FALVEY LIBRARY

Biographies

lagalanteProfessor Anthony Lagalante obtained his B.S. in chemistry from Virginia Tech and his Ph.D. in analytical chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder.  He was a postdoctoral researcher and later a staff research chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Boulder, CO.  He is currently an Associate Professor of Chemistry at Villanova University and an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Department of Art Conservation at the University of Delaware.  He instructs undergraduate and graduate courses in Analytical Chemistry as well as The Science of Art for non-science majors.  His collaborative research on cleaning acrylic paintings with Richard Wolbers at the University of Delaware is funded through the National Science Foundation.  Dr. Lagalante also instructs conservation science workshops on the analysis of art and artifacts using modern analytical instrumentation through the NSF Chemistry Collaborations, Workshops & Communities of Scholars.  You can read more about Dr. Lagalante on his website.

 

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Amanda Norbutus’ background has focused mainly on the surface analysis of art. She analyzed the materials and methods used in a Dutch-genre painting as part of her master’s thesis research in analytical chemistry (M.S., Villanova University, 2008).  At the University of Delaware, Amanda investigated the best practices of outdoor public mural production, protection, and preservation as part of her doctoral research; specifically, the assessment of commercially-available paints and protective coatings.  Her current research as a Mendel Science Postdoctoral Fellow in Chemistry involves protective coatings for modern art.  She is a lecturer in the science of art materials, art conservation, as well as criminalistics and forensics at Villanova University and an instructor for the NSF Chemistry Collaborations, Workshops & Communities of Scholars “Advanced Chemistry and Art” workshops.

 

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Kristen Watts is currently a graduate student at Villanova University pursuing a masters’ degree in chemistry, conducting research under Dr. Anthony Lagalante. Her current research involves providing scientific analysis for the conservation of David and Goliath at the university. She graduated with a B.S. in chemistry, magna cum laude, from Furman University (Greenville, SC). Her previous research activities include a summer (2013) internship at the Library of Congress studying the utilization of near-infrared spectroscopy paired with partial least squares regression chemometrics as a potential avenue for non-

destructive analysis of paper characteristics, such as degree of polymerization and pH. She also spent seven months researching at ARC-Nucleart (Grenoble, France) during 2012 where she investigated the method development for the extraction of binding materials from polychrome samples for identification with micro-transmission FT-IR as well as analyzing the degradation of an excavated 1st century Gallo-Roman shipwreck and the identification of corrosion products found on iron nails.

WroczynskiEmily Wroczynski, Conservation Intern, is pursuing her graduate degree in art conservation at the Winterthur Museum/ University of Delaware Program.  She holds a B.A. in Art History and Spanish from the University of Rochester. Before beginning her graduate studies she worked at West Lake Conservators, Ltd., a private paintings lab, and Colonial Williamsburg in archaeological materials and paper conservation. She has declared her specialty as painted surfaces with a minor in paper conservation.  Emily has a specific interest in historic wall coverings and wallpapers. Emily is excited to be participating in this large-scale conservation effort at Villanova. When she is not at Villanova, she is volunteering in conservation at the Historic Odessa Foundation.

Kristin de Ghetaldi is a painting conservator who graduated in 2008 with a Master of Science degree from the Winterthur/University of Delaware program in Conservation.  In 2011 she completed a three-year Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship in Painting Conservation at the National Gallery of Art working on the treatment of Old Master easel paintings. Kristin is currently pursuing a PhD in Preservation Studies at the University of Delaware.  She has also participated in internships and conservation positions at the J. Paul Getty Museum, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the RISD Museum.  Kristin earned a post-baccalaureate certifi

cate in conservation (2004) at the Studio Art Centers International in Florence, Italy and a BA (2003) in Chemistry from Grinnell College.

Maggie Bearden, conservation intern, graduated from the University of Delaware in 2011 with honors B.A.s in Material Culture Preservation and Art History. Since graduation she has completed a two-year IMLS silver conservation grant at Winterthur Museum, Garden & Library and participated in the Philadelphia Rodin Museum Rejuvenation project. When not at Villanova, Maggie works as a conservation technician in the paper conservation laboratory of the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

Professor Timothy McCall, associate professor of Art History, received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Dr. McCall’s research centers on art of the Italian Renaissance courts, and on the visual intersections of power and gender more broadly, with interest in the history of fashion, material culture, and the history of sexuality. Dr. McCall has published in journals including Renaissance Studies, Studies in Iconography, and I Tatti Studies in the Italian Renaissance. In 2010-11, Dr. McCall was a fellow at the Villa I Tatti, the Harvard University Center for Italian Renaissance Studies in Florence, and he has won additional fellowships from the Folger Shakespeare Library, Penn Humanities Forum, and Renaissance Society of America. The co-edited Visual Cultures of Secrecy in Early Modern Europe was published in 2013, and he is putting the finishing touches on themonograph Brilliant Bodies: Men at Court in Early Renaissance Italy.

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Rachel Godat is a senior pursuing an honors degree in art history. She is in the process of applying to graduate school to pursue a of the hospital.Ph.D. in art history. Rachel has interned at the Bryn Mawr Rehabilitation Hospital’s Art Ability program since January 2013, which celebrates artists with disabilities. She curated a small show entitled Mapping Landscapes that is currently on display in the Birch Unit.

 

Menika Dirkson is the graduate intern working on the genealogy of Princess Eugenia Ruspoli (1861-1951), the philanthropist who donated Pietro da Cortona’s Triumph of David to Villanova in 1950. She has been a genealogist since 2008, specializing in African American genealogy. In 2013 she received her Bachelor of Arts in History, Cultural Studies, and Latin American Studies from Villanova. Her undergraduate thesis, From Europe to Africa: The Genealogy of a Black American, Fifteen Generations Back, not only documented how she discovered her ancestry in four years, but also provided information on how African Americans can trace their genealogy back to Europe and Africa using government, archival, and literary records and genealogical DNA testing. Dirkson is currently pursuing her Master of Arts in History at Villanova.

 

Professor Mark Sullivan is the director and co-founder of Villanova’s Art History Program.  The program was started in 1993, and just marked its twentieth anniversary.  Dr. Sullivan earned his Ph. D. in the History of Art at Bryn Mawr College.  His specialty is American Art, about which he has written numerous books and articles; but he has also written about Pietro da Cortona’s  ceiling paintings, in particular the artist’s masterpiece at the Barberini Palace in Rome.  Dr. Sullivan can be reached at mark.sullivan@villanova.edu, or at 610-519-6933.

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Last Modified: October 10, 2013