Institute of Continuing Education (ICE)
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Dr Alison Harpur is a Tutor in History of Art at the University of Cambridge Institute of Continuing Education and is a specialist in Italian Renaissance art. She wrote her PhD on “Studies in Visual Culture and the Council of Ferrara-Florence (1438–1445)”, examining visual culture in the context of the ecumenical Church Council at which a brief union was negotiated between the Latin and Greek Churches. Her research interests focus on Renaissance Florence, Ferrara, and Rome, particularly the patronage of the Medici and Este families, the cultural activity of the papal court, and the work of Donatello, Filarete, Pisanello, Fra Angelico, Benozzo Gozzoli, and Piero della Francesca. She also works on the connections between Northern and Italian Renaissance art, the intersections between Italian and Byzantine art and architecture, and the relationship between History of Art and Theology. Alison was formerly Assistant Curator: Research and Information at the UK Government Art Collection, and Assistant Curator of Pictures and Sculpture at the National Trust. She maintains an interest in British art and collecting, particularly with reference to country house collections. Alison has taught Renaissance History of Art as an Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University and as a Postgraduate Teaching Assistant at University College London, where she gained Associate Fellowship of the Higher Education Academy. She has delivered academic papers in the UK, Italy, and Belgium, including at conferences of the Renaissance Society of America, the Society for Renaissance Studies, the Association for Art History, and the Society for the Study of Theology.