Profile

I am an art historian, a specialist in the scientific imaging of cultural heritage, and coordinator of the Utrecht University ArtLab. My research focuses on late medieval and early modern art and material culture. I combine traditional art-historical research with technical analysis, digital imaging and computational methods.

Objects are central to my work. I study not only what an artwork represents or how it functioned within its historical context, but also how it was made, altered, used and restored. Material traces, such as underdrawings, incised lines, wear, corrections and changes to an object’s surface, can offer new insights into historical production processes and an object’s biography.

At ArtLab, I develop research projects and specialised imaging methods in collaboration with museums, libraries, archives, conservators, restorers and collection managers. Technology is never an end in itself. Each project begins with an art-historical or technical research question, for which an appropriate and accessible workflow is developed.

Research and expertise

My research focuses, among other subjects, on fifteenth- and sixteenth-century painting from the Low Countries, vulnerable or difficult-to-access heritage, polychrome sculpture, and heritage objects for which conventional imaging techniques are inadequate. Recent projects in which I have been involved include the 3D digitisation of the choir vault of the Grote Kerk in Alkmaar (in Dutch) and CLARIS, a NICAS research project on late medieval sculpture.

My expertise includes multispectral photogrammetry, multispectral and technical photography, Reflectance Transformation Imaging (RTI), photometric stereo, infrared reflectography (IRR), 3D modelling, and the development of digital research tools, particularly research viewers for large image datasets.

A central aim of my work is to connect academic research, heritage practice and public engagement. Digital models and technical images can not only enable new research questions, but also contribute to conservation, collection management, teaching and public interpretation. Wherever possible, I promote open and reusable methods, research data and visualisations.