Samuel Morrison Gallacher

Samuel Morrison
Gallacher
Samuel Morrison Gallacher read history at Peterhouse, University of Cambridge, graduating in 2009 with First Class Honours and the Sir Herbert Butterfield Prize for History. After completing his M.Phil. at Cambridge in 2010, he has been a doctoral scholarship holder at IMT Institute for Advanced Studies in Lucca, Italy, since February 2011.

He is currently a Thesaurus Poloniae Junior Fellow of the National Academy of Heritage at the International Cultural Centre, Kraków, where he is researching the history of diplomatic gift-exchange at the Jagiellonian Court.  

Research Interest

My Ph.D. research is on art and diplomacy in sixteenth century Europe and the Mediterranean. 

Specifically, I am interested in the connection between type, context, and meaning of art-objects used as diplomatic gifts. My research considers the increasing sophistication of diplomatic practice within the cultural trends of the Renaissance classical tradition and the volatility of sixteenth century politics as transformative influences on the use, status, and significance of diplomatic gifts. 

My thesis will contribute to our understanding of both early modern material and court culture and the history of collecting in Europe.

I am jointly supervised by Professor Salvatore Settis of the Scuola Normale di Superiore, Pisa, and by Professor Maria Luisa Catoni of IMT Institute for Advanced Studies, Lucca. 

As this research has a strong museological dimension, I am an affiliated researcher with ICOM Europe.