Overview
Francesca is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Medieval Studies program whose research centers on the arts of the book. She earned her B.A. in Art History and English from the University of Sydney, awarded in 2022, and her MPhil in Anglo-Saxon, Norse and Celtic from the University of Cambridge, awarded in 2024. Her master's thesis argued that the decorated initials of the Cambridge Psalter reveal resonances between the visual form of the codex and medieval models of trained memory. She continues to explore how medieval practices of writing, drawing and reading inform and reflect practices of thought.
Research Focus
Francesca’s research combines art historical, paleographical, and literary methods to examine the intersection of writing and drawing in early medieval European manuscripts. She foregrounds close, sustained engagement with the manuscripts themselves. While not her primary focus, she is also interested in Old English literature.