Dr Peter R Dent

The core of my research is centred on the sculpture of late medieval and early Renaissance Italy. I am currently finishing work on a monograph (Sculptural Encounters in Dante’s World) that explores the expectations and experiences of late medieval beholders when interacting with sculptural objects.  I have just begun research for a study of sculptural surfaces and skin between the late medieval period and the Renaissance.  I am also engaged in an ongoing project in collaboration with Dr Ettore Napione (Museo di Castelvecchio, Verona) on the sculpture of late medieval Verona. More broadly, I am interested in the history of sculptural aesthetics. In 2008, I organised an interdisciplinary conference on the subject of ‘Sculpture and Touch’.

I am a member of several research clusters at Bristol, including Early Italian Studies, Materialities and the Sea.

Research Supervision:

I am currently joint supervisor for PhD projects on Greek women sculptors in the postwar period, late medieval devotional imagery and the senses, and the artistic identity of early Netherlandish artists. I am interested in supervising research on late medieval and Renaissance Italy or on sculpture - or ideally a combination of the two. 

Teaching interests:

I teach on the medieval and early modern survey courses for undergraduates and contribute to the units on theory and methodology.  I also offer options on Italian art through to c.1600 and sculpture in general from antiquity to the present. At MA level I have helped to coordinate a collaborative curatorial option with the National Trust at Montacute House and the National Portrait Galllery.