Pagina di Bühren

Facoltà di Comunicazione Sociale Istituzionale

Architectural History and Art History

buhren@pusc.it

Curriculum Vitae

Professore Straordinario

Address

Dr. Ralf van Bühren

Pontificia Università della Santa Croce

Piazza di Sant'Apollinare, 49

I–00186 Roma

Italy

Teaching Architectural History and Art History in contexts of:

Reception of the Bible in the Visual Arts (Biblical Iconography)
Liturgical Art. History from Antiquity to the Present
History of the Ecumenical Councils. Impact on Sacred Architecture and the Visual Arts
Artworks as a Visual Expression of Theological Ideas
Florence, Venice, Naples and Rome. Identity and Urban Cultures

Religious Studies

Christian Art and Architecture in Rome. From Antiquity to the Present (Lectures in English, from February to May 2025, open only to students of other universities)

School of Communication

Visual Rhetoric. Christian Art as «locus theologicus»
Semiotics of the Visual Arts as Communication Media
Methods of Guided Tours in Cities, Museums, and Churches
Pastoral Attention to Religious Tourism: Visual and Verbal Communications
The Relevance of Art History to Cultural Journalism
Cultural Heritage of the Church: Conservation, Promotion, Management, Legislation, Formation, Training of Experts

School of Theology

History of Liturgical Art and Architecture. From Antiquity to the Present (Institute of Liturgy)
Christian Art and Sacred Architecture. Modern and Contemporary History (1420–2024) (Department of Church History)
History and Communication of the Iconography of Art

Representative Publications

Arte e Chiesa nei secoli XX e XXI. Il significato permanente del Concilio Vaticano II, Brescia: Morcelliana, 2025 [in preparation]

The invisible divine in the history of art. Is Erwin Panofsky (1892-1968) still relevant for decoding Christian iconography?, together with Maciej Jan Jasinski, in: Church, Communication and Culture 9 (2024), pp. 1-36. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23753234.2024.2322546

Revelation in the Visual Arts, in: The Oxford Handbook of Divine Revelation, ed. by Balázs M. Mezei, Francesca Aran Murphy and Kenneth Oakes, New York / Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021, pp. 622-640

Architettura e arte al Concilio Vaticano II, in: Nobile semplicità. Liturgia, arte e architettura del Vaticano II, ed. by Goffredo Boselli, Magnano: Qiqajon, 2014, pp. 141-178

Kunst und Kirche im 20. Jahrhundert. Die Rezeption des Zweiten Vatikanischen Konzils (Konziliengeschichte, Series B: Untersuchungen, ed. by Walter Brandmüller), Paderborn: Schöningh, 2008

Research Areas

Visual Studies and Art History
Religious Tourism. New Media Communications and the Implications of Mixed Interests
Second Vatican Council (1962–1965) and the Arts. Documents, History and Reception
Church Architecture in the Renaissance and Baroque. The Impact of Liturgical Reforms during the Council of Trent
Liturgical Art. History, Mystagogical Understanding, and Liturgical Formation
History of Roman Art and Architecture
Pastoral Attention to the Cultural Heritage of the Church (Liturgical Mystagogy, Guided Tours, Popular Piety, Catechesis, Sermon, Religious Education, Social Media)
Popes and Artists in the 20th and 21st Centuries. From Pius X to Francis
History of the Catholic Church’s Magisterium on Art and Artists (Ecumenical Councils, Apostolic See, Synod of Bishops, Bishops’ Conferences)

Academic Degrees

2006 Dr. theol. in History of the Church at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce, Rome (Pontificia Università della Santa Croce, Roma)

2003 Licentiate in History of the Church at the Pontifical University of Santa Croce, Rome (Pontificia Università della Santa Croce, Roma)

1994 Dr. phil. in Art History at the University of Cologne, Germany (Universität zu Köln)

1991 Magister Artium in Art History at the University of Munich, Germany (Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München)

Websites and Social Links

orcid.org/0000-0002-7704-5982