Alex Collins is a PhDl student in the History of Art at the University of Edinburgh, where he researches medieval art and architecture.. He studied his MA in Art History and English at the University of St Andrews in 2009, before working in heritage and local government. At the University of Edinburgh, Alex teaches art and architectural history.

Born and raised in Milan, Irene moved to Scotland in 2009. She achieved a PhD in Art History at the University of Edinburgh in 2015. Her doctoral thesis looked at the artistic patronage of the Vespucci family in fifteenth-century Florence. Irene currently works at the University of Edinburgh. She loves art, coffee, yoga, and the sun – not necessarily in this order. Despite her reluctance to sit on planes, she is a travel addict and she hopes to tour the world one day. Edinburgh stole her heart and it is now her home.

Hugh was born in Scotland, and raised on his father’s farm in Perthshire. He was educated at Cambridge University, where he read French and German literature. After completing his doctoral thesis in German, he joined the British foreign service, and spent over 25 years travelling the world as a diplomat, ultimately with the rank of ambassador.