Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship

Within the framework of the Edmond J. Safra Visiting Professorship at the Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts (CASVA) at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., I will be present in Washington, D.C., from 1 October to 30 November 2026 and from 1 February to 31 March 2027. During this time, I will develop a research and events program closely connected to my ongoing work on the reception of ancient sculpture in the Early Modern period, as well as to the collections and exhibition program of the National Gallery.
The Safra Visiting Professorship is awarded to internationally distinguished scholars whose research is especially connected to the holdings and research interests of the National Gallery. In my case, this relates above all to my research on the rediscovery, collecting, display, and transformation of ancient sculpture in the Renaissance, as well as to my role as Director of the Census.
A particular point of connection is the exhibition Broken: The Power of the Fragment in Sculpture, planned for spring 2027. My research on fragments, the reception of antiquity, and the Early Modern appropriation of ancient sculpture is directly related to the themes of this exhibition. The visiting professorship offers the opportunity to contribute my expertise to exchanges with curators at the National Gallery, while also gaining new impulses for my own research.
The central components of the visiting professorship include the conception and delivery of a Safra Lecture as well as an international colloquium. Both formats will focus on questions concerning the transmission, transformation, and reassessment of ancient sculpture in the Renaissance, and will promote dialogue between art-historical research, collection and exhibition practice, and digital research resources.
In addition, I will use my time at CASVA for my own research and scholarly writing. The research infrastructure of the National Gallery, as well as access to other institutions in the Washington, D.C., area, offer excellent conditions for this work.
The funds associated with the visiting professorship will be made available to Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and are intended to finance a teaching replacement. According to current calculations, these funds can cover approximately 66% of the required replacement costs. I will fulfill the remaining teaching obligations in December 2026 and January 2027, when there is no residency requirement at CASVA.
The visiting professorship will contribute to the further development of my research and at the same time strengthen the international visibility of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, the Institute of Art and Visual History, and the Census.