Ouachita to host Fabrizio Conti in medieval art lectures

ARKADELPHIA, Ark.—­Ouachita Baptist University will host Fabrizio Conti, an Italian scholar speaking on “Early Christian Art & Iconography in Rome.” Sept. 29 at 7:30 p.m. in Hickingbotham Hall’s Young Auditorium on Ouachita’s campus. The lecture is free and open to the public.

 
In addition to the lecture, Conti will present a faculty colloquium Oct. 5 at 12 noon on “Learned traditions against superstitious rituals in early Renaissance Italy.” This lecture will be repeated for the public Oct. 7 at 5 p.m. in the Garrison Center’s Ross Room on Henderson’s campus. He will also lecture to students during Western Letters and Chaucer classes at OBU.  
 
“He brings a firsthand perspective on the Roman catacombs and early Christian art that we Americans don’t usually have access to,” said Mary Beth Long, assistant professor of English at Ouachita.
 
Conti is a doctoral candidate in medieval studies at Central European University in Budapest, has studied at the Nordic Centre for Medieval Studies and has spent time working in the Vatican Archives. He earned a Master of Humanities degree in medieval history at the Università degli Studi di Roma.
 
Conti has presented at conferences in Italy, England and Greece, and has made many publications, both in English and Italian.
 
“He’s a medievalist historian,” Long noted, commenting on Conti’s benefits to the Ouachita community, “so his take on early Christian art and culture will be interestingly different from what we might get on the same topic in a class at OBU.”