Dr Lisa Mansfield

• Biography/ Background

  Lisa Mansfield is an art historian specialising in Renaissance art and material culture, particularly in northern Europe. Her research focuses on early modern portraiture and courtly image-making (women and authority), images of violence (war), the origins of polymathic creativity in the Renaissance workshop (art and hydraulic engineering), and representations of the body and disease (syphilis and neurosyphilis). These diverse research areas intersect with interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary perspectives and collaborative investigation between the humanities, health sciences, and technology. The development of visual literacy as transformative lifelong learning and a valuable skill for navigating the complex global culture of the twenty-first century forms the nexus of Lisa's teaching and learning and her research practice. An unusually dynamic quality of cultural breadth and depth distinguishes her work. 

  Qualifications

  • Ph.D. Art History (University of Melbourne, 2005)
  • B.A. (Hons Art History - First Class - La Trobe University, Bundoora Campus, Melbourne, 1998)

   Academic leadership - University of Adelaide 

  • Academic Integrity Officer, School of Humanities (2025)
  • Program Director for Art History, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law and Economics (2023 ongoing) 
  • Head of Art History (2015 semester 2, 2018-2021)
  • Postgraduate Coordinator HDRs Art History, Asian Studies, Classics and Archaeology, Linguistics (2018 Semester 1)
  • Acting Coordinator Postgraduate Coursework Program in Art History (2015, 2012, 2008 semester 2)
  • Postgraduate Coordinator HDRs in Art History, History, Food Studies (2015 semester 2, 2011)
  • Discipline Advisor (2015-ongoing)

  Professional affiliations (membership)

  • AAANZ (Art Association of Australia and New Zealand)
  • ANZAMEMS (Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies)
  • HNA (Historians of Netherlandish Art)
  • RSA (Renaissance Society of America)
  • J.M. Coetzee Centre for Creative Practice

   

• Teaching Interests

  Lisa's teaching experience as a sessional tutor and lecturer in Art History was forged at the University of Melbourne (1999-2005). She established the undergraduate program in Art History at the University of Adelaide in 2009 and continues to convene the Major in Art History and Visual Culture, which is complemented by postgraduate elective courses offered in the Museum and Curatorial Studies program. Lisa has also coordinated MA Art History research seminars (2008, 2012, 2015) and MA Curatorial and Museum Studies coursework on the history and philosophy of museums and galleries, curatorship and exhibition development (2008, 2012, 2015). 

  Teaching award

  2009: Certificate for Outstanding Student Feedback in Teaching and Learning, University of Adelaide.

  Online teaching

  Since 2013 I have developed expertise in designing and delivering Art History courses online. I also participated in the 'Getting a MUVE on: Developing Web 2.0 Curricula in the Humanities' pilot project in 2011, which used the virtual world 'Second Life' in formative and summative assessment tasks for student-created avatars and virtual gallery exhibitions.

  Interdisciplinary Teaching and Supervision 

  I have contributed guest teaching (lectures and tutorials) on topics across the Humanities curriculum at the University of Adelaide, including Introduction to Film Studies, Reformation art and visual culture, how to use art and visual culture as historical evidence, art and war, art and creative freedom, French Impressionism, Renaissance art, Modernism, and photography for History, English, and the Creative Arts. 

  My supervision experience of short research projects and minor theses is extensive, including Honours (Art History theses in the Department of Historical and Classical Studies), BA Adv; MA Art History, MA Curatorial and Museum Studies, and Arts Internships in collaboration with local cultural organisations (Nexus; Tandanya; National Trust of South Australia, Ayres House and Carrick Hill; Mitcham City Council; Yellow Door Studio). 

  PhD Principal Supervision 

  • Alexandra Mowbray, 'The Evolution of the Body in Contemporary Art and Digital Media: Julie Rrap, Asger Carlsen, Leah Schrager, Juliana Huxtable'
  • Melanie Cooper, 'Beings of Nature and Reason: Mythological Masculinities in Early 18th-Century French Art and Visual Culture'

   

  HDR Co-Supervision 

  Lisa co-supervises and mentors MPhil and PhD dissertations in the areas of English, Creative Writing, French Studies, Philosophy, History, Architecture, and Curatorship (art and music). 

• Research Interests

  Research interests

  Early modern art and visual culture, with a focus on northern Renaissance art (1400-1600):

  • Portraiture (courtly image-making; face and body politics; women and authority)  
  • Warfare (gendered representations of sexual violence; innovations in military display and weapon technologies)
  • Representations of disease in early modern art (syphilis and neurosyphiis) 
  • Polymathic creativity and concept of the Renaissance artist as technologist and scientist (intersections between art, engineering, and science; mentoring practices in workshop culture and multidisciplinary collaborations)
  • Material culture and materiality (drawing and printmaking) 

  Grants, fellowships, awards

  2021: Art History Institute of Australia (AHIA) in association with the Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ) 'Leonardo of the North: The Polymathic Creativity of Jan van Scorel.'

   

  2018-2020: CI on the ARC Discovery Project DP180102412 'The Italian Wars, 1494-1559'. With CI Susan Broomhall (UWA) and CI Carolyn James (Monash).

   

  2017: Renaissance Society of America (RSA), Samuel H. Kress Fellowship for Art History, Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies (CRRS), University of Toronto.

   

  2012: The Ian Potter Foundation, Overseas travel/conference attendance.

   

  2010: University of Adelaide, 'Art History Online', University of Adelaide, C. Speck and L. Mansfield, $14,000.

   

  2009: University of Adelaide Learning and Teaching, 'Creating a Virtual Gallery', C. Speck and L. Mansfield, $20,000.

   

  2001: University of Melbourne, Graduate Research in Arts Travel Scheme (awarded to undertake research in France and the United Kingdom).

   

  1998: University of Melbourne, Australian Postgraduate Research Award (with stipend)

   

  Selected presentations 

  2025: 'Body Horror: Fear, Anxiety, and Disgust of Syphilitic Skin.' ANZAMEMS 'Possibilities'. The University of Melbourne. 3-5 December. 

   

  2025: 'Toxic Monsters: Neurosyphilis in the Art and Life of Urs Graf.' The Dark Renaissance: Killer Artists, poisonous materials, violence, and exclusion - the darker side of art history. Art History Institute of Australia (AHIA). The University of Melbourne. 28 February.

   

  2024: '"She Wolf": Power, Passion and Female Rivalry in an Elizabethan Portrait.' Women in Power, Powerful Women: Medieval and Early Modern Insights. The University of Adelaide. 15 November.

   

  2022 (Online): 'The Art of Coupling: Conjugal Companionship and Carnal Intimacy in the Italian Wars.' 9 December. Faculty of History, Adam Mickiewicz University, Poznan.

   

  2021: 'The Dynamics of Cultural Transfer: Swiss Artist Mercenaries in Northern Italy.' Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ) Annual Conference, The University of Sydney (virtual program). 8-10 December.  

   

  2020 - Invited Speaker: 'Leonardo's Masterpieces: Painting, Portraiture, Polymathy.' The Turbulent Mind of Leonardo da Vinci. Summer Short Course (Community Engagement Programs). The University of Melbourne, 20-23 January. 

   

  2019: Session Convenor - Art and War: Creativity and Conflict in Early Modern Europe. AAANZ Annual Conference. University of Auckland, 3-6 December. Paper title: 'Drawn from the Italian Wars: Encounters with violent men and dangerous women on and off the battlefield - Urs Graf.' 

   

  2019: 'Artist-Mercenaries of the Italian Wars (1494-1559): Urs Graf of Basel.' Art History Research Seminar Series, University of Adelaide, Friday 26 April.

   

  2019 - Invited Speaker: 'Rethinking Urs Graf's Representations of Warriors, Wives, and Whores in the Italian Wars (1494-1559).' Agents in Times of War - Italy, 1500-1530 (workshop), University of Sydney, Friday 12 April.

   

  2019: 'Soldiers of Fortune: Artist-Mercenaries of the Italian Wars (1494-1559).' ANZAMEMS (Australian and New Zealand Association of Medieval and Early Modern Studies), 12th Biennial Conference, University of Sydney, 5-8 February.

   

  2018: 'The Ethical Artist: Erasmian Humanism and Affective Identity in Jan van Scorel's Portraits.' Centre for Reformation and Renaissance Studies: Friday Workshop, 26 January, Victoria University, University of Toronto.

   

  2017 - Invited Speaker: 'Artifice and Affect in Renaissance Portraiture: Poses, Passions, and Amorous Gazing at the Court of Francis I.'  Art and Affect. Meanings Program Collaboratory. The University of Queensland Node of the ARC Centre of Excellence for the History of Emotions.

   

  2016: 'Francis I and His Northern Image-Makers.' International colloquium: Francis I and the Artists of the North (1515-1547). Brussels, Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage (KIK-IRPA), 25-26 February. Organised by the Royal Academy of Archaeology, Belgium, the Comité belge d'Histoire de l'Art, the KIK-IRPA, and the University of Liege. Sponsored by the Comite international d'histoire de 'art (CIHA). 

   

  2012: 'The Representation of Artefacts in Second Life: Interaction, Imagination, Interpretation, Innovation.' The Challenge of the Object/Die Herausforderung des Objekts, 33rd Congress of the International Committee of the History of Art, 15-20 July, Section 11: The Artefact and its Representations, Nuremberg.

   

  Interviews and media

   

  2024: 'A portrait of Princess Kate is drawing backlash. Is it really that bad?' Kelsey Ables, The Washington Post (23 May): https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/art/2024/05/23/kate-middleton-portrait-hannah-uzor/

   

  2022: 'A multidisciplinary study of Cacofonix in the Adventures of Asterix.' Radio Adelaide Festival City with Emma Wotzke and Dr Jessica Stanhope (Friday 14 October).

   

  2020: 'Why the long faces?' The Adelaide Review #483. By Walter Marsh (27 May).

   

  2020: 'Mary Beale.' ABC Radio (Melbourne 774): Afternoons with Jacinta Parsons (11 May).

   

  2020: 'Mary Beale: Pioneer of Portraiture.' NGV Channel: LISTEN

   

  2015: 'Virtual Worlds: A Duel with Identity.' Omission Magazine, Issue Two: www.omissionmagazine.com/magazine/issue-two

   

  2010: 'On Portraiture.' Arts and About, Radio Adelaide.

• Publications

  Books (monographs)
  

  2026: Artist Mercenaries: Creativity and Conflict in the Swiss Renaissance. Palgrave Pivot (accepted and under peer review).

  2016: Representations of Renaissance Monarchy: Francis I and the image-makers. Manchester University Press: http://www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk/9780719088711

  "Representations of Renaissance Monarchy is a welcome contribution to French Renaissance and European court studies. Mansfield's writing is engaging and lucid, making the book a readily accessible resource for students at all levels in the disciplines of both history and art history, particularly those studying the French court. The book is impressively researched and the extensive footnotes and bibliography will be a valuable tool for students and specialists alike."

  Reviewed in Sixteenth Century Journal by: Lisa Andersen, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. 

  Book chapters 

  2025 (Forthcoming): "Queenly Portraiture." In Powers 1100-1550. Routledge Resources Online: Medieval Studies, ed. Chris Jones and Hannele Klemettila.

  2022:"Portraiture" In Early Modern Court Culture, ed. Erin Griffey (London: Routledge), Chapter 20: 309-324.

  2020: "Mary Beale: Pioneer of Portraiture." In She Persists: Perspectives on Women in Art & Design, eds. Annika Aitken, Isobel Crombie, Megan Patty, Maria Quirk, Myles Russell-Cook (Melbourne: National Gallery of Victoria), 18-25. 

  2019: "Lustrous Virtue: Eleanor of Austria's Jewels and Gems as Composite Cultural Identity and Affective Maternal Agency." In Sartorial Politics in Early Modern Europe: Fashioning Women, ed. Erin Griffey (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press), 93-114.

  2018: "Portraits of Eleanor of Austria: From Invisible to Inimitable French Queen Consort." In Women and Power at the French Court, 1483-1563, ed. Susan Broomhall (Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press), 175-207. OPEN ACCESS

  2017: "The Grand Design of Francis I and His Northern Image-Makers: Jan van Scorel." In Arts et Artistes du Nord a la cour de Francois Ier, eds. Laure Fagnart and Isabelle Lecocq (Paris: Picard), 187-201. 

  2015: "Face to Face with the 'Flanders Mare': Fama and Hans Holbein the Younger's Portrait of Anne of Cleves." In Fama and Her Sisters: Gossip and Rumour in Early Modern Europe, ed. Claire I. Walker and Heather Kerr (Turnhout: Brepols), 115-35.

  2008: "The Art of Conjugal Discord: A Satirical Double Portrait of Francis I and Eleanor of Austria, c. 1530-35." In Practices of Gender in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe, ed. Peter Sherlock and Megan Cassidy-Welch (Turnhout: Brepols), 117-35.

  Journal articles

  2025: Co-author with Samantha Lane. "The Sarasa Zufu: an eighteenth-century Japanese manual for creating chintz." Japan Forum, 1-27.   

  2022: Mansfield, Lisa, Jessica Stanhope and Philip Weinstein, "Pride, Pain, and Punishment: Cacofonix as a Model of Resilience in the Adventures of Asterix." International Journal of Comic Art (IJOCA) 24:1 (Spring/Summer): 287-309.

  2019: Barbour, Kim and Lisa Mansfield, "Intersections between Corporeal Performance and Distributed Digital Audiences: Casey Jenkins and Remediated Artistic Practice." TDR/The Drama Review 63:1 (Spring 2019): 125-40. 

  Conference proceedings 

  2013: 'The Representation of Artefacts in Second Life: Interaction, Imagination, Interpretation, Innovation.' In The Challenge of the Object/Die Herausforderung des Objekts: Conference Proceedings, ed. Ulrich Grossmann and Petra Krutisch (4 vols, Nuremberg: Verlag des Germanischen Nationalmuseums), vol. 1.

  Book review

  2019: Solitudo: Spaces, Places, and Times of Solitude in Late Medieval and Early Modern Cultures, ed. Karl A.E. Enenkel and Christine Gottler (Leiden; Boston: Brill, 2018) in Emotions: History, Culture, Society 3: 324-325. 

  Exhibition catalogue

  2009: Making Nature: Masters of European Landscape, ed. Jane Messenger. Adelaide: Art Gallery of South Australia (three catalogue entries on Dutch seventeenth-century landscape paintings by Salomon van Ruysdael and Adrian Verboom).

   

• Media Expertise

  Categories	Arts & Culture
  Expertise	Northern Renaissance art and visual culture; portraiture and self-portraiture; representations of the body from Renaissance to contemporary art; past and present art censorship and iconoclasm; avatar image and identity in virtual environments.
  Notes	PhD Art History University of Melbourne; Member of Historians of Netherlandish Art (HNA) and Art Association of Australia and New Zealand (AAANZ).

Entry last updated: Friday, 25 Apr 2025

To link to this page, please use the following URL:  https://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/lisa.mansfield