Fellowships

Biographical research on algal scientist Anna Weber-van Bosse

Anna Weber-van Bosse (1852-1942), an algal scientist and botanist, was the first female scientist in the Netherlands to receive an honorary doctorate from Utrecht University in 1910 for her scientific contributions to marine sciences. Her participation in scientific expeditions, including the Siboga expedition to the former Dutch East Indies, led to the collection of important botanical specimens. During her fellowship, Andrea Kieskamp will explore Weber-van Bosses role in the field of botany, specifically phycology (the study of algae), in the second half of the 19th century. Weber-van Bosses involvement in the women’s movement and her place within the network of learned women of her time will also be part of the research. This will result in a book about this remarkable scientist, to be published in February 2026, when the research ship R.V. Anna Weber-van Bosse of the Royal Netherlands Institute for Sea Research (NIOZ) will be christened.

Andrea Kieskamp

Andrea Kieskamp works as an independent exhibition maker, concept developer, researcher, and author. She is a historical literary scholar specializing in colonial and postcolonial literatures. Andrea serves as the secretary of IC Ethics, the international committee on ethical dilemmas of ICOM (International Council of Museums), and as the chair of Blue Shield Netherlands, an organization dedicated to protecting cultural heritage during major crises. In spring 2024, her book Kunstbunkers en cultuurkaravanen: De bescherming van cultureel erfgoed in de Tweede Wereldoorlog was published.

In the book of Martyrs. The role of communication within the 17th-century Doopsgezinde community

Focusing on the relationship between words and bonds, Chris Heubner will examine the dependence of the community on the work of communication in three strands of the 17th-century Dutch Mennonite (Doopsgezinde) tradition, each of which is in some way linked to the symbol of the martyr book. The first source is the martyr book itself produced by Mennonites, from the last edition of Hans de Ries in 1631 to the second edition of Thieleman Janszoon van Braght’s Bloedig Toneel in 1685. The second focus is on the philosophically engaged Mennonites who were close to Spinoza, participated in the Collegiant movement, and gathered in Jan Rieuwertsz’s bookstore called In ‘t Martelaarsboek (In the book of Martyrs). The third focus is the literary martyr dramas and poems produced by Joost van den Vondel, Reyer Anslo, Joachim Oudaen, and Karel Verlove. Using the approach of ordinary language philosophy, the research aims to detect how these texts address concerns such as the nature of the self, freedom and tolerance, and the desire for reconciliation.

Chris Huebner

Chris K. Huebner is associate professor of theology and philosophy at the Canadian Mennonite University. His scholarship explores the intersection of epistemology and ethics, with particular attention to the ways in which these fields converge in the figure of the martyr. He is the author of two books: A Precarious Peace (2006) and Suffering the Truth (2019). His forthcoming book, Wisdom and Her Daughters, explores common themes in the 10th-century martyr drama Sapientia by Hrotsvit of Gandersheim and the late plays of William Shakespeare.

Provenance research on illicit trade. Reconstructing networks around archaeological objects

The ongoing provenance research project into the archaeological collections of the Allard Pierson has demonstrated that a number of antiquities in its possession can be linked to international art dealers that have been either convicted or suspected of illicit trafficking of cultural heritage. During his fellowship, Christos Tsirogiannis will delve deeper into the provenance of a selection of 68 antiquities by checking their potential appearance in archives that have been confiscated from various dealers of illicit antiquities. Furthermore, he will scrutinize their provenance histories, as detailed by the art dealers at the time of acquisition. Photographic and archival evidence will be collected from both institutional and illicit sources, from which he will then attempt to reconstruct, in close collaboration with the provenance research team at the Allard Pierson, the networks of interaction between all actors involved.

Christos Tsirogiannis

Dr Christos Tsirogiannis is a forensic archaeologist specialising in research of international trafficking networks of antiquities and the antiquities trade. He has authored many publications on various aspects of the market, has advised museums, collectors and several governments in reform of cultural heritage law and worked with many police, judicial and cultural authorities, identifying dozens of illicit antiquities and contributing to their repatriation to 13 countries so far. He is now an expert at the Swiss Federal Office for Culture.

TAROT (Funfair Tarot – Tarot des Forains). Spectacular culture in the 19th century

Tarot is ancient, but it reached its peak in the 19th century when the cards acquired symbolic meaning. Not coincidentally, the cards gained a central place at fairs and related venues of popular entertainment. Tarot sparked a dialogue between fortune tellers and visitors, balancing between seriousness and amusement. Today, Tarot is more popular than ever as a ‘storytelling device’, with new versions attracting much attention. During her fellowship, Doina Kraal will research 19th-century Tarot cards from the Allard Pierson collection and, based on this, develop a new Tarot card deck. The focus will be on the experience of the past as an embodied experience, as depicted in the various illustrations of the cards. For this research, Kraal is collaborating with artist Roger Cremers and Prof. Kurt Vanhoutte. The project will result in a unique Tarot card deck, inspired artworks, and public activities within the context of the research project Science at the Fair (University of Antwerp).

Doina Kraal

Doina Kraal is a visual artist. As a PhD candidate at Leiden University within PhDArts (2020-2022), Kraal worked on the research project A Phenomenology of the Peepshow Box, focusing on the historical perspective of the peepshow box, or ‘rarekiek’, and its relevance to contemporary art, specifically in relation to the embodiment and sensory experience of images. Since 2022, she has been working with Roger Cremers as an artist duo. They share a passion for stories and objects with a history. Their work reactivates the sensory experience that lies dormant in archival materials, collections, and even old music, translating that experience into contemporary art.

The rise of the character: An abstract method of transmitting meaning in alchemical texts

This research explores the evolution of methods for transmitting knowledge within European alchemical texts from the late medieval era through the end of the early modern period. The primary focus is the development of abstract notations, known in the period as ‘characters’, such as the astrological glyphs of the planets to represent metals or an upright triangle to represent fire. Characters are pervasive within alchemical texts and images, and should be considered a third, visually abstract language used to communicate meaning. During her fellowship of two months, Ellen Hausner will examine manuscripts from the collection of the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica (BPH) held at the Allard Pierson. By making an analytical study of characters within these alchemical texts, she hopes to demonstrate how and why they grew in complexity and importance.

Ellen Hausner

Ellen Hausner is a doctoral student in the Department of History of Science, Medicine, and Technology at the University of Oxford. Her research explores the function and significance of characters within alchemical texts in the early modern period. Previous to this, Ellen had a career in academic libraries, including the Special Collections at the Bodleian Libraries, Oxford. In 2023, Ellen was awarded the Jane Willis Kirkaldy Senior Prize, which recognises outstanding essays in the history of science.

The working papers of Hugo Grotius in the Remonstrant Collection at the Allard Pierson

The Remonstrant Collection at the Allard Pierson contains an important set of working papers of the Dutch jurist Hugo Grotius (1583-1645), the author of Mare Liberum/The Free Sea (1609) and De Jure Belli ac Pacis//The Law of War and Peace (1625). In the late 1630s, Grotius personally arranged for a variety of handwritten and printed materials to be bound together as Mss. III C 2 through III C 6. The volumes form an impressive record of Grotius’ day-to-day activities as a lawyer, government servant, scholar and Remonstrant supporter. They also testify to an eventful life in a politically and religiously divided Europe. During the one month fellowship, Martine van Ittersum will examine the papers to correct document-level descriptions found in twentieth-century printed indexes. In addition, she will gather materials for a journal article on Grotius’ involvement in Anglo-Dutch disputes about the cloth trade in 1614-1616.

Martine van Ittersum

Martine Julia van Ittersum (Ph.D., Harvard University, 2002) is Senior Lecturer in History at the University of Dundee (UK). She has published widely on book history, Dutch history, and the history of Western imperialism and colonialism. She is the author of two voluminous monographs: Profit and Principle: Hugo Grotius, Natural Rights Theories and the Rise of Dutch Power in the East Indies, 1595-1615 (Brill, 2006) and The Working Papers of Hugo Grotius: Transmission, Dispersal, and Loss, 1604–1864 (Brill, 2024).

‘These Turbulent Times’: Emotions in the poetry of Maria Louiza Carelius as a mirror of the eighteenth century

How does one survive in a changing world? The poetry of Maria Louiza Griethuizen-Carelius (1744-1813/18) offers a unique perspective on social change and family life in the last decades of the eighteenth century. The manuscript of her poetry has hardly been studied, although the poetry reveals a self-assured and Enlightened woman who continuously reflects on family life and the position of women at the turbulent end of the Dutch Republic. During this fellowship, Tim Vergeer pays scholarly attention to Griethuizen-Carelius’ emotional life regarding her position as a woman, the upbringing of her children, the Enlightenment, the Batavian Revolution, and the annexation of Holland by the French Empire. This research aims to explore Griethuizen-Carelius’ emotional self-positioning, how she relates to her writing contemporaries, and the ways in which world events permeate her family life and influence her as a writer. In these ways, her manuscript holds up a mirror to our current times.

Tim Vergeer

Tim Vergeer is an expert of Dutch historical literature. His dissertation examines the popularity of the Spanish comedia nueva in the seventeenth-century Low Countries. He specializes in emotions in literature and theatre of the early modern period. To this end, he combines insights from performance studies, postcolonial studies, gender and queer studies, and the history of emotions, to investigate how authors, by evoking emotions in their audiences, influenced them, entertained them, and encouraged them to participate in social debates.

The how and the why of vegetable gardening. The image of the kitchen garden in Dutch manuals from the seventeenth to the twentieth century

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many people began growing their own vegetables on a small scale. Aspiring gardeners could find tips and inspiration on social media, blogs, podcasts, and in vegetable gardening manuals. Such manuals have been published in the Netherlands since the seventeenth century. The development of this genre offers insights into the changing image of the kitchen garden. For example, the value of gardening may be associated with food or labor. As a Louise O. Fresco fellow, Sanne Steen reconstructs the evolving Dutch image of the kitchen garden and kitchen gardening based on handbooks for the construction and maintenance of kitchen gardens. She examines both the form and content of Dutch manuals from the seventeenth to the twentieth century. This research provides insight into the historical development and may also contribute to a better understanding of the value that vegetable gardening has or may have today.

Sanne Steen

Sanne Steen is a historian of art and culture with a keen interest in image and identity formation. Visual art, heritage, and the physical environment as bearers of meaning are central to her research. She is currently studying the historical appropriation of Desiderius Erasmus for her doctoral research at Erasmus University Rotterdam. In addition, she is actively involved in vegetable gardening as coordinator of a community garden and initiator of a vegetable garden project.

An art historical study of the 18th-century reception and reproduction context of Raphael’s Loggia di Leone X and Loggia di Psyche

The recently donated album Logge di Rafaele nel Vaticano, compiled by Giovani Ottaviani and Giovanni Volpato between 1772 and 1777, contains reproductions of Raphael’s Loggia di Leone X (c. 1516-1519) and Loggia di Psyche (1518). The album demonstrates the value attributed to Raphael’s work in the 18th century, evident in the hand-colored, high-quality prints. During this fellowship, Pax Veerbeek will investigate the 18th-century reproduction context of Raphael’s work. The central questions are who the commissioners were and for which audience the album was intended. In addition, through object-based research, the prints and their translation of the original decorations will be studied. The accuracy of the reproductions will be analyzed, as well as the specific elements that were highlighted. This art historical research may also provide insights into the condition of the loggias in the 18th century, considering the numerous (and sometimes significant) restorations that had already been carried out on the decorations in the 17th century.

Pax Veerbeek

Pax Veerbeek (1997) studied Law and Art History at the University of Amsterdam. Her main interests include the reception of Classical Antiquity, Italian drawings, and the use of classical sources (both visual and textual) in wall paintings. She has conducted research multiple times at the Royal Netherlands Institute in Rome (KNIR). As a curator in training, she worked at the Vatican Museums and Teylers Museum. At Teylers, she is one of the authors of the exhibition catalogue on Christina of Sweden (scheduled for 2027). She is also an editor and lecturer at Roma Aeterna.

The acquisition history of the Greek papyri in the Allard Pierson collection

During the fellowship, Mark de Kreij will research the provenance of the Greek papyri (ancient texts unearthed in Egypt) in the Allard Pierson Museum collection. These papyri mostly come from a large acquisition made by Prof. Pieter Sijpesteijn for the University of Amsterdam in 1969, but the precise route from Egypt to Amsterdam remains unclear. To gain clarity, the focus will first be on the approximately 260 published papyri. References to provenance in Sijpesteijn’s editions and archival materials will be analyzed, alongside information from colleagues and internal evidence suggesting connections to published papyri from other collections. This research aims to document the acquisition history of the Allard Pierson papyri and determine whether they all arrived in Amsterdam through legal means.

Mark de Kreij

Mark de Kreij is Assistant Professor of Ancient Greek and Papyrology at Radboud University, where he teaches Greek language and literature. His research focuses on the history of the ancient book. Since 2021, he has worked on uncovering forgotten papyrus collections in The Netherlands, and is an expert in the legality and ethics of papyrus acquisition.

Karel Holle’s ‘Sketch Language Maps’ of Indonesia, 1882-1894

Between 1882-1894 five ‘sketch maps’ of the languages of Indonesia (Java, Sumatra, Bangka and the Riau Islands, the Lesser Sunda Islands, Celebes) were designed by the multi-talented tea planter and colonial adviser Karel Holle (1829-1896). They were published with the annual Koloniaal Verslag, a statistics report to Dutch Parliament. On these maps the languages, dialects, and language areas of these islands are indicated in different colours, following the design of Robert Needham Cust’s Sketch of the Modern Languages of the East Indies (1878). Holle’s maps give a (simplified) visual overview of language variety in the Dutch East Indies, and by implication, of ethnic groups and divides, as far as known from his sources. During the fellowship Floris Solleveld will research how these maps represent the state of linguistic knowledge about Indonesia, and what they reveal about the influence of Dutch colonialism on language standardization, language change, and identity formation.

Floris Solleveld is a historian with an MA in philosophy, specialising in the cultural history of science. His Ph.D. thesis (Nijmegen, 2018) was a study of the transformation of Enlightenment scholarship into the humanities in the 19th century. As a postdoctoral researcher at KU Leuven, he studied the mapping of the world’s languages and peoples in the colonial era; he is currently a research associate at the University of Bristol, working on a larger AHRC/DFG project on global missionary translation networks.