Lena Liepe

Lena Liepe
Lena Liepe in the Swedish institute 2016, Kavala, Greece.
Born (1962-09-14) September 14, 1962 (age 62)
Lund, Sweden
OccupationProfessor
Known forresearch on medieval art history
SpousePer Bäckström
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Lund, Sweden
Academic work
InstitutionsLinnaeus University, Sweden
University of Oslo, Norway
University of Tromsø, Norway

Lena Liepe, born 1962, is a Swedish art historian,[1] who since 2017 is professor in art history at Linnaeus University, Sweden. She has worked at the University of Lund, Sweden, University of Tromsø, Norway and University of Oslo, Norway. Her main research areas are medieval art history, art theory and method, genus perspective on medieval art,[2] and icelandic medieval illuminated manuscripts.[3] In her research she has focused on how museums in Sweden grew out of 19th century displays of medieval church art,[4] and for the moment she completes a major work on the importance of relics in medieval church art. Her broad approach to the studies of medieval art and illuminations have had a deep impact in the Nordic research in the different areas she has covered, and she has also been recognized internationally.

She is a member of Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, International Centre for Medieval Art (ICMA) and Swedish Art Critics Association (AICA). She has received two of the largest prices for research in the humanities in the Nordic countries: Jarl Gallén’s price 2016 to “a renowned Nordic medieval historian”,[5] and Gad Rausing’s price 2019 for “her pioneering and profound studies of Nordic medieval art”.[6]

  1. ^ See The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities for a short biography (in Swedish)
  2. ^ Lena Liepe. Den medeltida kroppen. Kroppens och könets ikonografi i nordisk medeltid (The Medieval Body. The Iconography of Body and Genus in Nordic Middle Ages), Lund : Nordic Academic Press, 2003.
  3. ^ Lena Liepe. Studies in Icelandic Fourteenth Century Book Painting, Reykholt: Snorrastofa, rit. vol. VI, 2009.
  4. ^ Lena Liepe. A Case for the Middle Ages. The Public Display of Medieval Church Art in Sweden 1847–1943, Stockholm: The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities, 2018.
  5. ^ Announcement of the Jarl Gallén price in Historical journal in Finland
  6. ^ The Royal Swedish Academy of Letters, History and Antiquities announcement of the prize (in Swedish)