Have Questions? We have answers.
Contact Us
Bio
Summer Trentin (she/her) is an art and architectural historian specializing in the ancient Mediterranean world. Her current research is centered on the architectural, aesthetic, and thematic functions of Roman peristyle gardens in the city of Pompeii and the ways in which Roman architecture reflected personal and cultural values. She has presented at conferences in the US, Canada, UK, and Italy and participated in archaeological digs in Italy, Greece, the Netherlands, and the US.Summer teaches upper-division courses on the art and culture of ancient Rome, Greece, and Egypt, as well as African Art and thematic seminars on topics such as landscape and ruins; she also co-created the MSU Denver Art in Italy study abroad program with Professor Sandy Lane. She considers it a privilege to share her love of art and antiquity with MSU Denver students.
Education
PhD Art History, Ancient Mediterranean Art, University of Iowa
MA Art History, Ancient Mediterranean Art, University of Iowa
MA Classics, Classical Art and Archaeology, University of Colorado Boulder
BA Studio Art, Secondary Education, Cornell College
Specialty courses taught
African Art
Art and Culture of Greece (study abroad)
Egyptian Art
Greek and Hellenistic Art
Pompeii to Petra: Roman Cities and Identity
Roman Art
Roman Italy and Its Legacy (study abroad)
Seminar: Landscape in the Ancient Mediterranean
Seminar: Nightmares, Horror, and Hell
Seminar: Ruins, Fragments, and Absence
Degree
PhD in Art History
University of Iowa
MA in Art History
University of Iowa
Other in Graduate courses in historic preservation and traditional painting methods
San Gemini Preservation Studies
MA in Classics
University of Colorado at Boulder
BA in Art, Secondary Education
Cornell College
Published Works
- Trentin, R. S. (2019). Reality, Artifice, and Changing Landscapes in the House of Marcus Lucretius in Pompeii. Greece & Rome, 66(1), 71-92. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0017383518000323.
- Trentin, R. S. (2005). Four catalog entries and nine informational essays. University of Colorado Boulder,
Research Interests
Aside from her ongoing research in Pompeii, Summer Trentin's research interests include Italian Renaissance and Baroque art, ancient cities and urbanism, the reception of ancient art since the early modern period, digital reconstruction, preservation of cultural heritage, and pedagogy.
Recent presentations
Trentin, S. R. (September 2025). "Multistability, mimesis, and epiphany: Painted deities in Pompeian gardens." Paper presented at Association Internationale pour la Peinture Murale Antique 16th Congress, Cagliari, Italy.
Trentin, S. R. (May 2025). "Theoxeny in Stone: A New Reading of Elderly “Genre” Statues," Paper presented at Mediterranean Studies Association, 27th Annual Congress, Gibraltar. (May 2025).
Trentin, S. R. (Spring 2023). "Antiquity’s Ghosts: William Gell’s Pompeiana and Nineteenth Century Visions of Rome." Paper presented at 119th Annual Meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, Provo UT.
Trentin, S. R., Dyhr, B. (January 2023). "The Corinthian Order and Garden Visibility in Pompeii: A Case Study Using Binary Regression Models." Paper presented at the AIA/SCS 2023 Joint Annual Meeting, New Orleans LA.
Trentin, S. R. (October 2022). "From Dakar to Denver: Teaching the Arts and Culture of Senegal." Panelist at West African Research Association Regional Conference, University of Kansas, virtual.
Trentin, S. R. (June 2021). “Building a Sustainable Future for Research and Teaching on Africa in the West." Panelist at West Coast Regional Conference on West Africa, virtual.
Trentin, S. R. (April 2021). "What if God Was One of Us: Old Fishermen, Elderly Market Women, and Xenia." Paper presented at 117th Annual Meeting of the Classical Association of the Middle West and South, virtual.