Jan van Daal is a PhD candidate at Utrecht University. He obtained his BAs (Archaeology, Latin) as well as his MSc (Technical Art History) from the University of Amsterdam. As a technical art historian he focusses on the creation processes of cultural heritage. This entails integrating art historical and art technological source research, historically informed reconstructions and scientific analysis of objects.

He is active within the ERC-funded project DURARE: Dynamics of the Durable: A History of Making Things Last in the Visual and Decorative Arts (Grant agreement ID: 852732), supervised by dr. Marjolijn Bol. Jan’s individual project within DURARE is an amalgamation of his background in Latin, his material-oriented approach to art and a passion for glamour. In the coming years he will thoroughly investigate the idea of durability in the resplendent art of the west European Middle Ages.

Going beyond just material durability, Jan intends to elucidate the dynamics between art production, patronage, legislation and aesthetics. Simply put, his ambition is to offer a synthetic view of continuities and changes in attitudes towards durable splendour, as to enrich our understanding of medieval art with a new – material – dimension.