This fellowship offers the opportunity for scholars specialised in fine art prints to do research on the collections of the Allard Pierson. In 2025, the fellowship will focus on an album that recently has been donated to the Allard Pierson. It contains a rich set of early modern hand-coloured plates of decorative interior work carried out by Raphael in Rome in the early sixteenth century.
Object-based research
The album contains two works: the Logge di Rafaele nel Vaticano, published by Giovanni Volpato and Giovani Ottaviani (Rome, 1772-7), a set of prints that replicate the ornamentation originally painted by Raphael’s workshop (c.1517-19) in the Loggia of the Vatican; and Psyches et Amoris nuptiae fabula, published by Domenico de’ Rossi (Rome, c. 1693), with prints of Raphael’s work for the Loggia di Psyche (1516-18) in the Villa Farnesina. While many of these prints have been kept in single, black-and-white items, this copy consists of prints in yellow ink that have been hand-coloured and bound together in the eighteenth century. Kept in its original binding and presenting an exceptional example of high-quality hand-colouring, this volume offers multiple research avenues on the techniques and the context of production of fine art prints before 1800.
Suggestions for research
• Art historical research and reception study: intended readers at the time of production; reasons for the reproduction of the frescoes as prints in the eighteenth century; analysis of the patterns;
• Material research on the object: analysis of the binding, pigment analysis, analysis of the types of ink used in the printing process;
• Analysis of the volume as a Sammelband and the composition structure of the prints: sequence of illustrations in the volume, choices in repetitions;
• Inventory (census) of other copies of the Logge and comparison with this copy (colour techniques, composition, origin), in albums and loose prints.
In order to ensure that the Euphemia fellowships are well aligned, we ask fellows to report in writing on the research results. In 2025, the fellow has conducted research into the following aspects: analysis of the commissioners and publishers of the edition, the production context, and the etching and engraving process.
Searching the collection
The Logge album is accessible for research to the fellow during the whole fellowship. The Allard Pierson also has extensive collections of primary and secondary sources that can be used for the research done on the Logge and on print production in early modern Europe. The collections of the Allard Pierson are accessible and searchable online through several databases and catalogues. See the search portal for access to various catalogues, image databases, general descriptions of collections, and inventories.
It is also possible to submit a request to the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, RCE) to make use of the facilities of the RCE lab in Amsterdam, to conduct material analysis on the album.
Questions
Questions about the Logge and the printed collections at the Allard Pierson can be directed to curator Katell Lavéant (k.v.m.p.laveant@uva.nl). Fellowship programme coordinator Anna de Wilde (a.e.dewilde@uva.nl) can be contacted for questions about the application process.
Guidelines
Read more about the guidelines and the application process here.