Books Published

Howard, Rebecca M., Portraiture and Mnemonics in Early Modern Italy: Connecting and Remembering (London, UK: Routledge, Visual and Material Culture, 1300-1700, 2026).

Howard, Rebecca M., ed., Arts, 2026, Special Issue: “Visual Culture, Emotion, and the Body in Early Modern Europe” (open access, https://www.mdpi.com/journal/arts/special_issues/1508EKILGY). Completed volume expected October 2026.

Howard, Rebecca M. and Christian K. Kleinbub, eds. The Body as Threshold in Early Modern European Art, volume in progress.

Howard, Rebecca M., Multisensory Memory at the Villa Barbaro di Maser, manuscript in progress.

Book Reviews

Howard, Rebecca M., Review of Painting Architecture in Renaissance Italy: Innovation and Persuasion at the Intersection of Artistic and Architectural Practice, by Livia Lupi, Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians, Fall 2025, vol. 84, no. 3, 416-418.

Howard, Rebecca M., Review of Pietro Bembo and the Intellectual Pleasures of a Renaissance Writer and Art Collector, by Susan Nalezyty, The Sixteenth Century Journal: The Journal of Early Modern Studies, Fall 2018, vol. xlix, no. 3, pp. 951-953.

Howard, Rebecca M., Review of Lomazzo’s Aesthetic Principles Reflected in the Art of his Time, ed. Lucia Tantardini and Rebecca Norris, The Sixteenth Century Journal: The Journal of Early Modern Studies, Spring 2022, vol. 53, no. 1, 228-230.

Howard, Rebecca M., Review of Michelangelo’s Inner Anatomies, by Christian Kleinbub, The Sixteenth Century Journal: The Journal of Early Modern Studies, Summer 2022, vol. 53, no. 2, 556-559.

Refereed Journal Publications

Howard, Rebecca M., “The Ca’ d’Oro in Context: Gilded Reflections of Extractive Architecture,” arq: Architectural Research Quarterly, forthcoming, 2026.

Howard, Rebecca M., “Galatea’s Mirror: Queer Metamorphosis in Pontormo’s Portrait of a Halberdier,” Source: Notes in the History of Art, Fall 2025, vol. 45, no. 1, 17-27.

Howard, Rebecca M., “Reviving Ancient Egypt in the Renaissance Hieroglyph: Humanist Aspirations to Immortality,” Arts, 2024, vol. 13, no. 116, Special Issue: “Ancient Egyptian Art Studies: Art in Motion, a Social Tool of Power and Resistance,” ed. Kathlyn Cooney and Alisée Devillers, 1-20 (open access, https://doi.org/10.3390/arts13040116).

Howard, Rebecca M., “St. Francis/San Francesco: White, Incorrupt, Divine,” in Early Modern Architecture and Whiteness: Power by Design, ed. Dijana Apostolski and Aaron White (Oxfordshire, UK: Routledge, Critical Junctures in Global Early Modernities series, 2025), 19-36.

Howard, Rebecca M., “Giovio's Impresa: Portrait of the Concetto,” Emblematica: Essays in Word & Image, Winter 2023, vol. 5, no. 1.

Howard, Rebecca M., “Whitewashing the Whitewashed Renaissance: Italian Renaissance Art through a Kapharian Lens,” in edited volume, Teaching Race in the European Renaissance: A Classroom Guide, ed. Anna Wainwright and Matthieu Chapman, Arizona Center of Medieval and Renaissance Studies, February 2023.

Howard, Rebecca M., “Interactive Commemoration in the Sacro Bosco,” Studies in the History of Gardens and Designed Landscapes, Winter 2020, vol. 40, no. 3-4, pp. 216-226.

Howard, Rebecca M., “The Sitter’s Impression: Memory and Early Modern Portrait Medallions,” Journal of Material Culture, 2019, vol. 24, no. 3, pp. 293-312.

Howard, Rebecca M., “A Mnemonic Reading of Botticelli’s Portrait of a Man with a Medal,” Source: Notes in the History of Art, Summer 2019, vol. 38, no. 4, pp. 196-205.

Howard, Rebecca M., “Benozzo Gozzoli, The Medici Palace Chapel Frescos,” essay for Smarthistory, April 2022, https://smarthistory.org/benozzo-gozzoli-magi-chapel-medici-palace-frescoes/.

Howard, Rebecca M., “Fra Filippo Lippi, Adoration in the Forest,” essay for Smarthistory, April 2022, https://smarthistory.org/fra-filippo-lippi-adoration/.

Howard, Rebecca M., “Hugo van der Goes, Portinari Altarpiece,” essay for Smarthistory, August 2020, https://smarthistory.org/van-der-goes-portinari/.

Howard, Rebecca M., “Botticelli, Portrait of a Man with a Medal of Cosimo il Vecchio de’ Medici,” essay for Smarthistory, June 2020, https://smarthistory.org/botticelli-portrait-man-with-medal/.

Non-Refereed Publications

Gamble, Antje and Rebecca Howard, “Italian Art Society Programs and Emerging Scholarship,” Preface, in Displaying Renaissance and Baroque Art: Exhibition Choices of Italian Museums Through Time, ed. Paola D’Alconzo, Donata Levi, and Daria Brasca, in series Clio. Essays in History, Archaeology and Art History (Naples, Italy: FedOA – Federico II University Press, 2026).

Presentations - Conference (refereed *)

"Galatea's Mirror: Bodily Metamorphosis in Pontormo's Portrait of a Halberdier" Sixteenth Century Society Annual Conference, Toronto, Ontario (October 2024)

"The Ca d'Oro in Context: Gilded Reflections of Colonialism and Empire," Society of Architectural Historians, Virtual Conference (September 2024)

“Fragmented and Broken Bodies of Early Modern Italian Portraiture,” Sixteenth Century Society Annual Conference, Minneapolis, MN (October 2022)

“Impressed Memories: Death Masks in Renaissance Italy,” Sixteenth Century Society Annual Conference, San Diego, CA (October 2021)

“The Istoriated Portrait of Early Modern Italy: The Interlocutor Teaches Itself,” Renaissance Society of America Annual Conference, Virtual Meeting (April 2021)

“Lake Como to the Dialogo: Paolo Giovio’s Public Portrait Collections” SECAC Annual Conference (Virtual Meeting, Richmond, VA, October 2020)

“Sacro Bosco as Interactive Emblem” Sixteenth Century Society Annual Conference (St. Louis, MO, October 2019)

“The Impresa: Expanding the Early Modern Portrait” International Conference in Paragone Studies (Ann Arbor, MI, November 2018)

“A Mnemonic Reading of Botticelli’s Portrait of a Man with a Medal” South-Central Renaissance Conference (Atlanta, GA, April 2018)

“Portrait Body, Viewer’s Body: Anthropomorphizing the Covered Portrait” Sixteenth Century Society Annual Conference (Milwaukee, WI, October 2017)

“Early Modern Memory and the Role of the Portrait Medallion” Renaissance Society of America Annual Conference (Chicago, IL, April 2017)

“The Sitter’s Impression: Vision, Memory, and Early Modern Portrait Medallions” College Art Association Annual Conference (New York City, NY, February 2017)

“Traversing the Space of the Memory House: Commemoration Through Space in Early Modern Italian Portraits” Renaissance Society of America Annual Conference (Boston, MA, April 2016)

“Alberti’s Disembodied Eye: Embodying Memory and Vision Theory” Renaissance Society of America Annual Conference (New York City, NY, March 2014)

“The Italian Impresa: Symbol of a Global Europe” Sixteenth Century Society Annual Conference (San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 2013)

“Perpetual Fame: Secured with a Dolphin and an Anchor” Sixteenth Century Society Annual Conference (Cincinnati, OH, October 2012)

“Leonardo’s Rebus: Moving Beyond the Word-Image Paragone” Inaugural International Conference in Paragone Studies (Flint, MI, July 2012)

“The Renaissance Hieroglyph: Humanist Aspirations to Immortality” Renaissance Society of America Annual Conference (Washington, D.C., March 2012)

Presentations - Universities/Industry (refereed *)

“Teaching Race in the Renaissance,” Guest Lecture, Council of Independent Colleges & Samuel H. Kress Foundation, seminar led by Dr. Victor Coonin, Power and Absence: Connecting Renaissance Art to Diverse Audiences, Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Memphis, TN (June 2023)

"Portrait Medallions, Death Masks, and Memory in Renaissance Italy,” Virtual Guest Lecture, “Art Talks” Series, University of Mississippi, University, MS (October 2023)

“Art and the Church in the Age of Reformation,” Guest Lecture, Gallery Talk, Louisa Arts Center, Louisa, VA (December 2022)

“Death Masks and Sense Impressions in Renaissance Italy,” NEDtalks, University of Memphis Faculty Research Forum, Memphis, TN (November 2022)

“Balthazar and Black Africans in Italian Renaissance Art,” Virtual Guest Lecture, Universidad Iberoamericana Ciudad de México, Mexico City, Mexico (September 2022)

"Women Artists Rocking the Art World of Early Modern Italy," Guest Lecture, Gallery Talk, Louisa Arts Center, Louisa, VA (June 2022)

“Renaissance Art in Florence,” Guest Lecture for Study Abroad Program, Dr. Kathy Tuberville’s class, Department of Management, University of Memphis (April 2022)

"Black Africans in Early Modern European Art," Virtual Guest Lecture, College of William and Mary, Williamsburg, VA (February 2022)

"Some Bad@ss Women Painters of Early Modern Italy," Virtual Guest Lecture, Guerrilla Girls Feminist Club, Monacan High School, Richmond, VA (November 2021)

“Talking to Your Professor about Problems,” Interview for “How to Deal” Podcast, hosted by Student Health and Counseling Services, University of Memphis, Memphis, TN (https://anchor.fm/the-university-of-memphis-shcs) (October 2021)

“Balthazar in Context: Black Africans in Early Modern Europe,” Café Conversation, Virtual Guest Lecture in Mini-Series, “Race, Art History, and the Museum,” Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN (May 2021)

“Renaissance Portraiture,” Café Conversation, Virtual Guest Lecture, Brooks Museum of Art, Memphis, TN (January 2021)

“The Brain, the Memory, and Italian Renaissance Portrait Medallions,” Virtual Guest Lecture, Southern European Renaissance course, Southern Connecticut State University (January 2021)

“Botticelli’s Portrait of a Man with a Medal and Commemoration in Italian Renaissance Portraiture,” Virtual Guest Lecture, Renaissance Italy course, Ringling College of Art & Design (November 2020)

“Portrait Body, Viewer’s Mind: Dissection and Memory in the Covered Portraits of Renaissance Italy,” Virtual Guest Lecture, Southern Illinois University (March 2020)

“Navigating between the Undergraduate and Graduate Research Worlds” Keynote Address, Paideia Undergraduate and Graduate Annual Research Conference, Christopher Newport University (Newport News, VA, April 2016)

Other Presentations (refereed *)

"The Basilica of San Francesco: A Miraculous Stone Body," Guest Lecture for Symposium: San Francesco’s Transitus at 800 (1226-2026): “The most saintly among Italians, the most Italian among the saints,” University of Dallas, Dallas, TX (November 2026)

“Veronese’s Portraits in the Villa di Maser: Memories in Space,” Renaissance Society of America Annual Conference, San Francisco, CA (April 2026)

“Motherhood in Art & Music Through the Ages,” with Ewelina Boczkowska, Guest Lecture, Munch and Learn Series, Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Memphis, TN (May 2026)

“A House to Remember: Surprise, Space, and Mnemonics in the Villa di Maser,” Sixteenth Century Society Annual Conference, Portland, OR (October 2025)

“Notes and Strokes: American Women Composers and Artists in Paris,” with Ewelina Boczkowska, Guest Lecture, Munch and Learn Series, Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Memphis, TN (September 2025)

“Scoring Modern Visions of Paris: A Music & Art Lecture” with Ewelina Boczkowska, Guest Lecture, Munch and Learn Series, Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Memphis, TN (April 2025)

“Mnemonic Spaces in Italian Renaissance Portraiture,” Keynote Address, University of Alabama (UA/UAB) Art History Graduate Student Symposium, University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL (March 2025)

“Tulips and Trade in the Dutch Golden Age,” Guest Lecture, Munch and Learn Series, Dixon Gallery & Gardens, Memphis, TN (March 2025)

Appendix A

Appendix B

Appendix D