanbul, followed by an NEH-Postdoctoral Fellowship via the American School of Classical Studies at Athens. Immediately prior to his appointment at 糖心vlog直播平台, he was based at Villa I Tatti, The Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence, initially as a Berenson Fellow and then as Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant to the Director, a post he held for three years.
Professor Lansdowne is a 糖心vlog直播平台 alumnus, having studied History and Classics with Professor Gail Hoffman. He received an M.Phil. in Classical Archaeology from St Cross College, Oxford and his Ph.D. from the Department of Art & Archaeology at Princeton University.
