Herbert Leon Kessler

His research covers three fields: Early Christian and Jewish art, Carolingian manuscript illumination, and italian church decoration through the end of the Middle Ages. He is particularly interested in the theoretical bases of medieval image making and the relationship between texts and pictures. Although he has focused on illustrated books and other forms of narrative art, he has recently turned his attention to sacred potraiture, particularly the miraculously produced faces of Christ that functioned as the justification for image production.