PhD student
E-mail: merike.kurisoo@gmail.com
Merike Kurisoo is a doctoral student at Tallinn University. Her main fields of interest are medieval and early modern church art and visual culture. She is currently working on her dissertation titled “Use and Re-use of Medieval Church Interior and Furnishing in Lutheran Estonia and Livonia in 16th and 17th century”.
Merike works as curator in the Niguliste Museum, a branch of the Art Museum of Estonia. She received her M. A. in Art History from Tartu University (2006) and since 2007 lectures at Tallinn University. She has published a monograph on medieval baptismal fonts and articles on medieval and early modern art.
Project:
In the project, Merike concentrates on the changes in attitudes and practices to sacred space and images in the early modern period. The research focuses on the adaptation of medieval art and church interior by Lutheran Church in 16th–17th century Estonia and Latvia. The main questions are how, why and when the church interior changed in the context of new confession, and how was the medieval images used, re-used or discarded in this new context. It is also relevant to study, which saints continued to be depicted in the Lutheran context and how they were perceived in the Early Modern era as compared to the Middle Ages.
Publications
include a monograph and ca 10 articles. The most relevant to this project comprise the following:
Ristimise läte. Ristimiskivid keskaegsel Liivimaal (Medieval Baptismal Fonts in Livonia). Tallinn: Muinsuskaitseamet, 2009.
"Sancta Anna ora pro nobis. Images and Veneration of St Anne in Medieval Livonia." Acta Historiae Artium Balticae 2 (2007): 18–34.
"Tallinna Püha hõimkonna altariretaabel. Algsest pildiprogrammist Madalmaade hiliskeskaegsete Püha Anna legendide taustal (The Tallinn Holy Kinship Altarpiece: Initial pictorial programme in light of the late medieval legends of St. Anne)." Kunstiteaduslikke Uurimusi 15/3 (2006): 37–69.
Detailed CV and a full list of publications can be found in Estonian Research Portal: https://www.etis.ee/index.aspx?lang=en → People → K → Merike Kurisoo