Research Interests
Political, cultural, and art history of Early Modern Europe, with particular fascination regarding Florentine public life in the 15th and 16th centuries, artistic patronage, and the political appropriation of religious figures during the Italian Renaissance.
Sarah is a Graduate College fellow studying Renaissance art. She graduated summa cum laude from Oklahoma State University, where she majored in History and double minored in European Studies and Ancient and Medieval Studies. Her undergraduate honors thesis, “The Art of Decapitation: Medici Power, Prestige, and Propaganda,” examined the use of decapitation imagery by Florentine political powers to influence public perception of capital punishment. Following her graduation, Sarah spent a year in Germany teaching English as a Fulbright scholar. As a Fulbright scholar she also researched Italian influence on the Northern Renaissance, particularly in the shift of Albrecht Dürer’s work following this return from Italy at the turn of the 16th century.