Barbara Baert
Functions
- full professor Faculty of Arts
- member of the Leuven Centre for Health Humanities (LCH²)
- member of LECTIO – KU Leuven Institute for the Study of the Transmission of Texts, Ideas and Images in Antiquity, the Middle Ages and the Renaissance
Curriculum Vitae
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8694-2335
Barbara Baert (1967) is Professor in Medieval Art, Iconology and Art Historiography at the KU Leuven.
Her research projects show a determined interdisciplinary dialogue within the humanities and can be regarded from three main angles: the methodological space between text and image, the impact of the sensorium in the visual arts, and finally critical reflection on the arthistorical discipline.
Barbara Baert was honored with several awards, among which the prestigious Francqui Prize for Human Sciences in 2016.
Barbara Baert was invited as a guest professor at numerousuniversities in Europe, Japan and the United States. She was Fellow at the Internationales Kolleg für Kulturforschungund Medienphilosophie (IKKM) of the Weimar Bauhaus Universität (2015), at the Istituto di Studi Avanzati of theUniversità di Bologna (2018), at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (2019), and at the Center of Excellence BildEvidenzof the Freie Universität Berlin (2020). In 2021 Barbara Baert was holder of the James Loeb Lecture at ZIKG in München. In 2023 she holds the Aby Warburg-Professur at the Aby Warburg-Haus inHamburg.
Personal websites
- Medieval Art, Iconology, Visual Anthropology, Historiography, Afterlife Studies
Selection of projects
- Portable Altars and the Aesthetical changes within 11th-12th centuries reforms of the Church. The Sublime Revelation of the Invisible Presence. (03/02/2022 - 31/10/2026) - Promotor
- New World Designs: Belgian Historic Avant-Garde Art on Paper (16/12/2020 - 16/09/2025) - Co-promotor
- Kairós, or the Right Moment. Nachleben and Iconology (01/10/2017 - 30/09/2021) - Promotor
- The Head of St John the Baptist in the Southern Netherlands (1370-1800). Context, Motif, Object (01/10/2012 - 07/10/2021) - Promotor
- Ornamenta sacra. Iconological study of the liturgical heritage of the Southern Netherlands (1400-1700) (01/01/2017 - 15/04/2021) - Promotor
- The Stirring of the Religious Space. Late medieval perception and experience in the Antwerp Church of Our Lady (c. 1450-1566) (01/10/2017 - 02/12/2021) - Promotor
- Invisible Presence: The Poor Clares of Central Italy; Families, Veil and Art Patronage, c. 1350-1550 (01/10/2012 - 24/04/2017) - Promotor
- Unchaining Classicism: Aby Warburg (1866-1929) and Classical Reception Studies (01/10/2015 - 01/01/2018) - Promotor
Recent publications
- launch Niederdöckl, E., Baert, B. (sup.), Debiais, V. (sup.) (2026). Portable Altars and the Perception of the Divine in the 11th– 12th Century. The Sublime Revelation of the Invisible Divine.
- launch Baert, B. (2026). Het jaar van Saturnus. Kroniek van een denken in beelden. (Studies in Iconology 27, 6 vlols.). Leuven Paris Bristol: Peeters Publishers. ISBN: 9789042957817.
- launch Baert, B. (2026). Back to the Marshes. Myth, Method, Matter (A Memoir Almost). Berlin: De Gruyter. ISBN: 9783689240851.
- launch Baert, B. (2026). From the Year of Saturnus. Res. Anthropology and Aesthetics, 85, Art.No. 10, 132-132.
- launch Baert, B. (2026). Pentecost as Image. Enthousiasmos, Ruach and the Senses. Also a Case-Study of the Benedictional of Archbishop Robert (Winchester Abbey, Late Xth Century). In: J. Arblaster (Eds.), Hoghe minne is deen vor dander. Essays on the Christian Mystical Tradition in Honour of Rob Faesen SJ, Chapt. III.1, (349-366). (Bibliothèque de la revue histoire éclésiastique, 122). Brepols. ISBN: 978-2-503-60175-5.
- launch Baert, B. (2026). Fragmenten uit de onvoltooide tijd. Een voorpublicatie uit Het jaar van Saturnus. Kroniek van een denken in beelden. Rekto Verso. Tijdschrift voor Cultuur en Kritiek, (109), 19-23.
via repository - launch Baert, B. (2026). Beschouwingen over geestdrift. Een fragmentarisch essay. Th&ma Hoger Onderwijs, (2), 17-21.
- launch Eycken, S., Bru, S. (sup.), Baert, B. (cosup.) (2025). New World Designs: Belgian Historic Avant-Garde Art on Paper.
- launch Baert, B. (2025). Rocks and Tears. Niobe’s Fate and the Dynamics of Form. Public Lecture on the Occasion of the Aby-Warburg-Stiftungsprofessur 2023. (Studies in Iconology, 25). Leuven-Walpole-Paris-Bristol: Peeters Publishers. ISBN: 9789042953659. via repository
- launch Baert, B., Dekoninck, R. (2025). Een collegedictaat als beeldenkabinet. In: R. dekoninck, V. Soen (Eds.), Lessen uit het verleden. Vier eeuwen studentennotities aan de Leuvense universiteit, (35-44). leuven: Leuven University Press. ISBN: 9789461653901.
- F0XR2A Beeldcultuur van de lange Middeleeuwen, archetypes en doorwerking
- F0WL7A Kunstgeschiedschrijving: evolutie en discours
- F0JC8A Iconologie
- F0BB3A Beeld en iconografie: analyse en betekenis van het visuele medium
- F0XU1A Stage
- F0UM8A Verkorte stage
- F0CL7A Bachelorpaper kunstwetenschappen
- F0BC9A Sandbox: academische en professionele vaardigheden 3 (bachelorpaper + excursie)
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8694-2335
Barbara Baert (1967) is Professor in Medieval Art, Iconology and Art Historiography at the KU Leuven.
Her research projects show a determined interdisciplinary dialogue within the humanities and can be regarded from three main angles: the methodological space between text and image, the impact of the sensorium in the visual arts, and finally critical reflection on the arthistorical discipline.
Barbara Baert was honored with several awards, among which the prestigious Francqui Prize for Human Sciences in 2016.
Barbara Baert was invited as a guest professor at numerousuniversities in Europe, Japan and the United States. She was Fellow at the Internationales Kolleg für Kulturforschungund Medienphilosophie (IKKM) of the Weimar Bauhaus Universität (2015), at the Istituto di Studi Avanzati of theUniversità di Bologna (2018), at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (2019), and at the Center of Excellence BildEvidenzof the Freie Universität Berlin (2020). In 2021 Barbara Baert was holder of the James Loeb Lecture at ZIKG in München. In 2023 she holds the Aby Warburg-Professur at the Aby Warburg-Haus inHamburg.
Personal websites
- Medieval Art, Iconology, Visual Anthropology, Historiography, Afterlife Studies
Selection of projects
- Portable Altars and the Aesthetical changes within 11th-12th centuries reforms of the Church. The Sublime Revelation of the Invisible Presence. (03/02/2022 - 31/10/2026) - Promotor
- New World Designs: Belgian Historic Avant-Garde Art on Paper (16/12/2020 - 16/09/2025) - Co-promotor
- Kairós, or the Right Moment. Nachleben and Iconology (01/10/2017 - 30/09/2021) - Promotor
- The Head of St John the Baptist in the Southern Netherlands (1370-1800). Context, Motif, Object (01/10/2012 - 07/10/2021) - Promotor
- Ornamenta sacra. Iconological study of the liturgical heritage of the Southern Netherlands (1400-1700) (01/01/2017 - 15/04/2021) - Promotor
- The Stirring of the Religious Space. Late medieval perception and experience in the Antwerp Church of Our Lady (c. 1450-1566) (01/10/2017 - 02/12/2021) - Promotor
- Invisible Presence: The Poor Clares of Central Italy; Families, Veil and Art Patronage, c. 1350-1550 (01/10/2012 - 24/04/2017) - Promotor
- Unchaining Classicism: Aby Warburg (1866-1929) and Classical Reception Studies (01/10/2015 - 01/01/2018) - Promotor
in the research portal
Recent publications
- launch Niederdöckl, E., Baert, B. (sup.), Debiais, V. (sup.) (2026). Portable Altars and the Perception of the Divine in the 11th– 12th Century. The Sublime Revelation of the Invisible Divine.
- launch Baert, B. (2026). Het jaar van Saturnus. Kroniek van een denken in beelden. (Studies in Iconology 27, 6 vlols.). Leuven Paris Bristol: Peeters Publishers. ISBN: 9789042957817.
- launch Baert, B. (2026). Back to the Marshes. Myth, Method, Matter (A Memoir Almost). Berlin: De Gruyter. ISBN: 9783689240851.
- launch Baert, B. (2026). From the Year of Saturnus. Res. Anthropology and Aesthetics, 85, Art.No. 10, 132-132.
- launch Baert, B. (2026). Pentecost as Image. Enthousiasmos, Ruach and the Senses. Also a Case-Study of the Benedictional of Archbishop Robert (Winchester Abbey, Late Xth Century). In: J. Arblaster (Eds.), Hoghe minne is deen vor dander. Essays on the Christian Mystical Tradition in Honour of Rob Faesen SJ, Chapt. III.1, (349-366). (Bibliothèque de la revue histoire éclésiastique, 122). Brepols. ISBN: 978-2-503-60175-5.
- launch Baert, B. (2026). Fragmenten uit de onvoltooide tijd. Een voorpublicatie uit Het jaar van Saturnus. Kroniek van een denken in beelden. Rekto Verso. Tijdschrift voor Cultuur en Kritiek, (109), 19-23. via repository
- launch Baert, B. (2026). Beschouwingen over geestdrift. Een fragmentarisch essay. Th&ma Hoger Onderwijs, (2), 17-21.
- launch Eycken, S., Bru, S. (sup.), Baert, B. (cosup.) (2025). New World Designs: Belgian Historic Avant-Garde Art on Paper.
- launch Baert, B. (2025). Rocks and Tears. Niobe’s Fate and the Dynamics of Form. Public Lecture on the Occasion of the Aby-Warburg-Stiftungsprofessur 2023. (Studies in Iconology, 25). Leuven-Walpole-Paris-Bristol: Peeters Publishers. ISBN: 9789042953659. via repository
- launch Baert, B., Dekoninck, R. (2025). Een collegedictaat als beeldenkabinet. In: R. dekoninck, V. Soen (Eds.), Lessen uit het verleden. Vier eeuwen studentennotities aan de Leuvense universiteit, (35-44). leuven: Leuven University Press. ISBN: 9789461653901.
- F0XR2A Beeldcultuur van de lange Middeleeuwen, archetypes en doorwerking
- F0WL7A Kunstgeschiedschrijving: evolutie en discours
- F0JC8A Iconologie
- F0BB3A Beeld en iconografie: analyse en betekenis van het visuele medium
- F0XU1A Stage
- F0UM8A Verkorte stage
- F0CL7A Bachelorpaper kunstwetenschappen
- F0BC9A Sandbox: academische en professionele vaardigheden 3 (bachelorpaper + excursie)