The Department would like to congratulate Dr James Hillson on his appointment as a Junior Research Fellow at Emmanuel College. James Hillson is an art historian specialising in Gothic Architecture in northwestern Europe between 1200 and 1400. His researc

The Department would like to congratulate Dr James Hillson on his appointment as a Junior Research Fellow at Emmanuel College. James Hillson is an art historian specialising in Gothic Architecture in northwestern Europe between 1200 and 1400.  His research focuses on interactions between art and politics and their implications for design and construction processes within royal patronage. His wider academic interests include perceptions of art and national identity, the development and use of heraldry in architectural form, medieval copying, processes of international stylistic transfer and the application of digital techniques to the study of buildings.

James completed his BA in History of Art at the University of Cambridge in 2011, and an MA at the Department of History of Art at the University of York in 2012.  In 2015, he received his PhD from the University of York.  Entitled “St Stephen’s Chapel, Westminster: Architecture, Decoration and Politics in the Reigns of Henry III and the three Edwards (1227-1363)”, his thesis provides a comprehensive reassessment of the construction and design history of this influential monument and a re-evaluation of the political context of its creation.  He continues to be affiliated with the Virtual St Stephen’s Project at the University of York (http://www.virtualststephens.org.uk), which is producing a digital model of the chapel for public display.