Everyone knows that oil and water do not mix. But it turns out that water actually plays a very important role in the stability of oil paintings, such as those by Rembrandt or Vermeer. Water moves through the layers that make up an oil painting, taking part in all sorts of chemical reactions. Giv...

A multidisciplinary research team coordinated by Maarten van Bommel, professor of Conservation Science at the University of Amsterdam (UvA), has been awarded 900,000 euros funding by the Dutch Research Council NWO through the Open Technology Programme of the Domain Applied and Engineering Science...

Michiel Vermaat has won the Rijksmuseum Migelien Gerritzen thesis prize 2024 with his master's thesis, entitled ‘Seeing Beyond the Surface: Investigating Methods of Visualising Consolidants in Wood Borer-Damaged Wood.’ Vermaat graduated from the Master's program in Conservation and Restoration of...

In a paper in Macromolecules, researchers at the University of Amsterdam’s Van ‘t Hoff Institute for Molecular Sciences present detailed insights into the polymerization process of drying oils in paint. Using advanced infrared spectroscopy analysis they were able to determine how aspects like tem...

Jorien Duivenvoorden has been appointed Assistant Professor of Conservation of Historic Interiors in a Socio-material Context at the University of Amsterdam. Her work centers around climate-induced material degradation, preventive conservation and condition monitoring, with a special focus on wal...

Chemists at the Rijksmuseum and the University of Amsterdam (UvA) have for the first time established how Rembrandt applied special arsenic sulfide pigments to create a ‘golden’ paint. Using sophisticated spectroscopic techniques they were able to map the presence of pararealgar (yellow) and semi...

How can museums reduce energy consumption and widen indoor climate tolerances safely? How did black woollens quality standards in the 18th-century develop and change over time? With funding from the Dutch Science Council (NWO) UvA researchers will start answering these questions. In total their ...

The UvA Conservation and Restoration Department is excited to announce that it will host a second edition of the masterclass The Dutch Method Unfolded on the wax-resin lining of paintings in January 2025. The Getty Foundation is graciously supporting the project a second time.

Start up a computer that you haven't used in a while and there's a good chance you'll have to run an endless series of updates before you get it working. What about digital art? How do you ensure that that the art still ‘works’ years later? And does a digital work of art still look as originally ...

Next week we will kick of the fourth edition of the online student conference ConNext: ConNext 2024. For four consecutive weeks students from conservation training programmes around Europe will present their object treatments and research within the field of wood, furniture and related materi...

Curators, conservators and conservation scientists are invited to apply to this traveling seminar devoted to the examination, historic manufacture and scientific study of pastels.

Sanneke Stigter's project Oral History-Collaborative Open Science Research Environment (OH-CORE) has been awarded within the NWO Open Science Fund. The project aims to lower the barriers that researchers encounter when analysing, depositing and re-using interview data, and to make collaboration p...

We are happy to announce that a new research project ‘14Colours – combining dye and radiocarbon (14C) analyses to date anthraquinone-based colourants in historical textiles’ started this September.

Ana F. Albano Serrano was appointed as Assistant Professor at the Conservation and Restoration (C&R) department on September 1st, 2023. She first joined the University of Amsterdam in 2022 as lecturer and course coordinator for the C&R textile specialization course.

Joen Hermans currently holds a position as Assistant Professor Conservation Science. This position is split between the Faculty of Humanities and the Van 't Hoff Institute for Molecular Science at the Faculty of Science. In addition, he has a position as researcher at the Conservation & Science d...

On June 29, 2023, Placemaking received the Dutch Education Award of 1.2 million euros during the Comenius festival. We are delighted to look back on this moment.

From 1 August, Sanneke Stigter's project Smart Care: Artist Intent and Artist Interviews will start. The project, which was granted funding in NWO's Open Competition SGW - XS, focuses on whether artificial intelligence could take over the artist's voice in conservation research.

The UvA’s Placemaking programme (taught at the Institute for Interdisciplinary Studies) has won the Dutch Education Award for outstanding innovations in higher education. The prize amount of €1.2 million was presented by the Minister of Education Robbert Dijkgraaf.

A special type of oxygen-free display case for exhibiting rare textile finds from a 17th-century shipwreck in museum Kaap Skil in Texel has received the 2023 Innovator of the Year award of Museums + Heritage. The case was developed based on research led by Prof. Maarten van Bommel, professor of C...

We are very proud to announce that IIS education initiative Placemaking is among the final three nominees of the Dutch Education Grant 2023! The first, second and third place will be announced on Thursday 29 June. Minister Robbert Dijkgraaf will award the grants during the ComeniusFestival.