Weiliang Xu, Corpus Christi

Biographical Information

I graduated with a BA in English Literature from Fudan University in Shanghai in 2021. From 2021 to 2022, I pursued an MLitt in Art History at University of St Andrews with an emphasis on medieval art and architecture. I also hold an MPhil in Medieval Studies (History) from Trinity College Dublin. 

Research Interests

My doctoral research investigates the visual phenomenon of microarchitecture in late medieval England (c.1290-1500). More specifically, I examine six (groups of) examples of what I call 'complex microarchitecture' — the Eleanor crosses (1290s), the Exeter bishop's throne (1310s), the chantry chapel of William of Wykeham (1390s), a group of images in the Sherborne Missal (c.1400), the hanging pyx cover in Milton Abbey (late 15th century), and the font cover in Ufford, Suffolk (late 15th century). My research focuses on the affordances and performances of these works of complex microarchitecture in their immediate architectural, ritual, symbolic, and communal contexts. 

 

I am also interested in visual culture of late medieval England in general, manuscript studies, medieval Christian theology and philosophy, and museum studies. 

Selected Publications

Weiliang Xu, 'Representations of Architecture in the Sherborne Missal', Journal of the British Archaeological Association 178.1 (2025), pp. 116-48, https://doi.org/10.1080/00681288.2025.2517466