Stefania Vai started her PhD at the University of Edinburgh in 2021. Her research focuses on the Roman period of the Bolognese painter, Lavinia Fontana.

She holds a BA in History of Art from the University of Rome La Sapienza, an MA in History of Modern Art from the University of Rome La Sapienza, and an MA in Curatorship and Renaissance Culture from the Warburg Institute of London, where she was awarded the scholarship SAS Cassal Bursary French and Francophone Studies. In 2014, she received a certificate of merit awarded by the University of Rome, La Sapienza, by way of confirmation of a high level of competence and outstanding academic skills.

Prior to her PhD, Stefania worked as a museum educator at the Vatican Museums, the Borghese Gallery, and the Complesso del Vittoriano in Rome.

Publications:

• 'Gli affreschi di palazzo Astalli’, Bollettino dei musei comunali di Roma, 2015, XXIX, pp. 5-16.
• ‘Lavinia Fontana’s Pallade Ignuda’, Iconocrazia, Iconocratic Studies. In memory of Sarah Jordan Lippert, 2020, XVIII.
• ‘I soffitti lignei dell’appartamento nuovo del cardinale Flavio Chigi a Formello. Tra studi di ornitologia e passione per l’uccellagione' in Mostrare il sapere ed M. C. Cola, in press.