RESEARCH FELLOW (HON) THE SCHOOL OF ART HISTORY, CINEMA, CLASSICS AND ARCHAEOLOGY, THE UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE
Dr Betka's research into Italian lay confraternities in late medieval Italy has led to a detailed study of illuminated Laudarios—illuminated books of vernacular hymns—and the interactive nature of sung texts with images, both with reference to illustrations in manuscripts and to monumental church panels and frescoes.These distinctive manuscripts, used in the context of liturgical and paraliturgical worship, have revealed a rich array of devotional themes, which express the spiritual aspirations of the laity in terms of family, confraternity, and church affiliation. This in turn has led her to further research into the importance of icons and monumental devotional panels—particularly those of the Virgin and Child in Italian thirteenth- and fourteenth-century lay devotional practice. In addition, she is further exploring the relationship of the Laudario to the illuminated liturgical Choir Book particularly in terms of the range and treatment of the themes expressed in each genre. The Laudarios bring a new and distinctive form of illuminated manuscript to the attention of the Resource Unit, a genre that has not as yet been thoroughly investigated in relation to imagery and contextual use, and which conveys fresh insights into the nature of lay communal worship.

Work in Progress
~ ‘The Laudario: A Lay Choir Book’ in Margaret M. Manion, History of the Italian Illuminated Choir Book (Macmillan, Australia, 2007) (2004-5) Research Assistant Grade 2: History of the Italian Illuminated Choir Book.

~ The Medieval Italian Workshop. Painters and Illuminators, Patrons and Techniques(Monograph)

~ Catalogue entries: 'The Laudario of Sant'Agnese nel Carmine, Florence, c.1350', Catalogues of the Illuminated Manuscripts in the Collections of Cambridge (Multi-volume series), ed. Stella Panayotova (Cambridge).

Dr Betka is an experienced teacher of Art History and also conducts studio workshop courses in Icon painting, Italian panel painting and gilding methods, and is a practising artist who works in egg tempera on wood and vellum. Her paintings were featured on the Australian Christmas stamp series for 2005 (www.auspost.com.au/BCP/0,1080,CH4256%257EMO19,00.html).

Select Publications

Books

• Editorial committee: Byzantine Narrative. Proceedings of the XIVth conference of the Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, in Honour of Roger Scott, 13-15 August 2004. Edited by J. Burke, U. Betka, P. Buckley, K. Hay, A. Stevenson & R. Scott (Melbourne 2006).  (Editor of Art History papers)
  

• Marian Images and Laudesi Devotion in Late Medieval Italy, ca.1260-1350. Ph.D dissertation, The University of Melbourne, 2001 (UMI Michigan, 2002).

Recent Publications and in Press

• 'A Sweet Baby you have made us: Laudesi Devotion in Trecento Tuscany', in The Childhood of Christ Revisited; Images, Texts, and Devotions, Proceedings of The 40th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo (5-8 May 2005), ICMA (New York). Publication planned 2006/7.
• ‘Icon and Narrative. Commemorating Saint Francis in Assisi’, Byzantine Narrative. Papers in Honour of Roger Scott. Eds., J. Burke, U. Betka, P. Buckley, K. Hay, A. Stevenson & R. Scott , Australian Association for Byzantine Studies, Byzantina Australiensia 16 (Melbourne, 2006), 303-319.
• 'The 2005 Australian Christmas Stamps—Images of the Sacred', Aurora, Dec. (2005)
• 'A Medieval Art for Modern Calligraphers—Historiating the Gothic initial', Rivista dell’Incipit. Calligrafia Italiana.