SHORT PROFILE (updated July 2025)

Nicoletta Usai is Associate Professor of Medieval Art History (L-ART/01) and is affiliated with the Department of Literature, Languages and Cultural Heritage in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Cagliari. From 1 March 2021 to 29 February 2024, she held the position of TdB researcher. She was certified by ASN 2018-2020, II fascia, 10/B1 (Art History).

Education

She graduated from the Faculty of Arts at the University of Cagliari with a thesis on “The frescoes of San Julián de los Prados (Oviedo)” (supervisor: Prof. Roberto Coroneo). She obtained her PhD in Anthropology, Medieval History, Philology and Literature of the Western Mediterranean in relation to Sardinia at the University of Sassari, with a thesis in Medieval Art History on “The palatine chapels within the defensive system of medieval Sardinia”. In the 2006/2007 academic year, she was a research fellow at the Roberto Longhi Foundation for Art History Studies in Florence to develop a research project on “Romanesque painting in Sardinia. The cycle of the Holy Trinity of Saccargia” (tutor Prof. Miklós Boscovits).

Positions, scientific and editorial committees

She is a member of the Council of the Department of Literature, Languages and Cultural Heritage and belongs to the Class Council for Degrees in Cultural Heritage. She is a member of the Executive Committee of the National University Council for Art History (CUNSTA), representing the Associate Professors of SSD L-Art/01. She is a member of the Editorial Board of 'Abside. Rivista di Storia dell'Arte' (Abside. Journal of Art History) of the University of Cagliari. He is a member of the Editorial Board of “Archeoarte. Rivista di Archeologia e Arte” (Archeoarte. Journal of Archaeology and Art) of the University of Cagliari. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the journal “Venezia Arti”, a journal of art history of the Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage of Ca' Foscari University of Venice. He is a member of the scientific committee of the series ‘I Tempi’, Iskra Edizioni (Oristano). 

Teaching, research and promotion of research products

His teaching activities include teaching Byzantine Art History, History of Minor Arts and Theory and Technique of Restoration in the Master's Degree course in Art History (LM89); from the 2024/25 academic year, she also teaches Art History Methodologies in the Bachelor's Degree course in Cultural Heritage and Entertainment (L1-L3). He participated in the Teaching Staff Mobility (MOSTA) LLP–Erasmus Programme for the 2016/2017 academic year at the Universitat de Barcelona-Institut de Recerca en Cultures Medievals (IRCVM) with a seminar on “El arte y la arquitectura de Cerdeña entre los siglos XIII-XIV” (8 hours).

His research activities have involved participation in national and international projects with the University of Cagliari, Department of Literature, Languages and Cultural Heritage, and with the University of Sassari, Department of History, Human Sciences and Education. Print and digital publications, as well as national and international conferences in which he participates, reflect his main research interests in the following thematic fields: medieval painting and architecture in the Upper Tyrrhenian Sea and Iberian Peninsula, with particular attention to the role of patronage, iconographic aspects and the history of restoration.

The promotion of research is carried out through participation in educational events as well as in the activities of “Vestigia - Laboratory of Education and Communication of Cultural Heritage” at the Department of Literature, Languages and Cultural Heritage of the University of Cagliari. The laboratory aims to promote research and knowledge in various fields of cultural heritage in order to contribute, through scientific dissemination, to the social, cultural and economic development of society by building a network of collaborations with institutions, schools and associations in the area.