Academic interests
Ciolfi's research primarily explores written witnesses of often-neglected texts from the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, producing critical editions and reconstructing the cultural contexts that commissioned, utilized, and adapted these literary works. Within this framework, Ciolfi is examining the figure and role of Emperor John III Vatatzes (1221-1254) in both Byzantine and post-Byzantine periods, with a particular focus on the emergence of his liturgical and political cult.
Additionally, his work also encompasses Greek paremiographic collections of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries and their connections to the evolution of Western paremiographical anthologies.
Current research project
"Son of a lost Empire, Father of the Greek Dream: The many Lives of Emperor John III Vatatzes"
Education
- Ph.D. from the EHESS (Paris).
- MA degree “European Diploma in Mediaeval Studies” awarded by the International Federation of Institutes for Medieval Studies (FIDEM).
- BA and MA degrees in Classical Philology and Greek Palaeography from Sapienza – Università di Roma.
Affiliations
While serving as a Juan de la Cierva researcher in Byzantine Studies at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where his work focuses on reception studies, Ciolfi is affiliated with the Norwegian Institute in Rome for the period from 1 September 2025 to 31 January 2026.